Traveling overnight is so incredibly efficient. It's ridiculous, you'd be sleeping anyways, and while you do, you get where you wanna go. So jealous of the public transportation here.
So I left Hampi at 8:30pm on Wed and got to Fort Cochin at 4:30am on Friday. Thursday I was SO bored in Bangalore because I arrived at 6:30am and had no where to go until 5:15pm. Lame. So what did I do? Well I wandered until I found a restaurant that opened at 7 and they let me sit there for a loooooooooong time reading until the first movie started at a theater near there at 10:30. It was Salt with Angelina Jolie which was just as distracting as I hoped it would be. But then it was over and I was bored again, so I finally figured out where there was a theater that showed more than one movie and got there in time to miss the very beginning but saw the rest of Inception. More actiony movies than I prefer, but I'll watch anything and it kept me occupied until it was time for my train. And even including really expensive rickshaws it still cost less than seeing one movie at home. So yay me!
The I slept on the train and got to Fort Cochin at 4:30am, but had to sit in the waiting room until around 6:30 because that's when the ferry runs. It was nice to be up and about early but I am a little knackered tonight. Got through 4 books since Wed because of all the waiting. I am well read in silly romance novels, rereading Eragon, another fantasy book, and The Host. So pretty much being lazy, but I like it.
Today the power was out. Like literally all day long. For a real reason this time though, a branch fell on a power line. Well done India, a legit reason for a lack of power. So suckage. I really miss Laura and Becca, I was telling my mom about how excited Becca is to get back to her "squidgy duvet" and I just laughed and missed how excited she gets and then I wanted to talk to someone about the Host which Laura recommended I read and she isn't here! Gotta make time to go to Europe so I can see those girls again!
Alright, I know the posts have not been all that interesting, but I am gonna focus my internet energies on giving y'all some pics so you have that to look forward to!
Me?
I got one plan for the near future: shop till I drop
Friday, July 30, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
I haven't bought enough.
The title of this post is the feeling you get when you pack everything into the black and yellow backpack that your little brother gave to you when he was done - Dillon has to have a new backpack every year and what's not cool enough for a 12 year old still is cool to me - and realize that even with what you thought was a lot of purchases, it all still fits...barely.
Thus when I arrive in Cochin (quite a process) on Friday, I will probably nap, be lazy, and eventually pack my big duffel and see exactly how much room I can exploit and buy more things! I mean I will never say "Gee I wish I had bought less in India" let's be real.
Yesterday we did lazy Hampi things again, and also spent a few hours arranging the rest of Laura's time in India so that no time is wasted because trains are overbooked etc...
This may seem like a waste of time for me because I was not going on any of the aforementioned trains because they are going North - although we recently realized that my flight is out of Delhi and if I hadn't left most of my stuff in Cochin I could have lugged my big bag and flown out of there ah well - but I got to play with the owners daughter who he proclaims is a cheeky monkey.
And she is :-) we made faces at each other, she sat in my lap, she opened my wallet and made surprised faces at the money, she tried to take off my watch, I gave her a 5 rupee bracelet I had bought, and we haggled over the fact that she could not keep the $50 traveler check that I was cashing. She was so cute and funny and everything we did made her giggle. It was tons of fun and I felt especially cool because she was so taken with my pink nail polish. Thus I am way awesomer than Becca or Laura, just sayin.
I had to cash my traveler's check, because, if I haven't mentioned, there is only 1 ATM here and it does not take Mastercard. The bank is always open and has men in it, but does not actually function except during business hours...which seem to be from sometime until 2pm. But found a place to cash my check and am back in business! cost me 800 rupees for 6 nights in this hotel, it is nice to share the expenses with some buddies.
Speaking of buddies....went to Durga again, where they play the live music, because Becca is absolutely obsessed and it is pretty cool. Chatted and laughed until like 11:30 with another English girl, her bf Steve, and another guy. I don't remember names haha. And it was great to laughing and joking though I wish we had met them earlier because they would have been fun to wander around Hampi with. Slipped even further into my faux-British accent which I have no control over and is mostly the rhythm of my words and the use of words like "bloody, lovely, proper (as in "should we have a proper lunch or just a nibble"), loo roll, etc.... good times
But my lovely English buds left today without me. It really does make me so sad, traveling with those two was so much fun and it was so nice to have comrades when India got crazy. We were so lucky to get on so well and to be so comfortable with one another and I am seriously so unbelievably sad to see them go. I felt crazy ill this morning which didn't help and then stupid Laura had to hug me and tell me how much she would miss me which, of course, made me burst into tears like a nancy. But I have accepted my nancy status and will just have to comfort myself with the idea that I can go and visit them both in their native land and Becca can cook me yummy food and they can show me all the places they talk about that mean absolutely nothing to me haha!
So I am back on my own for the next...36-40ish hours. Hopefully at least 20 of them will be spent sleeping and hopefully (fingers crossed) the times will line up and I will be able to see Toy Story 3 in Bangalore which would eat up some of the 12 hours I have to wait between trains and be awesome!
Oh and ALSO! Last night we were talking about things we miss from home and things you get in America but not the UK and apparently Laura was super excited when she found a Cinnabon in England and the English gal was excited to have found Mountain Dew. Then Steve, who worked in the US for a bit, started talking about Krispie Kremes straight from the oven. Yummmmm...
Becca is excited to be home, not for another month, and have pasta and curl up in her duvet. Myself? I don't miss the food too much (I'll be so excited to eat it when I get back though) except the idea of taking it out of the fridge whenever I want and not constantly eating in restaurants. Plus I know exactly how it'll go when I get home.
We will drive up and I will leave everything in the car so I can plop on the floor and Kira can flop into my lap. Then mom will say "Bree look at you, you're covered in dog hair already ugh!". Then I will take a quick shower and put on my fluffy sweatpants and a HUGE hoodie and watch Tivo with the boys and talk and make fun and eat ice cream with my laptop working off of wireless RIGHT on my LAP!
So pumped. I'll miss India, but living outta your bag for 2 months gets old and all...ok well now there are some more scattered but the majority of the people I love are in the USA.
Obviously some more shopping to do before I come back...I'm gonna be brokkkkkke.
But it's a once in a lifetime experience right? Can't put a price on that :-)
Thus when I arrive in Cochin (quite a process) on Friday, I will probably nap, be lazy, and eventually pack my big duffel and see exactly how much room I can exploit and buy more things! I mean I will never say "Gee I wish I had bought less in India" let's be real.
Yesterday we did lazy Hampi things again, and also spent a few hours arranging the rest of Laura's time in India so that no time is wasted because trains are overbooked etc...
This may seem like a waste of time for me because I was not going on any of the aforementioned trains because they are going North - although we recently realized that my flight is out of Delhi and if I hadn't left most of my stuff in Cochin I could have lugged my big bag and flown out of there ah well - but I got to play with the owners daughter who he proclaims is a cheeky monkey.
And she is :-) we made faces at each other, she sat in my lap, she opened my wallet and made surprised faces at the money, she tried to take off my watch, I gave her a 5 rupee bracelet I had bought, and we haggled over the fact that she could not keep the $50 traveler check that I was cashing. She was so cute and funny and everything we did made her giggle. It was tons of fun and I felt especially cool because she was so taken with my pink nail polish. Thus I am way awesomer than Becca or Laura, just sayin.
I had to cash my traveler's check, because, if I haven't mentioned, there is only 1 ATM here and it does not take Mastercard. The bank is always open and has men in it, but does not actually function except during business hours...which seem to be from sometime until 2pm. But found a place to cash my check and am back in business! cost me 800 rupees for 6 nights in this hotel, it is nice to share the expenses with some buddies.
Speaking of buddies....went to Durga again, where they play the live music, because Becca is absolutely obsessed and it is pretty cool. Chatted and laughed until like 11:30 with another English girl, her bf Steve, and another guy. I don't remember names haha. And it was great to laughing and joking though I wish we had met them earlier because they would have been fun to wander around Hampi with. Slipped even further into my faux-British accent which I have no control over and is mostly the rhythm of my words and the use of words like "bloody, lovely, proper (as in "should we have a proper lunch or just a nibble"), loo roll, etc.... good times
But my lovely English buds left today without me. It really does make me so sad, traveling with those two was so much fun and it was so nice to have comrades when India got crazy. We were so lucky to get on so well and to be so comfortable with one another and I am seriously so unbelievably sad to see them go. I felt crazy ill this morning which didn't help and then stupid Laura had to hug me and tell me how much she would miss me which, of course, made me burst into tears like a nancy. But I have accepted my nancy status and will just have to comfort myself with the idea that I can go and visit them both in their native land and Becca can cook me yummy food and they can show me all the places they talk about that mean absolutely nothing to me haha!
So I am back on my own for the next...36-40ish hours. Hopefully at least 20 of them will be spent sleeping and hopefully (fingers crossed) the times will line up and I will be able to see Toy Story 3 in Bangalore which would eat up some of the 12 hours I have to wait between trains and be awesome!
Oh and ALSO! Last night we were talking about things we miss from home and things you get in America but not the UK and apparently Laura was super excited when she found a Cinnabon in England and the English gal was excited to have found Mountain Dew. Then Steve, who worked in the US for a bit, started talking about Krispie Kremes straight from the oven. Yummmmm...
Becca is excited to be home, not for another month, and have pasta and curl up in her duvet. Myself? I don't miss the food too much (I'll be so excited to eat it when I get back though) except the idea of taking it out of the fridge whenever I want and not constantly eating in restaurants. Plus I know exactly how it'll go when I get home.
We will drive up and I will leave everything in the car so I can plop on the floor and Kira can flop into my lap. Then mom will say "Bree look at you, you're covered in dog hair already ugh!". Then I will take a quick shower and put on my fluffy sweatpants and a HUGE hoodie and watch Tivo with the boys and talk and make fun and eat ice cream with my laptop working off of wireless RIGHT on my LAP!
So pumped. I'll miss India, but living outta your bag for 2 months gets old and all...ok well now there are some more scattered but the majority of the people I love are in the USA.
Obviously some more shopping to do before I come back...I'm gonna be brokkkkkke.
But it's a once in a lifetime experience right? Can't put a price on that :-)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Quick Blog
So Hampi is turning out to be a great place to do nothing but read and take in the atmosphere. Sounds lame but is really awesome.
Rode in a circle boat made of bamboo, tar, and fiberglass and spun down the river taking in the views of the ruins and temples and rocks that look like someone was trying to build towers and then either got distracted or accidentally knocked them over. Great huge boulders. They are awesome. In fact if you took Colorado and mixed it with Florida, you would have somewhere eerily similar to Hampi.
And the mosquitoes here are way friendly. Overly friendly. I do not appreciate.
Oh and I forgot what took about an hour of our time yesterday: Laura and I decided to get our legs waxed. In case you were wondering, yes it hurt. And no, the lady did not, in fact, know what she was doing, despite having all the proper equipment. Laura has 2 blisters from overly hot wax and my legs are only half bare of hair despite repeated attempts. Needless to say I did not want to have to explain to her how to do this properly, so I gave up and refused to pay more than 50 rupees. That's a dollar. And my legs are less hairy...
Laura paid full price for her less hairy legs plus blisters. She is very nice. And also full price was about $3 so...
sidenote: a baby cow snuggled up to me and nursed on my finger this morning. It was adorable.
sidenote 2: a dalmatian puppy and I played today. She had no off button, loads of energy, and sharp teeth. It was adorable for about 1 minute and then I wanted put her in a kennel. I smiled cuz I love animals but I really wanted to tell them to teach her a few manners, she was yanking on my skirt and wouldn't let go! And she bit my hair. Good thing puppies are cute
Rode in a circle boat made of bamboo, tar, and fiberglass and spun down the river taking in the views of the ruins and temples and rocks that look like someone was trying to build towers and then either got distracted or accidentally knocked them over. Great huge boulders. They are awesome. In fact if you took Colorado and mixed it with Florida, you would have somewhere eerily similar to Hampi.
And the mosquitoes here are way friendly. Overly friendly. I do not appreciate.
