There is so much to catch up on! There's Agra, Delhi, Calcutta, the new organization I'm spending my final month in India at, but first & foremost...
why the hell do ants bite people? Seriously-- do they think I'm food? Is it a defense mechanism? I think they'd fair better to crawl along unnoticed. If you're standing on an ant hill I understand, but if they come lookin for ya thats another story. Geeze Louize.. I've got so many dang ant & spider bites & I just don't get it.
I've definitely come around to India. I'm sure I complain too much, but there are some things that are wonderful. Agra & Delhi was a great vacation with two of the guys that I wouldn't trade for the world. It was the perfect vacation from it all. We had some interesting conversations with cab drivers & other native Indians that were incredibly insightful. I can't imagine the journey with anyone else at this time in my life-- perfect traveling buddies <3. Thanks y'all. We had one driver take us from the Ghandi Memorial to other famous sights in New Delhi && in Indian traffic, that took just bout half a day. We were open & non judgmental with him & he seemed to be the same with us. We asked him if he was married-- if he had an arranged marriage to which he answered yes to both. He said that he didn't eat meat or consume alcohol, but didn't judge others who did (at which point one of the guys found it opportune to ask where there was good night life). We asked if arranged marriage was better than love marriage to which he answered yes. The reasons he stated included that the families would get along well, the couple had similar values and beliefs (including caste), and that it was perfect for raising children. He said he had two boys, but wished God would have given him a girl. I assured that God would make good with that desire through grandchildren to which he smiled. We asked if he ever had a girlfriend on the side or if many men with arranged marriages did, and he said, "why?-- it would upset everything." He asked what we thought, & I jokingly told him that I was fairing well with both my husband & boyfriend (motioning to the guys respectively) & that it works well if they're friends ;) We laughed a bit. He let us in on a secret that if drivers take tourists to certain shops they receive vouchers at the end of the month to get things from the stores & asked if we would oblige to what we did. We asked if we had to buy anything, and he told us that we could if we wanted to, but that it would be priced higher-- part of which he would receive as a commission. Now, my momma is Hispanic & my daddy is white (but a Mexican at heart ;) ) && I can kinda see where the guy is coming from on the family being important on the marriage decision. It's not the way that we think it is (well sometimes it is-- one of our cooks met her husband just 4 hours before her marriage, but her husband is a gardener where she works & they've got a son & seem pretty happy..) but for the most part the parents arrange these meetings where the two meet, talk, see if they're compatible & take it from there. I mean-- isn't this what happens anyway?? They're just more direct about it. Also-- if you saw the way that most of the meat is handled here & what the animals eat, you'd eat Veg too. I avoid meat as much as possible (which isn't hard-- most places are 'Veg' or offer 'Pure-Veg Cuisine') At home I love steak & carne asada, but some of the dishes they make are really amazing- you stop noticing that theres not any meat in it (except that you're tired a lot because of the lack of protein...) About the no alcohol thing, well- I ain't testifying to that.
I went to Calcutta with 3 other Americans & two nuns- one French one.. Turkish? I think, or something like that. We road in an Indian train 2nd class 'with the people' as Gandhi put it for bout 40 hours there & 30 back-- YIKES. It was definitely an experience & without the other girls to lean on, I couldn't have done it. It was extremely dirty.. one afternoon a few of us sat on the top bunks and watched the mice run around from place to place. I woulda lost it had it not been for those girls. They're all from the midwest & Yankees, so by American standards we'd think we weren't from the same place, but hardship & time has a way of creating strong bonds & friendships that focus on similarities & not differences. I really feel like I'd do anything for those girls (so don't you try to mess with em! :p)
We worked with the Missionaries of Charity (the Mother Teresa Sisters) at a home for mentally challenged girls & women, and also at her famous house for the sick & dying. Each morning started with Mass at 7am, followed by a volunteers breakfast with people from all over the world, then we would all depart to our respective locations. It was amazing to see how many people from all over the world there were! (side note-- men from Argentina.. *SWOON* might be my favorite in the world.. so flippin tall, attractive, funny.. thank goodness I speak Spanish! was fun..) & there were so many that aren't even Catholic-- who knew? There is so much poverty there-- more than I've seen in any place in India, but at the same time I felt like the people had a certain dignity to them. The folks in the North of India are different than in the South. The South is more traditional-- all the women wear sari's or churidas & the men wear those skirt lookin things that I can't remember the proper name for. The people are also much darker skinned, so white folks stick out more. In the south they're not afraid to yell or stare, jeer, taunt, or ask for money just because you're not Indian, but in the North they're a little more indifferent to you. There's not much place for the individual in this country-- noise, looks, etc. so being ignored for a while is totally appreciated. But even the people bathing in the streets seemed to just be going about their business- like, they didn't really give a sh.. if you were watching, but they were going to get along & do what they had to do to survive. The homeless seemed to have existing social patterns & structures as opposed to the South (at least in Pondicherry) that are mostly just passed out drunks, or old leppers missing limbs. Idk.. they're very poor, but in some ways I think they've got it more together than folks I know back home with big houses & a coupla cars.
NOW- the new organization I'm with for my last month here is called "Voluntaria..." something like Volunteer but in French, I'll look it up later. I live in an old lepper colony right on the ocean. My room is above a primary school & across from a place that spins, weaves, & makes cloth that is sold all over the world. I was more ignorant about leprosy than I was about HIV when I arrived-- but apparently it's completely curable these days, & there haven't been new cases in years. I'll write somethin bout it later. Anyway, this AMAZING woman from Belgium came to Pondicherry when she was about 16 in the 1960's & started doing social work & then started her own organization. Today they employ over 300 locals, give free schooling (there's no free school like in the states) to over 3,000 underprivileged children, and sustain themselves with a farm & selling fabric, aprons, handbags & other goods all over the world. I teach English & in my free time kick it with the workers downstairs. I don't understand them, but we watch goats, they try to teach me Tamil & laugh when I pronounce words, and take photos of the women while they work. The people here love getting their photos taken, even if they don't see it. I'm not sure why, but it's great, because I've gotten some great shots without any apprehensions on either end.
Well-- that's all I can think of for now. In a month I'll head for France for a while. My totally awesome neighbor has a flat in Paris which she's allowing me to stay at free of cost. She's French, spends most her time in India, other in random French colonies all over the world that her family works at, & just a bit in France. Still not decided how long I'll stay there, but my French is gettin pretty good, & why pass up an opportunity, right?