Oh and I forgot what took about an hour of our time yesterday: Laura and I decided to get our legs waxed. In case you were wondering, yes it hurt. And no, the lady did not, in fact, know what she was doing, despite having all the proper equipment. Laura has 2 blisters from overly hot wax and my legs are only half bare of hair despite repeated attempts. Needless to say I did not want to have to explain to her how to do this properly, so I gave up and refused to pay more than 50 rupees. That's a dollar. And my legs are less hairy...
Laura paid full price for her less hairy legs plus blisters. She is very nice. And also full price was about $3 so...
sidenote: a baby cow snuggled up to me and nursed on my finger this morning. It was adorable.
sidenote 2: a dalmatian puppy and I played today. She had no off button, loads of energy, and sharp teeth. It was adorable for about 1 minute and then I wanted put her in a kennel. I smiled cuz I love animals but I really wanted to tell them to teach her a few manners, she was yanking on my skirt and wouldn't let go! And she bit my hair. Good thing puppies are cute
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Things I forgot were awesome when I blogged yesterday
Today we shopped. I finally bought my little metal statue of Nandi (the bull that Shiva the Destroyer rides) which was amazing because I have scouring Hampi for the perfect one and ended up buying two. But they are little and I have become quite smitten with Nandi since I've come to India.
But I forgot that the past 2 nights we ate at the rooftop restaurant, Durga which is awesome. We sat at long tables on cushions on the floor with paper lamps creating ambiance and people randomly picking up instruments and playing in the background. And did I mention you can see the temples from there? Or that the first night we had killer pizza? Or that it REALLY smelled like pot? --yea India is really into pot-- and even though alcohol is FORBIDDEN here, you can in fact order a rum and coke. I didn't, but it IS possible.
But anyways there was a drummer and a wooden flute thingy and a didgeridoo from Australia (but a small one) and guitar and it was wonderfully hippie. Especially when one man took out one of those illusion ball things that looks like they float and starting doing this weird floaty ball dance. It was baller.
We met a lovely pair of French people. I say pair because they are not dating but there are two of them. The French are out in full force in India, Kevin (the Frenchman) says it is a case of collective consciousness because at about this time every year all the French start towards India. It is nice for eavesdropping because my spoken French is poor but I comprehend rather well. We had discussions on culture and India experiences, reasons for travel, etc...
It is great to meet so many people with many different reasons for travel. I do find that most of us plan to return to India though, this place is too special to just leave and forget.
Anything else about today? It was really rainy and so we spent some time soaking India in and bargaining. Shopping with a purpose can be quite the all day job, it's taken me 2 days to find the perfect Nandi statues at the perfect price (all of $5 for 2 of them but they are small) and spent a lot of that time bartering and also trying to decide how much weight I was willing to carry back with me.
Getting close to coming home and still enjoying every minute!
But I forgot that the past 2 nights we ate at the rooftop restaurant, Durga which is awesome. We sat at long tables on cushions on the floor with paper lamps creating ambiance and people randomly picking up instruments and playing in the background. And did I mention you can see the temples from there? Or that the first night we had killer pizza? Or that it REALLY smelled like pot? --yea India is really into pot-- and even though alcohol is FORBIDDEN here, you can in fact order a rum and coke. I didn't, but it IS possible.
But anyways there was a drummer and a wooden flute thingy and a didgeridoo from Australia (but a small one) and guitar and it was wonderfully hippie. Especially when one man took out one of those illusion ball things that looks like they float and starting doing this weird floaty ball dance. It was baller.
We met a lovely pair of French people. I say pair because they are not dating but there are two of them. The French are out in full force in India, Kevin (the Frenchman) says it is a case of collective consciousness because at about this time every year all the French start towards India. It is nice for eavesdropping because my spoken French is poor but I comprehend rather well. We had discussions on culture and India experiences, reasons for travel, etc...
It is great to meet so many people with many different reasons for travel. I do find that most of us plan to return to India though, this place is too special to just leave and forget.
Anything else about today? It was really rainy and so we spent some time soaking India in and bargaining. Shopping with a purpose can be quite the all day job, it's taken me 2 days to find the perfect Nandi statues at the perfect price (all of $5 for 2 of them but they are small) and spent a lot of that time bartering and also trying to decide how much weight I was willing to carry back with me.
Getting close to coming home and still enjoying every minute!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
So little but rather complicated
Internet here is very spotty which makes it hard for the travel agent trying to book train tickets via internet.
Forgot to mention in my last post that there are leopards here and our awesome guide who we hired for a 3 hour hike told us that the best way to see one is to take a skinny stray dog and lead him up into the jungle and the leopard will smell and come and get it. I quote "stray dogs are like cheese to leopards".
Today we got up and went and got some delicious breakfast...well it was actually porridge but it filled me up and I wanted a lot of food for cheap. And some masala chai, chai = tea btw and masala = spice , and it was delicious.
Then we decided the best thing to do was to walk the 2 km to the elephant stable, which no longer hold elephants but used to. It was a good idea, the weather was nice, we needed the walk and after a bit it only sprinkled a little. Then a little more. But we had rain jackets so it was no problem...but then it rained harder. And we got drenched. So we stood in a Haruman (monkey god) temple, barefoot and waited for it to stop. It didn't.
But AT LAST! A rickshaw came by and we flagged him down and he gave us a ride to the stables, baller btw, and then back which was AWESOME!Had some yummy light food. Now we are attempting to book train tickets (pain in the ass) which is difficult because Laura only has until Aug 5th and wants to get 29hrs North so she can see the Taj Mahal but she has to come about the same distance South again in order to fly out of Mumbai. So far she is gonna move her flight to the 9th of Aug. I am gonna skip the Taj as I am for sure gonna be back here and I'm gonna hit up North India then. Cuz I am quite happy enjoying India and if I fill up my last week and a half with long train journeys then I will not have good memories to leave on.
So MY plan is to stay in Hampi until (I think) Wed then take the 2 nights trip back to Cochin which leaves me 2-3 days to relax in Cochin and try to fit all my new crap into my duffel bag before I fly out.
Almost listed all the stuff I've bought in Hampi, then realized some things are gifts...let's just say I've done some shopping.
Look forward to a few things when I return home to Ft Cochin. First I will post some pics and second I will be sharing a few horrific and funny travel stories which are not really mine but that I have learned from other travelers and think you would enjoy.
For now I will listen to some complicated train and plane finagling. Thank God I just wanna go home and the HOME (USA baby!)
Forgot to mention in my last post that there are leopards here and our awesome guide who we hired for a 3 hour hike told us that the best way to see one is to take a skinny stray dog and lead him up into the jungle and the leopard will smell and come and get it. I quote "stray dogs are like cheese to leopards".
Today we got up and went and got some delicious breakfast...well it was actually porridge but it filled me up and I wanted a lot of food for cheap. And some masala chai, chai = tea btw and masala = spice , and it was delicious.
Then we decided the best thing to do was to walk the 2 km to the elephant stable, which no longer hold elephants but used to. It was a good idea, the weather was nice, we needed the walk and after a bit it only sprinkled a little. Then a little more. But we had rain jackets so it was no problem...but then it rained harder. And we got drenched. So we stood in a Haruman (monkey god) temple, barefoot and waited for it to stop. It didn't.
But AT LAST! A rickshaw came by and we flagged him down and he gave us a ride to the stables, baller btw, and then back which was AWESOME!Had some yummy light food. Now we are attempting to book train tickets (pain in the ass) which is difficult because Laura only has until Aug 5th and wants to get 29hrs North so she can see the Taj Mahal but she has to come about the same distance South again in order to fly out of Mumbai. So far she is gonna move her flight to the 9th of Aug. I am gonna skip the Taj as I am for sure gonna be back here and I'm gonna hit up North India then. Cuz I am quite happy enjoying India and if I fill up my last week and a half with long train journeys then I will not have good memories to leave on.
So MY plan is to stay in Hampi until (I think) Wed then take the 2 nights trip back to Cochin which leaves me 2-3 days to relax in Cochin and try to fit all my new crap into my duffel bag before I fly out.
Almost listed all the stuff I've bought in Hampi, then realized some things are gifts...let's just say I've done some shopping.
Look forward to a few things when I return home to Ft Cochin. First I will post some pics and second I will be sharing a few horrific and funny travel stories which are not really mine but that I have learned from other travelers and think you would enjoy.
For now I will listen to some complicated train and plane finagling. Thank God I just wanna go home and the HOME (USA baby!)
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Happy Hampi
I don't think I have fully explained my relationship with India properly.
It is an entirely love/hate relationship, some days the rickshaw drivers and annoying people make me hate not only the country but all people everywhere, some days I am so in love I consider taking a year off and seeing the rest of it in a 6 month trip. It is facinating, frusterating, beautiful, smelly, and magical all at the same time. Oh India.
Yesterday I told Becca that my relationship with India was going through a rough patch and we were not speaking.
But first India and I had an awesome time! Laura was sick and puking her guts out by the time we got off the train on Wed morning and so we trucked off to find a semi-cheap hotel to rent for just the day so she could rest and Becca and I could leave our crap in the room and visit the zoo!
And that is what we did. The zoo was very sketch and green metal bars around the round concrete cages with one or two logs in them looked like a museum of how old zoos in America used to look and was really depressing. They did boast that they had varieties of pigeons and an "aquarium" that had the same fish you see in a Walmart fish area. We did see two leopards wrestle and saw some porcupines looking sad :-( BUT we also paid to go on a safari in a mini bus with bars on the sides. At first all we saw were deer...lame. But then we went through the sliding metal gates into the sloth bear, tiger, and lion safari areas where each of these animals roamed freely in a large enclosure and we got so close that my pics look like they could be from the national geographic. It was AWESOME!
Then we came back and had just enough time to rush to the movie theater and see Knight and Day as a way to waste the 3 hours until train time. The movie was hilarious and we got freshly cooked french fries, popcorn, a drink, and the ticket for around....$6
Plus I stole loo roll (toilet paper for those of you not living with 2 English girls) and saved us 50 rupees. Win.
Becca couldn't stop laughing when the Indian national anthem played at the beginning of the movie and we all stood up. To be fair the people singing onscreen were making ridiculous faces, but I was still mortified because national loyalty to India is amazingly strong. You always hear about things that are "the best in the world", India has the best milk production, postal service, the most....blah blah blah. But we remained safe and not beat up.
(PS just after I typed about a ton more things the power went out. Luckily blogspot had been saving my draft.Oh India.....)
So then we get to the train and ask about our tickets at the window because they say RAC. We don't know what the means. Ticket lady writes 3 4 5 on it and says we have seats not beds, for a 9 hour journey. Well that bloody well sucks so we go to the platform and wait for the train to arrive. But we have no clue what compartment RAC is so when the train arrives we scurry around asking everywhere and get these answers:
-You have a seat but we can't know where
-Ask the ticket guy, he knows all so just get on the train and wait for him
-You are on the waiting list and have no seats
-Find the ticket man, he is the only one who can help!
-You have seats but are on the wrong end of the train, this end isn't going to Hampi.
So we finally get on the train and wait for the ticket guy bu the aisles are small and we get pushed about and at one point we were all 3 stuck in the center of a compartment with people pushing from both ends and yelling at us to move. It was awful. At LAST, a man (Laura says he was a gift sent by God himself) called the train station and told us that not only do we have seats, YAY!, but we have beds! WOOHOO!!!!!!! Not only were they beds but they were the top berths which is awesome.
Sidenote: In sleeper class there are usually 3 people to each bench. There is the bench itself, an upper bed, and the backrest of the first folds up to become a middle bed. Thus, if you have the top bed then you can lie up there anytime you want because people are never sitting on your bed like the lower one or sitting in front of it like the middle one. So it's awesome.
So the night was SAVED! But first it was awful. So got an amazing nights sleep after that rush of adrenaline and got into Hospet at 7am. We needed to go to the bus stand and get the half hour bus to Hampi. But IMMEDIATELY upon setting foot in the train station, we were surrounded by rickshaw men yelling prices and asking questions and swarming around us until at one point Becca literally screamed like a lunatic "GO AWAY!!! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!?! AHHH!!!!" They mocked her...she did sound crazy. Finally got a 30 rupee rickshaw to Hampi instead, argued prices at 4 hotels and finally settled on one with a TV for 400 rupees. It's worth the extra 50 split between 3 people to have a TV because at night there is not a whole lot to do in India.
So that rocks. Plus I had Nutella and banana pancakes for breakfast and what is better than that? We spent today wandering around Hampi which is an archeological gold mine and the temples and ruins litter the country side. It's like the boulders of Colorado combined with the palm trees and greenery of Florida. It is spectacular. Me and a white cow made friends and he nuzzled me and stuck his nose in my face, Becca has pictures of me giggling like crazy and it will be my profile pic as soon as she posts it!
We paid 160 rupees for a walking tour which took 2.5 hrs and was great exercise. Learned all about the temples and Hinduism. Points which I thought were cool/ I don't feel like typing it all out officially/ interesting things.
It is an entirely love/hate relationship, some days the rickshaw drivers and annoying people make me hate not only the country but all people everywhere, some days I am so in love I consider taking a year off and seeing the rest of it in a 6 month trip. It is facinating, frusterating, beautiful, smelly, and magical all at the same time. Oh India.
Yesterday I told Becca that my relationship with India was going through a rough patch and we were not speaking.
But first India and I had an awesome time! Laura was sick and puking her guts out by the time we got off the train on Wed morning and so we trucked off to find a semi-cheap hotel to rent for just the day so she could rest and Becca and I could leave our crap in the room and visit the zoo!
And that is what we did. The zoo was very sketch and green metal bars around the round concrete cages with one or two logs in them looked like a museum of how old zoos in America used to look and was really depressing. They did boast that they had varieties of pigeons and an "aquarium" that had the same fish you see in a Walmart fish area. We did see two leopards wrestle and saw some porcupines looking sad :-( BUT we also paid to go on a safari in a mini bus with bars on the sides. At first all we saw were deer...lame. But then we went through the sliding metal gates into the sloth bear, tiger, and lion safari areas where each of these animals roamed freely in a large enclosure and we got so close that my pics look like they could be from the national geographic. It was AWESOME!
Then we came back and had just enough time to rush to the movie theater and see Knight and Day as a way to waste the 3 hours until train time. The movie was hilarious and we got freshly cooked french fries, popcorn, a drink, and the ticket for around....$6
Plus I stole loo roll (toilet paper for those of you not living with 2 English girls) and saved us 50 rupees. Win.
Becca couldn't stop laughing when the Indian national anthem played at the beginning of the movie and we all stood up. To be fair the people singing onscreen were making ridiculous faces, but I was still mortified because national loyalty to India is amazingly strong. You always hear about things that are "the best in the world", India has the best milk production, postal service, the most....blah blah blah. But we remained safe and not beat up.
(PS just after I typed about a ton more things the power went out. Luckily blogspot had been saving my draft.Oh India.....)
So then we get to the train and ask about our tickets at the window because they say RAC. We don't know what the means. Ticket lady writes 3 4 5 on it and says we have seats not beds, for a 9 hour journey. Well that bloody well sucks so we go to the platform and wait for the train to arrive. But we have no clue what compartment RAC is so when the train arrives we scurry around asking everywhere and get these answers:
-You have a seat but we can't know where
-Ask the ticket guy, he knows all so just get on the train and wait for him
-You are on the waiting list and have no seats
-Find the ticket man, he is the only one who can help!
-You have seats but are on the wrong end of the train, this end isn't going to Hampi.
So we finally get on the train and wait for the ticket guy bu the aisles are small and we get pushed about and at one point we were all 3 stuck in the center of a compartment with people pushing from both ends and yelling at us to move. It was awful. At LAST, a man (Laura says he was a gift sent by God himself) called the train station and told us that not only do we have seats, YAY!, but we have beds! WOOHOO!!!!!!! Not only were they beds but they were the top berths which is awesome.
Sidenote: In sleeper class there are usually 3 people to each bench. There is the bench itself, an upper bed, and the backrest of the first folds up to become a middle bed. Thus, if you have the top bed then you can lie up there anytime you want because people are never sitting on your bed like the lower one or sitting in front of it like the middle one. So it's awesome.
So the night was SAVED! But first it was awful. So got an amazing nights sleep after that rush of adrenaline and got into Hospet at 7am. We needed to go to the bus stand and get the half hour bus to Hampi. But IMMEDIATELY upon setting foot in the train station, we were surrounded by rickshaw men yelling prices and asking questions and swarming around us until at one point Becca literally screamed like a lunatic "GO AWAY!!! WHY ARE YOU FOLLOWING US?!?! AHHH!!!!" They mocked her...she did sound crazy. Finally got a 30 rupee rickshaw to Hampi instead, argued prices at 4 hotels and finally settled on one with a TV for 400 rupees. It's worth the extra 50 split between 3 people to have a TV because at night there is not a whole lot to do in India.
So that rocks. Plus I had Nutella and banana pancakes for breakfast and what is better than that? We spent today wandering around Hampi which is an archeological gold mine and the temples and ruins litter the country side. It's like the boulders of Colorado combined with the palm trees and greenery of Florida. It is spectacular. Me and a white cow made friends and he nuzzled me and stuck his nose in my face, Becca has pictures of me giggling like crazy and it will be my profile pic as soon as she posts it!
We paid 160 rupees for a walking tour which took 2.5 hrs and was great exercise. Learned all about the temples and Hinduism. Points which I thought were cool/ I don't feel like typing it all out officially/ interesting things.
- Ding Ding carvings are Karma Sutra carvings; they are awkward to look at with a guide; they are on all temples because they keep bad luck out; our guide says if girls are about to be married and are nervous they consult the carvings for education...one involves a snake so I wouldn't suggest it.
- No one worships Brahma except for one temple in Pushkar even though he created the universe because he married one of his daughters. Fail.
- For a good husband, women walk 108 steps around the temple
- some monkey worshiping monks sit around and smoke pot in the temple all day
- the monkey god is the god of strength and gyms have a statue of him to consult before working out
- Some monks of this one division I forget never wear clothes, live in a cave or a temple for 20 years, can go 10 years without eating, spend 10 hrs a day standing on one foot, if you see one out of the cave they are good luck
- People throw dead bodies in the Ganges river and also ashes....this is where all the people go to wash because it is a holy river. Ew.
- Shiva rides the bull Nandi, Vishnu rides an eagle, Ganesh (the one with the elephant head and god of good luck) rides a rat. Fail.
- If a pig enters your house it is good luck to catch him in the center of the house and bury him alive.
- True Jainism people wear a scarf round their mouth so they don't hurt bugs, wave a stick in front of them to avoid harming any living thing, and only eat fruits...nothing from the ground.
- The Muslims ruined all the temples because if a statue of a god has been damaged then it cannot be worshiped.
- Most of these temples were underground until about 1940. How cool is that?!?!?
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Can you Blog in 15 min?
So we did not get up as early as we thought we would and after we packed, left our bags at the hotel, ate breakfast, and went on a search for toilet paper, we have only given ourselves half an hour for internet. And I already used 15 min of it! AH!
Yesterday felt much more productive, we got up and we went in search of the correct bus to take us to Mudamulai (sp?) Tiger Preserve. We took the 3 hour ride through GORGEOUS mountain scenery. It was amazing and I was listening to my iPod so sometimes the music felt like a soundtrack to the drive. Except when Usher came on singing "Yea", the contrast made me laugh out loud. We had high hopes for an elephant ride and we were told when we arrived that we couldn't book anything until 3 and that the elephant safari wouldn't go if it was raining...which it was....
So we sat in the "Canteen" and ate snacks and watched the monkeys roll around and chase each other and watched the babies bugging the adults. It was great fun and a good way to waste an hour. Then we got up to the window where we were supposed to reserve the safari. The wall next to it had some rather graphic photos of why you cannot harass the animals or walk in the forest which involved an elephant tossing a boy into the air and another boy with a snake curled round his legs. But annnnnyways we got up to the window and I asked about the elepant safari. Not only was it running but it was full and you had to book it from, guess where? Ooty. Ok pop quiz, where I am staying?
Ooty!
Did not appreciate that little burst of irony.
So instead we took a camo colored minibus and went on a really bumpy road with all the Indian tourists, but I DID see 20 or so elephants including babies, spotted deer, a wild boar, a wild peacock, and lots of different kinds of monkeys, so the 70 cents it cost was money well spent. Then we went off on our own little adventure down a hill to get close to a group of monkeys. We were within 3 or 4 meters of them and the babies were playing all sorts of games and we got some stellar pics. Which I will upload when I get to Fort Cochi again! On the bus ride back, Becca and I brought back dance favs like Christina's "Dirty" and also "Low". We are now determined to find a dance club in Hampi. Then we came home and found some amazing dinner and read the silly romance novels we had picked up at the local bookstore. Very good for reading aloud and also quick reads, so we have been trading.
Finally we bought some local chocolate, showered with a hot bucket of water, and sat down to watch X Men and then...JAMES BOND! Sean Connery is a stud at any age I must say. We finally crashed and I had a dream that I was home and packing to go back to school. Mom and I were walking and then all of a sudden I stopped and said "Dammit!"
Mom asked "What?"
"Well this is obviously a dream"
"How do you know?"
"Because I don't remember the 18 hour flight home"
Then I woke up and had to pack up. We wandered in search of the mythical toilet paper which Laura and Becca bring everywhere and thus was a neccessity. Now we are at the internet place, taking care of business quickly so we can catch the toy train! So it's toy train, 20 min regular train, overnight train, spend one full day in Bangelore, another overnight train, Hampi! And I only have 2 weeks left, AHHHH!!!!
Gotta fit it all in and get back to Fort Cochi and my beloved laptop. And learn how to wrap my sari properly....Priorities.
Yesterday felt much more productive, we got up and we went in search of the correct bus to take us to Mudamulai (sp?) Tiger Preserve. We took the 3 hour ride through GORGEOUS mountain scenery. It was amazing and I was listening to my iPod so sometimes the music felt like a soundtrack to the drive. Except when Usher came on singing "Yea", the contrast made me laugh out loud. We had high hopes for an elephant ride and we were told when we arrived that we couldn't book anything until 3 and that the elephant safari wouldn't go if it was raining...which it was....
So we sat in the "Canteen" and ate snacks and watched the monkeys roll around and chase each other and watched the babies bugging the adults. It was great fun and a good way to waste an hour. Then we got up to the window where we were supposed to reserve the safari. The wall next to it had some rather graphic photos of why you cannot harass the animals or walk in the forest which involved an elephant tossing a boy into the air and another boy with a snake curled round his legs. But annnnnyways we got up to the window and I asked about the elepant safari. Not only was it running but it was full and you had to book it from, guess where? Ooty. Ok pop quiz, where I am staying?
Ooty!
Did not appreciate that little burst of irony.
So instead we took a camo colored minibus and went on a really bumpy road with all the Indian tourists, but I DID see 20 or so elephants including babies, spotted deer, a wild boar, a wild peacock, and lots of different kinds of monkeys, so the 70 cents it cost was money well spent. Then we went off on our own little adventure down a hill to get close to a group of monkeys. We were within 3 or 4 meters of them and the babies were playing all sorts of games and we got some stellar pics. Which I will upload when I get to Fort Cochi again! On the bus ride back, Becca and I brought back dance favs like Christina's "Dirty" and also "Low". We are now determined to find a dance club in Hampi. Then we came home and found some amazing dinner and read the silly romance novels we had picked up at the local bookstore. Very good for reading aloud and also quick reads, so we have been trading.
Finally we bought some local chocolate, showered with a hot bucket of water, and sat down to watch X Men and then...JAMES BOND! Sean Connery is a stud at any age I must say. We finally crashed and I had a dream that I was home and packing to go back to school. Mom and I were walking and then all of a sudden I stopped and said "Dammit!"
Mom asked "What?"
"Well this is obviously a dream"
"How do you know?"
"Because I don't remember the 18 hour flight home"
Then I woke up and had to pack up. We wandered in search of the mythical toilet paper which Laura and Becca bring everywhere and thus was a neccessity. Now we are at the internet place, taking care of business quickly so we can catch the toy train! So it's toy train, 20 min regular train, overnight train, spend one full day in Bangelore, another overnight train, Hampi! And I only have 2 weeks left, AHHHH!!!!
Gotta fit it all in and get back to Fort Cochi and my beloved laptop. And learn how to wrap my sari properly....Priorities.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Ooty Ooty
If I do this properly and don't get carpel tunnel and don't get bored then this may be a long blog...so sorry!
So when I last left you I was gearing up for my train ride/bus ride to Ooty!
The train ride was a bit hellish because my stomach was still being irksome but I finished my book on Antony and Cleopatra and started a John Grisham book so all was not lost. Then when I was about to get off the train, which is scary because they don't announce the stops so around the time you think you should be getting there you are frantically staring out the window so you don't miss the sign for the station, I had decided to leave Antony and Cleo behind because it cost me all of $3 and I didn't want to carry it because I already had 4 more books in my backpack :-) A lady across from me helpfully told me I had forgotten my book and I said "oh no no I finished it and it's too heavy to carry"
"So you are going to leave it?"
"Yea I have too many others and it is too heavy"
"You really don't want it? Are you sure?"
"Yea yea I'm sure, do you want it?"
"Only if you are really sure"
"Go for it!"
"THANK YOU!" Big smile from random lady. I felt very helpful even though I wasn't leaving the book behind to be helpful, it still made my day that it made her so happy.
Then I had to find my way to the Central Bus Stand. I had no clue where it was. I had my guidebook and knew it was too far to walk. So I asked random man where I could get a rickshaw. Random Man (henceforth to be known as RM) said he would take me and sped off at a rapid pace through the very dirty and confusing streets of Coimbature, a city which I can spell but not pronounce. RM then found me a rickshaw and asked for a price: 100 rupees! What? I think I actually said "Hell no!" because it was more then twice the actual fare! Damn foreigner prices. Not to worry though, RM asked if I was willing to take a local bus? I have no problem with buses as long as someone put me on the right one. RM said he would handle it, so we sped off again to the local bus stop . I was told which bus to go on, we chatted for a bit and when the bus pulled up, RM checked to make sure they would tell me where to get off and then we waved goodbye. Some people in India are awesome and a real lifesaver when you have no clue what you are doing :-)
So the bus was a 35-40 min experience as I spent the time standing and at points the bus was so jammed with people that they were standing in the stairwells. Luckily the bus man pointed me in the right direction and told me where to get off the bus and another local guy helped me get across the crazy lanes of traffic without being crushed like a bug.
And the Central Bus Stand I waited in a big queue for the bus to Ooty behind a woman with a baby who could not use words yet but shrieked every time I stopped looking at him and then giggled whenever I smiled at him. It didn't matter what direction his mum turned, he was determined to look at me and giggle and yell random baby nonsense. He was adorable
On the bus I sat next to the window for what should have only taken 3.5 hrs and really took 4.5 because of a car crash on the mountain roads. So we were going up switchbacks which, if any of my OACers are reading this, would remind someone of the switchbacks that go up the mountains out west and then everything stopped. The men jumped out because even in India, when there is something going on every man must stand and watch and offer commentary or else nothing can proceed properly. And I sat in the bus for around 30-45 min but I didn't care because I saw my very first monkeys in India and the mountain scenery was gorgeous! It looked like the smokey mountains only GREENER! And the monkeys had me riveted simply with their very existence, plus there were babies and the had wrinkled old man faces and it was awesome.
Eventually the bus started moving again, and we drove past a little car which had obviously ran itself into the mountain. It reminded me so much of our trip to the Grand Canyon this past spring when we saw the car crash on the winding mountain roads...but with no snow....and more Indian people
Eventually I got to Ooty and waited for Becca and Laura and we got ourselves a hotel with a TV and the option of having hot water brought up in a bucket, which is cool. And we have had the best time being together ever since.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning trying to figure out the most economical and ethical way to rent horses and go for a ride and arguing with the horse people about not wanting to ride tired or injured horses and eventually settled on going for a hour long ride around the lake.
My horse had an 8 month old foal who waited anxiously for her to come back and she was wonderful except for the fact that the boy who insisted on helping us find our way kept telling her to speed up. This is really irritating because it takes a bit to figure out how the horse responds best and get her really listening to your instructions and then just when you have her at a good pace and want to try a few things, all of a sudden she is listening to the boy and starting off at a trot that you did NOT instigate. A) it was kinda startling and I looked like an idiot because I was not prepared and B) I can do it myseeeeelllllfff!!!!
But other than that it was nice to have a ride round the lake and when we got back we bought the horses some carrots and played with the little foal who we named Ginger (after Becca who is a ginger too). Then we bought a 5 rupee pass to...the Boathouse. Which is like a sketchy old carnival kinda. Complete with old rides, a mirror maze, a haunted house, 3d movie and BUMPER CARS! We did indulge ourselves with this last one and has a surprisingly great time slamming into each other. We also bought some heavenly chocolate and have been eating since we bought it, yuuuummmy.
When we got back to the room we accidentally took a nap/ rest while watching the amazingly awful show called VIP which stars Pamela Anderson as a body guard kinda... so awful it was wonderful. Then it was late and we went to go get internet and got sidetracked when we found a travel agent who was open and booked our tickets (it takes 4 trains) to get to Hampi just in the nick of time. We will be taking the Toy Train which is supposed to be very relaxing and has a gorgeous view of the mountains. The total journey will start at 3:15pm on the 20th and we will reach Hampi 4 trains later at 7am on the 22nd after spending 10 hrs in Bangelore the day before. Then we went to finally find some food while singing Disney songs in loud voices most of the way. It is great to be with the girls again haha!
Today we didn't do much, it has taken a long time to find the internet cafe and we find ourselves enjoying the chance to be lazy and enjoying the cool weather. It is actually COLD in Ooty, I bought a jacket and have been wearing long pants and socks. Plus it is freezing at night and we refuse to move in our little blanket cocoons because when you do you have to warm the whole area up again. It is quite chilly and feels like fall at home.
Tomorrow we want to go to Mudamulai sanctuary and take a jeep tour. We could spend 800 rupees to do an hour long elephant safari but we can still see wild elephants in the jeep which is cheaper, can go farther faster, and really the only downside to the jeep is that we won't see tigers. Which we had a very low chance of seeing anyways. While we are in Bangelore we are going to take an hour long bus ride to a sanctuary where they rehabilitate lions, tigers, sloth bears, etc...from zoos and circuses and other bad situations so that should be way cool!
So I will for sure be seeing Hampi and if I have time, maybe somewhere else, but it will take me a bit to get back to Cochin before I leave so we will see until then I am off to explore Ooty which is a very Indian touristy place, have not seen many Westerners, but the Indian tourists are all over!
And hey look, it wasn't that long and I hit the main bits!
So when I last left you I was gearing up for my train ride/bus ride to Ooty!
The train ride was a bit hellish because my stomach was still being irksome but I finished my book on Antony and Cleopatra and started a John Grisham book so all was not lost. Then when I was about to get off the train, which is scary because they don't announce the stops so around the time you think you should be getting there you are frantically staring out the window so you don't miss the sign for the station, I had decided to leave Antony and Cleo behind because it cost me all of $3 and I didn't want to carry it because I already had 4 more books in my backpack :-) A lady across from me helpfully told me I had forgotten my book and I said "oh no no I finished it and it's too heavy to carry"
"So you are going to leave it?"
"Yea I have too many others and it is too heavy"
"You really don't want it? Are you sure?"
"Yea yea I'm sure, do you want it?"
"Only if you are really sure"
"Go for it!"
"THANK YOU!" Big smile from random lady. I felt very helpful even though I wasn't leaving the book behind to be helpful, it still made my day that it made her so happy.
Then I had to find my way to the Central Bus Stand. I had no clue where it was. I had my guidebook and knew it was too far to walk. So I asked random man where I could get a rickshaw. Random Man (henceforth to be known as RM) said he would take me and sped off at a rapid pace through the very dirty and confusing streets of Coimbature, a city which I can spell but not pronounce. RM then found me a rickshaw and asked for a price: 100 rupees! What? I think I actually said "Hell no!" because it was more then twice the actual fare! Damn foreigner prices. Not to worry though, RM asked if I was willing to take a local bus? I have no problem with buses as long as someone put me on the right one. RM said he would handle it, so we sped off again to the local bus stop . I was told which bus to go on, we chatted for a bit and when the bus pulled up, RM checked to make sure they would tell me where to get off and then we waved goodbye. Some people in India are awesome and a real lifesaver when you have no clue what you are doing :-)
So the bus was a 35-40 min experience as I spent the time standing and at points the bus was so jammed with people that they were standing in the stairwells. Luckily the bus man pointed me in the right direction and told me where to get off the bus and another local guy helped me get across the crazy lanes of traffic without being crushed like a bug.
And the Central Bus Stand I waited in a big queue for the bus to Ooty behind a woman with a baby who could not use words yet but shrieked every time I stopped looking at him and then giggled whenever I smiled at him. It didn't matter what direction his mum turned, he was determined to look at me and giggle and yell random baby nonsense. He was adorable
On the bus I sat next to the window for what should have only taken 3.5 hrs and really took 4.5 because of a car crash on the mountain roads. So we were going up switchbacks which, if any of my OACers are reading this, would remind someone of the switchbacks that go up the mountains out west and then everything stopped. The men jumped out because even in India, when there is something going on every man must stand and watch and offer commentary or else nothing can proceed properly. And I sat in the bus for around 30-45 min but I didn't care because I saw my very first monkeys in India and the mountain scenery was gorgeous! It looked like the smokey mountains only GREENER! And the monkeys had me riveted simply with their very existence, plus there were babies and the had wrinkled old man faces and it was awesome.
Eventually the bus started moving again, and we drove past a little car which had obviously ran itself into the mountain. It reminded me so much of our trip to the Grand Canyon this past spring when we saw the car crash on the winding mountain roads...but with no snow....and more Indian people
Eventually I got to Ooty and waited for Becca and Laura and we got ourselves a hotel with a TV and the option of having hot water brought up in a bucket, which is cool. And we have had the best time being together ever since.
Yesterday we spent most of the morning trying to figure out the most economical and ethical way to rent horses and go for a ride and arguing with the horse people about not wanting to ride tired or injured horses and eventually settled on going for a hour long ride around the lake.
My horse had an 8 month old foal who waited anxiously for her to come back and she was wonderful except for the fact that the boy who insisted on helping us find our way kept telling her to speed up. This is really irritating because it takes a bit to figure out how the horse responds best and get her really listening to your instructions and then just when you have her at a good pace and want to try a few things, all of a sudden she is listening to the boy and starting off at a trot that you did NOT instigate. A) it was kinda startling and I looked like an idiot because I was not prepared and B) I can do it myseeeeelllllfff!!!!
But other than that it was nice to have a ride round the lake and when we got back we bought the horses some carrots and played with the little foal who we named Ginger (after Becca who is a ginger too). Then we bought a 5 rupee pass to...the Boathouse. Which is like a sketchy old carnival kinda. Complete with old rides, a mirror maze, a haunted house, 3d movie and BUMPER CARS! We did indulge ourselves with this last one and has a surprisingly great time slamming into each other. We also bought some heavenly chocolate and have been eating since we bought it, yuuuummmy.
When we got back to the room we accidentally took a nap/ rest while watching the amazingly awful show called VIP which stars Pamela Anderson as a body guard kinda... so awful it was wonderful. Then it was late and we went to go get internet and got sidetracked when we found a travel agent who was open and booked our tickets (it takes 4 trains) to get to Hampi just in the nick of time. We will be taking the Toy Train which is supposed to be very relaxing and has a gorgeous view of the mountains. The total journey will start at 3:15pm on the 20th and we will reach Hampi 4 trains later at 7am on the 22nd after spending 10 hrs in Bangelore the day before. Then we went to finally find some food while singing Disney songs in loud voices most of the way. It is great to be with the girls again haha!
Today we didn't do much, it has taken a long time to find the internet cafe and we find ourselves enjoying the chance to be lazy and enjoying the cool weather. It is actually COLD in Ooty, I bought a jacket and have been wearing long pants and socks. Plus it is freezing at night and we refuse to move in our little blanket cocoons because when you do you have to warm the whole area up again. It is quite chilly and feels like fall at home.
Tomorrow we want to go to Mudamulai sanctuary and take a jeep tour. We could spend 800 rupees to do an hour long elephant safari but we can still see wild elephants in the jeep which is cheaper, can go farther faster, and really the only downside to the jeep is that we won't see tigers. Which we had a very low chance of seeing anyways. While we are in Bangelore we are going to take an hour long bus ride to a sanctuary where they rehabilitate lions, tigers, sloth bears, etc...from zoos and circuses and other bad situations so that should be way cool!
So I will for sure be seeing Hampi and if I have time, maybe somewhere else, but it will take me a bit to get back to Cochin before I leave so we will see until then I am off to explore Ooty which is a very Indian touristy place, have not seen many Westerners, but the Indian tourists are all over!
And hey look, it wasn't that long and I hit the main bits!
Thursday, July 15, 2010
You Just Can't Plan in India
So before I even start this blog, let me first tell you that while I am typing, Survivor is on TV because I am waiting for Friends to come on this channel and it reminds me of when people used to ACTUALLY watch Survivor...like 20 seasons ago
Now today did not go at all like I had planned it to. I must first tell you that even though I have not mentioned it, I start off everyday in India for the past...2 or 3 weeks with horrible stomach cramps. I gotta give it 15min to half an hour and they go away and I go on with my life. No problemo. But today I woke up at 8 am with stomach pains and didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:15 so I am thinking I have plenty of time. Then Shibu calls at 8:45 and says not to worry about getting there until 10 or 10:15.
Now I have even more time! Except that this time the pains do not go away. I have a god awful stomach ache on the very last day I get to go to the clinic. And being VERY experienced with stomach issues, I know that the only thing to do is to ride it out and hopefully doze off and after awhile it will go away. So I tell Shibu that I am sick but that I will rest and hopefully come in at the end of the day.
I proceed to either sit on the floor and pour hot water over my stomach (my solution to not having a bathtub) or to find a comfortable position on my bed and try very hard not to move except to eat a few biscuits or drink some water. I eventually fall asleep watching Nightmare Before Christmas. I wake up shaky around 12:30 with Shibu telling me that he has to leave at 2 for a case. So I get up and get dressed and go sit with Shibu while he eats.
He and I chat about life and such and how I will miss him very much and how I am supposed to call if I need ANYTHING veterinary related or otherwise and he is supposed to let me know whenever he finally decides to come to the US.
Then I went home with Suhra (I don't know if this is the correct spelling and as I suspect you don't care, I will not be getting up to check but she is the lady I visit with after work) and we went to her daughter's house. I have never felt more appreciated as they kept telling me how much they would miss me and Suhra told me more than once that she loved as her own daughter and did I really need to go back to the US? I tried to chat with her granddaughter who is only in about 2nd or 3rd grade, Neha (knee-ha) but she is very very shy and would only grin. Even when I asked her what it is she likes to do because I want to send her a present from America but she did give in and tell me bye eventually and she took a picture with me :-)
But anyways, they made me food, enough food to feed at least 4 or 5 people, and I was the only one eating it. And everyone watched me eat....and told me not to worry about it. But it is weird to have 3-4 people watching you eat. Very strange. Plus the food was amazing but it was the only food I had eaten that day and I did not want to eat too much and anger the stomach gods into making me sick on the train tomorrow. They insisted that it was ok and that it made them happy just seeing me eat. Whatever floats your boat man.
I promised that I will visit when I am back for a few days before I fly out. And I promised Suhra that I will write her letters and will email her daughter. I also plan to send her granddaughters those animal shaped bracelets everyone is nuts about in the US, I think that would be fun!
Got my sari blouses today!!! YAY! The tailor who did them is a woman who has trouble speaking and doesn't speak English, but I paid 50 rupees more than I needed to because she is so nice and looked so genuinely happy to see how happy I was that they fit. We did many thumbs up and I really am so excited. Can't wait to wear them!
As a last note, I had two weird dreams while I dozed this morning. One was that one of my adult teeth got loose and came out. In the other I was walking around Fort Cochin but I had no clothes on so I was trying to find something to wear (no clue why I was naked in this dream) and so I ran into a shop and wrapped a quilt around me but I knew the quilt would be very expensive so I was trying to figure out how much I was willing to pay not to be naked when I realized that I was wearing the Ali Baba pants and that I could pull them up to cover my top and not have to pay anything. Yea dreaming when you are sick is messed up.
Now today did not go at all like I had planned it to. I must first tell you that even though I have not mentioned it, I start off everyday in India for the past...2 or 3 weeks with horrible stomach cramps. I gotta give it 15min to half an hour and they go away and I go on with my life. No problemo. But today I woke up at 8 am with stomach pains and didn't have to leave the hotel until 9:15 so I am thinking I have plenty of time. Then Shibu calls at 8:45 and says not to worry about getting there until 10 or 10:15.
Now I have even more time! Except that this time the pains do not go away. I have a god awful stomach ache on the very last day I get to go to the clinic. And being VERY experienced with stomach issues, I know that the only thing to do is to ride it out and hopefully doze off and after awhile it will go away. So I tell Shibu that I am sick but that I will rest and hopefully come in at the end of the day.
I proceed to either sit on the floor and pour hot water over my stomach (my solution to not having a bathtub) or to find a comfortable position on my bed and try very hard not to move except to eat a few biscuits or drink some water. I eventually fall asleep watching Nightmare Before Christmas. I wake up shaky around 12:30 with Shibu telling me that he has to leave at 2 for a case. So I get up and get dressed and go sit with Shibu while he eats.
He and I chat about life and such and how I will miss him very much and how I am supposed to call if I need ANYTHING veterinary related or otherwise and he is supposed to let me know whenever he finally decides to come to the US.
Then I went home with Suhra (I don't know if this is the correct spelling and as I suspect you don't care, I will not be getting up to check but she is the lady I visit with after work) and we went to her daughter's house. I have never felt more appreciated as they kept telling me how much they would miss me and Suhra told me more than once that she loved as her own daughter and did I really need to go back to the US? I tried to chat with her granddaughter who is only in about 2nd or 3rd grade, Neha (knee-ha) but she is very very shy and would only grin. Even when I asked her what it is she likes to do because I want to send her a present from America but she did give in and tell me bye eventually and she took a picture with me :-)
But anyways, they made me food, enough food to feed at least 4 or 5 people, and I was the only one eating it. And everyone watched me eat....and told me not to worry about it. But it is weird to have 3-4 people watching you eat. Very strange. Plus the food was amazing but it was the only food I had eaten that day and I did not want to eat too much and anger the stomach gods into making me sick on the train tomorrow. They insisted that it was ok and that it made them happy just seeing me eat. Whatever floats your boat man.
I promised that I will visit when I am back for a few days before I fly out. And I promised Suhra that I will write her letters and will email her daughter. I also plan to send her granddaughters those animal shaped bracelets everyone is nuts about in the US, I think that would be fun!
Got my sari blouses today!!! YAY! The tailor who did them is a woman who has trouble speaking and doesn't speak English, but I paid 50 rupees more than I needed to because she is so nice and looked so genuinely happy to see how happy I was that they fit. We did many thumbs up and I really am so excited. Can't wait to wear them!
As a last note, I had two weird dreams while I dozed this morning. One was that one of my adult teeth got loose and came out. In the other I was walking around Fort Cochin but I had no clothes on so I was trying to find something to wear (no clue why I was naked in this dream) and so I ran into a shop and wrapped a quilt around me but I knew the quilt would be very expensive so I was trying to figure out how much I was willing to pay not to be naked when I realized that I was wearing the Ali Baba pants and that I could pull them up to cover my top and not have to pay anything. Yea dreaming when you are sick is messed up.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Home is wherever you make it
So yesterday was...rather boring except for the fact that the coffee man at Cafe Coffee Day got up the nerve to ask me where I was from and what my hobbies are. It was the CUTEST thing. Like really adorable. And facebook cooperated enough to let me talk to people for almost an hour while watching crappy television. I am going to really miss my laptop while I travel because I have grown used to listening to music while I get ready and watching movies while I fall asleep.
Which reminds me I have to pack up all my stuff tomorrow. UGH!!! I hate packing...and laundry...and I gotta do both....
Oh wait! Also yesterday Shibu and I tried to take his car into Fort Cochin for lunch...but when we got there Shibu decided that for 50 rupees more he would rather have the buffet we had already passed, but he got lost and we drove in a GIANT circle back to the clinic and I was biting my nails trying not to laugh as he kept swearing under his breath and we took 40 min to finally get to lunch. Which was not only a very small buffet, it also wasn't all that great. I was very entertained by the whole episode :-)
And today started off very uneventfully with me listing all the states in America to make sure he was pronouncing them correctly. We discovered that Arkansas he had never heard of and everyone in India says EE-O-Ah (Iowa), so that kept us amused until Dr. Sunil got there and we discussed how unbelievably expensive the US is and how Undergraduate school is basically a 4 year waste of time because anything you need to learn for becoming a veterinarian is taught in veterinary school. It was a rather depressing discussion I must say.
Then we got a call for a buffalo (they keep water buffalo as well as cows here) with a prolapsed vagina. In layman's terms that means that the vagina has turned itself inside out and formed a big bubble outside of the body. It is actually a much better situation than it could have been, prolapsed uterus are more common and that means the entire HUGE uterus is outside the body. In this case I stood in a cramped cement shelter with around 15 cows and a few buffalo and watched the processes of cleaning and then pushing the vagina back into the buffalo, while the buffalo is trying to sit or lay down the entire time. It was very interesting, if smelly work.
Shibu is very sad that tomorrow is his last day at the clinic and I am as well. I want to get both he and Sunil a gift but I think I will send something from the US as they can buy anything they want from here :-) But I really will miss Shibu and genuinely hope he visits the states someday.
The best part of the day was when the lady I go home from work with invited me for tea again and her daughter who speaks English came over with her little granddaughter and also a grandson and they were so shy that every time I made a face at them they just collapsed in giggles. The daughter (who's name I CANNOT remember) kept telling me how much they liked me and how sad they were that I was leaving and that I must not forget them and when am I coming back to India? I told them I would come back whenever I could, which I will because I have become completely smitten with this country and want to explore the rest of it. I also gave her my email address and she will email me so we can keep in touch. They have invited me for a late lunch tomorrow and I told them I want to take many pictures with them and she wants to take one on her cell phone and I will send the ones I take via email. Apparently I am the only foreigner they have ever entertained and they just really like me. The lady from work told Shibu that I am much more polite than most foreigners. I just feel so welcome and loved and happy.
You really can make a home for yourself wherever you are and I will be so sad to pack up my home tomorrow night so my bag can be left downstairs with Margaret while I am gone. Besides the fact that you can be at home anywhere you choose, I have learned 2 more important lessons.
1) Always be smiling, even when you don't know what's going on, there is nothing more welcoming and it really does make you happier.
2) laughing at yourself always goes over well. My trials with the language and the mosquitoes has given everyone a laugh, including myself.
To quote a certain group of boys from Apartment 212 (the boys I lived down the hall from all summer):
"Fake it till you feel it"
Smile till you're not faking it anymore :-)
Which reminds me I have to pack up all my stuff tomorrow. UGH!!! I hate packing...and laundry...and I gotta do both....
Oh wait! Also yesterday Shibu and I tried to take his car into Fort Cochin for lunch...but when we got there Shibu decided that for 50 rupees more he would rather have the buffet we had already passed, but he got lost and we drove in a GIANT circle back to the clinic and I was biting my nails trying not to laugh as he kept swearing under his breath and we took 40 min to finally get to lunch. Which was not only a very small buffet, it also wasn't all that great. I was very entertained by the whole episode :-)
And today started off very uneventfully with me listing all the states in America to make sure he was pronouncing them correctly. We discovered that Arkansas he had never heard of and everyone in India says EE-O-Ah (Iowa), so that kept us amused until Dr. Sunil got there and we discussed how unbelievably expensive the US is and how Undergraduate school is basically a 4 year waste of time because anything you need to learn for becoming a veterinarian is taught in veterinary school. It was a rather depressing discussion I must say.
Then we got a call for a buffalo (they keep water buffalo as well as cows here) with a prolapsed vagina. In layman's terms that means that the vagina has turned itself inside out and formed a big bubble outside of the body. It is actually a much better situation than it could have been, prolapsed uterus are more common and that means the entire HUGE uterus is outside the body. In this case I stood in a cramped cement shelter with around 15 cows and a few buffalo and watched the processes of cleaning and then pushing the vagina back into the buffalo, while the buffalo is trying to sit or lay down the entire time. It was very interesting, if smelly work.
Shibu is very sad that tomorrow is his last day at the clinic and I am as well. I want to get both he and Sunil a gift but I think I will send something from the US as they can buy anything they want from here :-) But I really will miss Shibu and genuinely hope he visits the states someday.
The best part of the day was when the lady I go home from work with invited me for tea again and her daughter who speaks English came over with her little granddaughter and also a grandson and they were so shy that every time I made a face at them they just collapsed in giggles. The daughter (who's name I CANNOT remember) kept telling me how much they liked me and how sad they were that I was leaving and that I must not forget them and when am I coming back to India? I told them I would come back whenever I could, which I will because I have become completely smitten with this country and want to explore the rest of it. I also gave her my email address and she will email me so we can keep in touch. They have invited me for a late lunch tomorrow and I told them I want to take many pictures with them and she wants to take one on her cell phone and I will send the ones I take via email. Apparently I am the only foreigner they have ever entertained and they just really like me. The lady from work told Shibu that I am much more polite than most foreigners. I just feel so welcome and loved and happy.
You really can make a home for yourself wherever you are and I will be so sad to pack up my home tomorrow night so my bag can be left downstairs with Margaret while I am gone. Besides the fact that you can be at home anywhere you choose, I have learned 2 more important lessons.
1) Always be smiling, even when you don't know what's going on, there is nothing more welcoming and it really does make you happier.
2) laughing at yourself always goes over well. My trials with the language and the mosquitoes has given everyone a laugh, including myself.
To quote a certain group of boys from Apartment 212 (the boys I lived down the hall from all summer):
"Fake it till you feel it"
Smile till you're not faking it anymore :-)
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sari Sari Sari Time
Ok friends! So after a relatively uneventful veterinary day on Sunday, except for Shibu's daily American lesson which I will elaborate on later, I had given myself 2 options. If it rained, I was going to see the Hill Palace and if stayed beautifully sunny...well then I was gonna spring for the 250 rupees and go for a swim at the Grand Hotel.
Well it was sunny baby! And I spent 3 glorious hours lounging in the pool, sitting on a lounge chair in the shade, and reading a wonderfully witty and pointless romance novel. It was absolutely glorious and then was topped off when Becca and Laura got back from Varkala and we got to go to Dal Roti, our favorite restaurant, for dinner! It was absolutely brilliant and then we watched Valentine's Day and went to bed.
Now Shibu's and my discussion for Sunday was, oddly, about tattoos, tramp stamps, prostitutes, and strip clubs. The last one was especially shocking to Shibu because when he tried to look all knowing and say “ah yes are all bars strip bars in America,” and “so what does this entail? Just pole dance and two pieces?” I think I blew his mind a little when I said they got naked in front of other people. He looked both uncomfortable and intrigued as to the very fuzzy line between legal and illegal when it comes to sex in the US.
“So looking at naked women is fine? Do women go there? Men do it too?! But a whore is someone who has lots of sex? And this isn't illegal. But if they get paid, then it is?”
Highly amusing...Especially because it originally started with asking whether most women in America have their navels pierced.
Today I got up an hour early to have breakfast with the girls before they leave for Mysore and before I had to go to the hospital, only to be called a few min after I awoke and hear the Shibu had fallen in the bathroom and possibly broken, turned out it was only sprained, his leg. So then the girls and I had all day! We sent Becca's bedspread home and I found a sari I liked and haggled until I got it for about $20, I still have to make the top/blouse bit made for underneath and the Margaret said she will help me wear it.
I seriously think she and my grandmother would be best friends. She was just looking at me today, after being reassured that I wasn't leaving today - “I just love seeing your FACE everyday”- and said that I would look pretty in a sari, and luckily I had just bought one. After an amazing lunch at Krishna Café, the best rickshaw driver ever took us on a half willing half reluctant trip to a place where they grind up spices, a pretty statue, a pretty tree, and a local sari shop where....yea I bought another one :-) I couldn't help it and both blouses will be able to go under either sari and its beautiful and only cost me $10. Totally worth it.
So the girls are off to Mysore but I will try to meet them in Ooty on Friday or Sat and then we will travel Hampi together which is way better than going alone. I may hit an animal sanctuary on the way back and then I will leave 2 or 3 days to say goodbye to Cochin before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 3 weeks in India, and I could happily spend another month just in Kerala, but I need to get at least some traveling in. I'm so happy that I chose to stay and make a little home for myself in Fort Cochin because I think I have really gotten to know the people and the culture and meet so many interesting people, but I am glad to have a bit of traveling. Veterinary Hospital tomorrow and then off to the tailor to get my blouses made so I can be schooled in the art of proper sari wearing.
Well it was sunny baby! And I spent 3 glorious hours lounging in the pool, sitting on a lounge chair in the shade, and reading a wonderfully witty and pointless romance novel. It was absolutely glorious and then was topped off when Becca and Laura got back from Varkala and we got to go to Dal Roti, our favorite restaurant, for dinner! It was absolutely brilliant and then we watched Valentine's Day and went to bed.
Now Shibu's and my discussion for Sunday was, oddly, about tattoos, tramp stamps, prostitutes, and strip clubs. The last one was especially shocking to Shibu because when he tried to look all knowing and say “ah yes are all bars strip bars in America,” and “so what does this entail? Just pole dance and two pieces?” I think I blew his mind a little when I said they got naked in front of other people. He looked both uncomfortable and intrigued as to the very fuzzy line between legal and illegal when it comes to sex in the US.
“So looking at naked women is fine? Do women go there? Men do it too?! But a whore is someone who has lots of sex? And this isn't illegal. But if they get paid, then it is?”
Highly amusing...Especially because it originally started with asking whether most women in America have their navels pierced.
Today I got up an hour early to have breakfast with the girls before they leave for Mysore and before I had to go to the hospital, only to be called a few min after I awoke and hear the Shibu had fallen in the bathroom and possibly broken, turned out it was only sprained, his leg. So then the girls and I had all day! We sent Becca's bedspread home and I found a sari I liked and haggled until I got it for about $20, I still have to make the top/blouse bit made for underneath and the Margaret said she will help me wear it.
I seriously think she and my grandmother would be best friends. She was just looking at me today, after being reassured that I wasn't leaving today - “I just love seeing your FACE everyday”- and said that I would look pretty in a sari, and luckily I had just bought one. After an amazing lunch at Krishna Café, the best rickshaw driver ever took us on a half willing half reluctant trip to a place where they grind up spices, a pretty statue, a pretty tree, and a local sari shop where....yea I bought another one :-) I couldn't help it and both blouses will be able to go under either sari and its beautiful and only cost me $10. Totally worth it.
So the girls are off to Mysore but I will try to meet them in Ooty on Friday or Sat and then we will travel Hampi together which is way better than going alone. I may hit an animal sanctuary on the way back and then I will leave 2 or 3 days to say goodbye to Cochin before I leave. I cannot believe I only have 3 weeks in India, and I could happily spend another month just in Kerala, but I need to get at least some traveling in. I'm so happy that I chose to stay and make a little home for myself in Fort Cochin because I think I have really gotten to know the people and the culture and meet so many interesting people, but I am glad to have a bit of traveling. Veterinary Hospital tomorrow and then off to the tailor to get my blouses made so I can be schooled in the art of proper sari wearing.
Friday, July 9, 2010
I am woman.
So if it wasn't for the spotty Internet connection and the 3 geckos I can see from where I am sitting, I could imagine I was home right now because Scrubs is on TV while I type and Friends is up next :-)
My teaching of American slang included the term “chick flick” today. Shibu then mentioned it later to me...only he said “chicken flick”. Win.
Except for some spectacularly poor animal handling today, clinic was not terribly exciting. The rottweiler who came in and needed an IV drip (which at home we would have just given under the skin because even though it is slow to absorb, it is easier, less stressful, and the dog wasn't in critical condition) was put onto a metal table when it could have been done on the floor, then his front leg vein was attempted, not even one growl. But of course he did struggle and because his owners were holding him, they let up and it came out and had to be done on the back leg. But first they dragged the table 3 feet with the dog still on it and obviously terrified by the already scary surface making a loud dragging noise and moving below his feet. So by the time they had poked him twice on his back leg, he sent a growl their way and had to be muzzled. At home we would have held him properly with someone distracting with a milk bone and it would have most likely been done with before he had a chance to panic. But that is not the way it is done here and apparently Indian clients would panic if they saw the bump left under the skin when fluids are given there, even though it goes away after everything is absorbed. Just frustrating to watch when I know I could do it better!
The other interesting thing was a necropsy on a pigeon which led to finding tapeworms. Not unusual in mammals, but very odd to find in a pigeon so we will be googling that fo sho.
Shibu was talking to the lady I have tea with after work (the one whose family I have met) and he told me that they all like me very much and I told him, to tell her, that I feel the same. How I can be liked so much when I can barely communicate boggles my mind but I have learned that when in doubt, a smile is the best response. Apparently this has served me well!
Then I got kidnapped again for tea and, though she has very limited knowledge of English, the lady was able to get across more information about her husbands heart attack and his kidney problems. He just recently had the heart attack and she showed the list of medicines for his kidneys alone and the number of meds is insane and the price is quite high for her. She kept tearing up and while she has serious trouble understanding me, I learned that holding someone's hand crosses all language barriers as a sign of empathy.
I then came home and, after dressing in my new ali baba pants and MATCHING top, talked with Margaret,the 73 year old woman who owns the homestay with her husband, and learned about all the saints on her altar, including the newest one who hails from Kerala (more about her in a moment) and what their first miracle was and about her teaching experience and disdain for corporal punishment. The Keralan saint is very important to Margaret because the first time she prayed to her, back when she was only blessed and not a saint, she prayed for a girl and got a daughter! She reminds me of my grandmother because she instantly mothers you and is so sweet and loving to everyone she meets. She says she always has such wonderful tenants like “our Breanna” and was explaining to me how she was going to go to mass at 7 am as she always does but she just didn't for some reason. Then, at 7 when mass would start, it began thundering and lightening which means it would have been storming while she walked home alone. She is very frightened of thunder and lightening and knew that the holy spirit had a hand in keeping her in bed this once. But she did tell Jesus that if it was sunny out that afternoon, she would bring her husband to mass as it was her sons birthday. And lo and behold! It was! Such faith in God is rare and beautiful and she has such a kind heart. The people in this country have been really interesting but some of the women are just amazing!
Back to arguing with the Internet and watching Friends. Tomorrow? Maybe going out of town for the night, but not sure yet!
My teaching of American slang included the term “chick flick” today. Shibu then mentioned it later to me...only he said “chicken flick”. Win.
Except for some spectacularly poor animal handling today, clinic was not terribly exciting. The rottweiler who came in and needed an IV drip (which at home we would have just given under the skin because even though it is slow to absorb, it is easier, less stressful, and the dog wasn't in critical condition) was put onto a metal table when it could have been done on the floor, then his front leg vein was attempted, not even one growl. But of course he did struggle and because his owners were holding him, they let up and it came out and had to be done on the back leg. But first they dragged the table 3 feet with the dog still on it and obviously terrified by the already scary surface making a loud dragging noise and moving below his feet. So by the time they had poked him twice on his back leg, he sent a growl their way and had to be muzzled. At home we would have held him properly with someone distracting with a milk bone and it would have most likely been done with before he had a chance to panic. But that is not the way it is done here and apparently Indian clients would panic if they saw the bump left under the skin when fluids are given there, even though it goes away after everything is absorbed. Just frustrating to watch when I know I could do it better!
The other interesting thing was a necropsy on a pigeon which led to finding tapeworms. Not unusual in mammals, but very odd to find in a pigeon so we will be googling that fo sho.
Shibu was talking to the lady I have tea with after work (the one whose family I have met) and he told me that they all like me very much and I told him, to tell her, that I feel the same. How I can be liked so much when I can barely communicate boggles my mind but I have learned that when in doubt, a smile is the best response. Apparently this has served me well!
Then I got kidnapped again for tea and, though she has very limited knowledge of English, the lady was able to get across more information about her husbands heart attack and his kidney problems. He just recently had the heart attack and she showed the list of medicines for his kidneys alone and the number of meds is insane and the price is quite high for her. She kept tearing up and while she has serious trouble understanding me, I learned that holding someone's hand crosses all language barriers as a sign of empathy.
I then came home and, after dressing in my new ali baba pants and MATCHING top, talked with Margaret,the 73 year old woman who owns the homestay with her husband, and learned about all the saints on her altar, including the newest one who hails from Kerala (more about her in a moment) and what their first miracle was and about her teaching experience and disdain for corporal punishment. The Keralan saint is very important to Margaret because the first time she prayed to her, back when she was only blessed and not a saint, she prayed for a girl and got a daughter! She reminds me of my grandmother because she instantly mothers you and is so sweet and loving to everyone she meets. She says she always has such wonderful tenants like “our Breanna” and was explaining to me how she was going to go to mass at 7 am as she always does but she just didn't for some reason. Then, at 7 when mass would start, it began thundering and lightening which means it would have been storming while she walked home alone. She is very frightened of thunder and lightening and knew that the holy spirit had a hand in keeping her in bed this once. But she did tell Jesus that if it was sunny out that afternoon, she would bring her husband to mass as it was her sons birthday. And lo and behold! It was! Such faith in God is rare and beautiful and she has such a kind heart. The people in this country have been really interesting but some of the women are just amazing!
Back to arguing with the Internet and watching Friends. Tomorrow? Maybe going out of town for the night, but not sure yet!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
oh India...
Not too much important happened today. Shibu and I had our philosophical and sometimes highly insulting conversations. Though I felt quite smug when he tried to convert kilograms to pounds and was way off, mathematics fail. Especially because my weight was being referred to again and so it is nice to be superior in both math and knowledge of dog breeds. If I ever get the opportunity to demonstrate my skills at animal restraint I think it would be quite the ego boost also. It was really lovely today to see the chocolate lab who has come in every day which I am there. She sits perfectly for her IV fluids and her owner speaks in English so it is a twofold bit of awesomeness and I am a bit smitten. And BONUS she is feeling better each day and is starting to eat again, yay!
I have made a conscious decision to speak exactly as I would at home to Shibu because he wants to travel and the better hand he has at American slang the better he will fit in when he gets the chance to go there. This has led to the definition of chill as in “I'm usually pretty chill” apparently in India they would say “I'm cool”. We are also covering every state because we realized that Indians pronounce it O-heeyo, with the last bit being said very quickly instead of Ohio so now we must check his pronunciation of every state. Thank god for these little moments where I know what I am doing because, as Shibu likes to mention at least once a day, I am a child and he is my elder and teacher and thus he must look out for me and boss me around. I take the liberty of smacking him when he is being an ass, but I do think it is rather sweet that he checks each time to make sure I have gotten home okay. At first I was really offended, I'm 21 for goodness sake, I can get home, but he told me that because he is my teacher he would feel extra awful and responsible if something were to happen to me.
I also realized my first crush on an Indian man. He has deep drown eyes, touched my face softly, and flirted with me in the clinic. He also about a foot tall and probably 2 years old but we had the best time playing peek a boo. Also all vets have the same joke with little kids, they draw up a vaccine and then pretend they are going to give the shot to the little kid....it is just as lame in India :-)
Little shopping trip today, bought 2 cotton tops and 2 pairs of Ali Baba pants. Ali baba pants are all the rage with tourists because they are SO cool and comfortable and mine are doubly so as they are silk! Mine are printed and all of them have a crotch which is below the knees and elastic ankles that keep the copious amount of fabric from going over your feet, so it feels like you are wearing a skirt but it doesn't show your bum when you go up the stairs. Win. But the shop owner was the first rude one I have met. Most shop owners ask what you want and take great pleasure in pulling out every piece they have and spreading them in front of you. He did not do this which made the experience much less pressured, but then he scolded me for not folding them properly and for putting them back to quickly. Excuse me? I was probably one of like 5 customers today, I think you can manage to tidy a bit after me. He was even a bit rude when I told him I didn't want to buy his stuff because it was too expensive and scolded me for trying things on without asking the price and messing up his shop. Well you don't take the time to haggle on something you may not even want! If I hadn't gotten 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops for about $12 I would have walked out.
Also bought a tupperware box to keep food in, because ANY time I have food in the room the ants go crazy and I had to throw away all the snacks I got yesterday because the ants found their way into the bag. While I was buying this I remember that I haven't explained the Indian obsession not only with my white skin but with white skin in general. This translates into abnormal amounts of products that mention “skin whitening effects”, “lightening”, and “whiteness”. The commercials on TV sound like Crest toothpaste commercials or the opposite of tanning lotion commercials, boasting about how your skin will be up to 3 shades lighter in however much time. It is so odd when the majority of the world values a tan and I personally think everything looks much lovelier when a person is tan!
In another little dose of India, I had to be driven to 2 stores which I was not going to buy anything from, in payment for my rides to work in the rickshaw. This is also how we brought the price we paid for the rickshaw to and from the elephant camp to 300 rupees. The rickshaw drivers who bring tourists to certain shops are given either a coupon for a liter of petrol or 100 rupees depending on the store. Now some drivers won't tell you why they are bringing you there and some will ask you to do it as a favor, but if you realize that they are making 100 rupees for a ride that is only costing about 10, you can get yourself some nice deals. Most will you drive you for free if you stop a shop, we knocked 400 rupees off the elephant trip by going into 6 or 7 shops total, and some tourists I met have even gotten the rickshaw drivers to split the money with them and made 150 rupees and got a free ride to where they were going. It's saved me quite a bit although I do get sick of going into tons of shops and being told outrageous “tourist” prices, and being told because it is the off season they can give me a very good discount. These discounts are usually only about 25% when really the actual price that should be charged is like 30-50% of what they tell foreigners. They get away with it because we are not used to bargaining. But bargaining does get tiring and so shopping in India can literally be a shop till ya drop experience.
Sorry if this post was a bit scattered! I just had pancakes with honey and some tea with sugar in it for dinner and maybe I'm on a bit of a sugar high :-)
I have made a conscious decision to speak exactly as I would at home to Shibu because he wants to travel and the better hand he has at American slang the better he will fit in when he gets the chance to go there. This has led to the definition of chill as in “I'm usually pretty chill” apparently in India they would say “I'm cool”. We are also covering every state because we realized that Indians pronounce it O-heeyo, with the last bit being said very quickly instead of Ohio so now we must check his pronunciation of every state. Thank god for these little moments where I know what I am doing because, as Shibu likes to mention at least once a day, I am a child and he is my elder and teacher and thus he must look out for me and boss me around. I take the liberty of smacking him when he is being an ass, but I do think it is rather sweet that he checks each time to make sure I have gotten home okay. At first I was really offended, I'm 21 for goodness sake, I can get home, but he told me that because he is my teacher he would feel extra awful and responsible if something were to happen to me.
I also realized my first crush on an Indian man. He has deep drown eyes, touched my face softly, and flirted with me in the clinic. He also about a foot tall and probably 2 years old but we had the best time playing peek a boo. Also all vets have the same joke with little kids, they draw up a vaccine and then pretend they are going to give the shot to the little kid....it is just as lame in India :-)
Little shopping trip today, bought 2 cotton tops and 2 pairs of Ali Baba pants. Ali baba pants are all the rage with tourists because they are SO cool and comfortable and mine are doubly so as they are silk! Mine are printed and all of them have a crotch which is below the knees and elastic ankles that keep the copious amount of fabric from going over your feet, so it feels like you are wearing a skirt but it doesn't show your bum when you go up the stairs. Win. But the shop owner was the first rude one I have met. Most shop owners ask what you want and take great pleasure in pulling out every piece they have and spreading them in front of you. He did not do this which made the experience much less pressured, but then he scolded me for not folding them properly and for putting them back to quickly. Excuse me? I was probably one of like 5 customers today, I think you can manage to tidy a bit after me. He was even a bit rude when I told him I didn't want to buy his stuff because it was too expensive and scolded me for trying things on without asking the price and messing up his shop. Well you don't take the time to haggle on something you may not even want! If I hadn't gotten 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops for about $12 I would have walked out.
Also bought a tupperware box to keep food in, because ANY time I have food in the room the ants go crazy and I had to throw away all the snacks I got yesterday because the ants found their way into the bag. While I was buying this I remember that I haven't explained the Indian obsession not only with my white skin but with white skin in general. This translates into abnormal amounts of products that mention “skin whitening effects”, “lightening”, and “whiteness”. The commercials on TV sound like Crest toothpaste commercials or the opposite of tanning lotion commercials, boasting about how your skin will be up to 3 shades lighter in however much time. It is so odd when the majority of the world values a tan and I personally think everything looks much lovelier when a person is tan!
In another little dose of India, I had to be driven to 2 stores which I was not going to buy anything from, in payment for my rides to work in the rickshaw. This is also how we brought the price we paid for the rickshaw to and from the elephant camp to 300 rupees. The rickshaw drivers who bring tourists to certain shops are given either a coupon for a liter of petrol or 100 rupees depending on the store. Now some drivers won't tell you why they are bringing you there and some will ask you to do it as a favor, but if you realize that they are making 100 rupees for a ride that is only costing about 10, you can get yourself some nice deals. Most will you drive you for free if you stop a shop, we knocked 400 rupees off the elephant trip by going into 6 or 7 shops total, and some tourists I met have even gotten the rickshaw drivers to split the money with them and made 150 rupees and got a free ride to where they were going. It's saved me quite a bit although I do get sick of going into tons of shops and being told outrageous “tourist” prices, and being told because it is the off season they can give me a very good discount. These discounts are usually only about 25% when really the actual price that should be charged is like 30-50% of what they tell foreigners. They get away with it because we are not used to bargaining. But bargaining does get tiring and so shopping in India can literally be a shop till ya drop experience.
Sorry if this post was a bit scattered! I just had pancakes with honey and some tea with sugar in it for dinner and maybe I'm on a bit of a sugar high :-)
oh India...
Not too much important happened today. Shibu and I had our philosophical and sometimes highly insulting conversations. Though I felt quite smug when he tried to convert kilograms to pounds and was way off, mathematics fail. Especially because my weight was being referred to again and so it is nice to be superior in both math and knowledge of dog breeds. If I ever get the opportunity to demonstrate my skills at animal restraint I think it would be quite the ego boost also. It was really lovely today to see the chocolate lab who has come in every day which I am there. She sits perfectly for her IV fluids and her owner speaks in English so it is a twofold bit of awesomeness and I am a bit smitten. And BONUS she is feeling better each day and is starting to eat again, yay!
I have made a conscious decision to speak exactly as I would at home to Shibu because he wants to travel and the better hand he has at American slang the better he will fit in when he gets the chance to go there. This has led to the definition of chill as in “I'm usually pretty chill” apparently in India they would say “I'm cool”. We are also covering every state because we realized that Indians pronounce it O-heeyo, with the last bit being said very quickly instead of Ohio so now we must check his pronunciation of every state. Thank god for these little moments where I know what I am doing because, as Shibu likes to mention at least once a day, I am a child and he is my elder and teacher and thus he must look out for me and boss me around. I take the liberty of smacking him when he is being an ass, but I do think it is rather sweet that he checks each time to make sure I have gotten home okay. At first I was really offended, I'm 21 for goodness sake, I can get home, but he told me that because he is my teacher he would feel extra awful and responsible if something were to happen to me.
I also realized my first crush on an Indian man. He has deep drown eyes, touched my face softly, and flirted with me in the clinic. He also about a foot tall and probably 2 years old but we had the best time playing peek a boo. Also all vets have the same joke with little kids, they draw up a vaccine and then pretend they are going to give the shot to the little kid....it is just as lame in India :-)
Little shopping trip today, bought 2 cotton tops and 2 pairs of Ali Baba pants. Ali baba pants are all the rage with tourists because they are SO cool and comfortable and mine are doubly so as they are silk! Mine are printed and all of them have a crotch which is below the knees and elastic ankles that keep the copious amount of fabric from going over your feet, so it feels like you are wearing a skirt but it doesn't show your bum when you go up the stairs. Win. But the shop owner was the first rude one I have met. Most shop owners ask what you want and take great pleasure in pulling out every piece they have and spreading them in front of you. He did not do this which made the experience much less pressured, but then he scolded me for not folding them properly and for putting them back to quickly. Excuse me? I was probably one of like 5 customers today, I think you can manage to tidy a bit after me. He was even a bit rude when I told him I didn't want to buy his stuff because it was too expensive and scolded me for trying things on without asking the price and messing up his shop. Well you don't take the time to haggle on something you may not even want! If I hadn't gotten 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops for about $12 I would have walked out.
Also bought a tupperware box to keep food in, because ANY time I have food in the room the ants go crazy and I had to throw away all the snacks I got yesterday because the ants found their way into the bag. While I was buying this I remember that I haven't explained the Indian obsession not only with my white skin but with white skin in general. This translates into abnormal amounts of products that mention “skin whitening effects”, “lightening”, and “whiteness”. The commercials on TV sound like Crest toothpaste commercials or the opposite of tanning lotion commercials, boasting about how your skin will be up to 3 shades lighter in however much time. It is so odd when the majority of the world values a tan and I personally think everything looks much lovelier when a person is tan!
In another little dose of India, I had to be driven to 2 stores which I was not going to buy anything from, in payment for my rides to work in the rickshaw. This is also how we brought the price we paid for the rickshaw to and from the elephant camp to 300 rupees. The rickshaw drivers who bring tourists to certain shops are given either a coupon for a liter of petrol or 100 rupees depending on the store. Now some drivers won't tell you why they are bringing you there and some will ask you to do it as a favor, but if you realize that they are making 100 rupees for a ride that is only costing about 10, you can get yourself some nice deals. Most will you drive you for free if you stop a shop, we knocked 400 rupees off the elephant trip by going into 6 or 7 shops total, and some tourists I met have even gotten the rickshaw drivers to split the money with them and made 150 rupees and got a free ride to where they were going. It's saved me quite a bit although I do get sick of going into tons of shops and being told outrageous “tourist” prices, and being told because it is the off season they can give me a very good discount. These discounts are usually only about 25% when really the actual price that should be charged is like 30-50% of what they tell foreigners. They get away with it because we are not used to bargaining. But bargaining does get tiring and so shopping in India can literally be a shop till ya drop experience.
Sorry if this post was a bit scattered! I just had pancakes with honey and some tea with sugar in it for dinner and maybe I'm on a bit of a sugar high :-)
I have made a conscious decision to speak exactly as I would at home to Shibu because he wants to travel and the better hand he has at American slang the better he will fit in when he gets the chance to go there. This has led to the definition of chill as in “I'm usually pretty chill” apparently in India they would say “I'm cool”. We are also covering every state because we realized that Indians pronounce it O-heeyo, with the last bit being said very quickly instead of Ohio so now we must check his pronunciation of every state. Thank god for these little moments where I know what I am doing because, as Shibu likes to mention at least once a day, I am a child and he is my elder and teacher and thus he must look out for me and boss me around. I take the liberty of smacking him when he is being an ass, but I do think it is rather sweet that he checks each time to make sure I have gotten home okay. At first I was really offended, I'm 21 for goodness sake, I can get home, but he told me that because he is my teacher he would feel extra awful and responsible if something were to happen to me.
I also realized my first crush on an Indian man. He has deep drown eyes, touched my face softly, and flirted with me in the clinic. He also about a foot tall and probably 2 years old but we had the best time playing peek a boo. Also all vets have the same joke with little kids, they draw up a vaccine and then pretend they are going to give the shot to the little kid....it is just as lame in India :-)
Little shopping trip today, bought 2 cotton tops and 2 pairs of Ali Baba pants. Ali baba pants are all the rage with tourists because they are SO cool and comfortable and mine are doubly so as they are silk! Mine are printed and all of them have a crotch which is below the knees and elastic ankles that keep the copious amount of fabric from going over your feet, so it feels like you are wearing a skirt but it doesn't show your bum when you go up the stairs. Win. But the shop owner was the first rude one I have met. Most shop owners ask what you want and take great pleasure in pulling out every piece they have and spreading them in front of you. He did not do this which made the experience much less pressured, but then he scolded me for not folding them properly and for putting them back to quickly. Excuse me? I was probably one of like 5 customers today, I think you can manage to tidy a bit after me. He was even a bit rude when I told him I didn't want to buy his stuff because it was too expensive and scolded me for trying things on without asking the price and messing up his shop. Well you don't take the time to haggle on something you may not even want! If I hadn't gotten 3 pairs of pants and 2 tops for about $12 I would have walked out.
Also bought a tupperware box to keep food in, because ANY time I have food in the room the ants go crazy and I had to throw away all the snacks I got yesterday because the ants found their way into the bag. While I was buying this I remember that I haven't explained the Indian obsession not only with my white skin but with white skin in general. This translates into abnormal amounts of products that mention “skin whitening effects”, “lightening”, and “whiteness”. The commercials on TV sound like Crest toothpaste commercials or the opposite of tanning lotion commercials, boasting about how your skin will be up to 3 shades lighter in however much time. It is so odd when the majority of the world values a tan and I personally think everything looks much lovelier when a person is tan!
In another little dose of India, I had to be driven to 2 stores which I was not going to buy anything from, in payment for my rides to work in the rickshaw. This is also how we brought the price we paid for the rickshaw to and from the elephant camp to 300 rupees. The rickshaw drivers who bring tourists to certain shops are given either a coupon for a liter of petrol or 100 rupees depending on the store. Now some drivers won't tell you why they are bringing you there and some will ask you to do it as a favor, but if you realize that they are making 100 rupees for a ride that is only costing about 10, you can get yourself some nice deals. Most will you drive you for free if you stop a shop, we knocked 400 rupees off the elephant trip by going into 6 or 7 shops total, and some tourists I met have even gotten the rickshaw drivers to split the money with them and made 150 rupees and got a free ride to where they were going. It's saved me quite a bit although I do get sick of going into tons of shops and being told outrageous “tourist” prices, and being told because it is the off season they can give me a very good discount. These discounts are usually only about 25% when really the actual price that should be charged is like 30-50% of what they tell foreigners. They get away with it because we are not used to bargaining. But bargaining does get tiring and so shopping in India can literally be a shop till ya drop experience.
Sorry if this post was a bit scattered! I just had pancakes with honey and some tea with sugar in it for dinner and maybe I'm on a bit of a sugar high :-)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
New!
Please note the new Photos page at the top of the screen
I will try to post more frequently and take more pictures though I will only post my favorites or ones that are important to my stories on here. Look for the rest on facebook when I get home!
Gracias for reading guys!
I will try to post more frequently and take more pictures though I will only post my favorites or ones that are important to my stories on here. Look for the rest on facebook when I get home!
Gracias for reading guys!
Lessons Learned
So before I get into my veterinary experiences for today, I think I will give you a little glimpse of my days in India.
To start off I think I am finally prepared to explain about driving in India. Now I have been putting it off as I don't want my parents to have a heart attack but it is the most bizarre experience and I feel a bit selfish keeping it to myself!
There are very few rules about driving in India
1)Honk all the time
2)Fit through any space necessary
3)Slow down abruptly before one of the millions of speed bumps or potholes
4)Do not hit cows
5)Do not hit anything else
6)Go where you need to go by any means necessary
Did you notice that drive on the correct, the left, side of the road isn't listed? Or pass on the right hand side? Or go the correct way on a roundabout? Nothing about right of way?
Yea....those are not important. Check rule number 6, the means is not important! It is much more important to honk at anything that is even remotely in your way and, in very high traffic situations, to weave your vehicle to the front of the queue even if that means that there one bus, 3 motorbikes, and 2 rickshaws all jammed onto one side of the road waiting turn. Now if the vehicle in front of you is going too slow, you may pass as long as there is enough space to wriggle through on either side. If a car is coming from the other direction, you will either speed up and make it or one of you will slow down at the last minute.
Now in America I hate when people speed until the last second and then slam on the breaks, but here? I'm over it. If I wasn't, I would already have an ulcer. The amazing thing is that they are really excellent drivers. Everyone has known at least someone in their lifetime who drove at ridiculous speeds and dared to do what you never would in a car and yet you would trust them with your life because they had such control over the vehicle...and some of you reading may even even be that person. But in India, nearly everyone is like that. It is really something amazing to see, if a bit terrifying. I told Penny once that I think that the Indian driving test should be nothing more than driving in a straight line while someone rolls soccer balls in front of you and you pass if you manage not to hit any of them. There really are not that many accidents, I saw my first one yesterday on the way home from the elephants and I do not believe there were any injuries.
Now that you know about the driving, do you see why I was a bit nervous riding 35 min on a motorbike in the city? Sorry mom and dad, but alls well that ends well :-)
Now on to today! The morning was extremely busy as far as cases are concerned and I watched Shibu reposition and deliver a stillborn baby goat,it took probably half an hour and was very nerve-wracking for Shibu I'm sure as the vet work is carried out on one of 3 tables in an open area in the hospital and at times the place looks like a cinema with everyone standing and watching the veterinarian work. Today Shibu and I both learned that there is an exam/surgery room but they don't use it because the door was hard to open...
That would have been nice to know as it is not good to have 5-15 people on hand to point out any mistakes which may have been made. It is being cleaned so that it can be used for surgeries and other procedures that are best done without an audience.
Bedside manner is very different here. Owners restrain their own animals because they know them best and it is not the veterinarian's job. I have explained to Shibu that it is VERY inefficient because often they muzzle a dog that I could have easily restrained or have to do an injection twice because the owner cannot keep the animal from wriggling about. But I cannot change Indian culture as much as it kills me to watch things done so.....ridiculously!!! It's a puppy for heaven's sake, you don't have to muzzle it, just don't let it bite you. It's the size of a football...But Indians are usually nervous around dogs even if they are small.
Indian culture is something I learn more about each and every day. For example, I am was helping the senior veterinarian with his plans for a clinic he is building and when talking about staff I told him that we do not have a sweeper at Agri-pet (where I work at school) but that the receptionists, technicians, and myself clean during slow moments. It also came up that we have 3 receptionists who work half days and alternating days, etc... Both these things would be unheard of in India. You would only have one receptionist, who would only do receptionist work and would work Mon-Sat and maybe even part of Sunday. No back-up person and no pitching in on other work. It is simply how it is done.
Shibu and I also had a conversation about how he hates that in Western culture relationships are not as strong. Meaning that father-son, mother-daughter, husband-wife relationships in America are not as strong as in India. This may or may not be true as it is important to both parties in a relationship in America that the other person is happy and sometimes that means stepping a bit on the happiness of others. For example, if your mother would really be happy if you stayed home and cleaned house for her all your life, she would not force you into it because it would not make you happy and she wants you to be happy. I dunno if that is the case in India...familial guilt seems to run pretty deep and has large effects on behavior. We also discussed the most common reasons for divorce which he was sure was extra-marital affairs and I told him that it was one of many reasons which also include people who married too young and eventually grew apart. He laughed (still unsure of why, maybe because most women in India are married with 2 children at the age of 26?). We also discussed whether I had met any presidents and whether or not the Monica Lewinsky thing was just a story or actually happened. Sadly I had to tell him that it was a true story. Was also reminded that even though the world hated him, George Bush was our president for 8 years, India is not impressed. Way to go America on both counts
.
So after work the past two days, I have been kidnapped. Sort of. I am sent off in a rickshaw with one of the ladies at work who lives about ¾ of the way home. She speaks little English and before I got to go home yesterday, I had a cup of tea and met her husband, oldest daughter, and grandchild. Today I went to her other daughter's house, was fed snacks, and met her younger daughter, other granddaughter (who was woken up for the occasion), son in law, niece, niece's husband, a neighbor and then was taken back to her house to meet her son. It is so weird watching people talk, being able to pick out enough words to know they are talking about you and not understand a word. Her daughter whose house I visited today spoke English but had trouble understanding me and laughed when I commented on the fact that almost everyone was watching me eat and drink tea. I can't have too much of a conversation but I think just my presence is enough for everyone else and my answers to questions about the size of my family, what I am doing in India, where I am staying, and what I eat are translated and discussed though I cannot understand any of it. I had to use calling my mother as an excuse to leave today after an hour and half of being offered snacks any time I was not eating and the stress of smiling because you have no clue what is going on. They probably think I am just a rather dull but very happy woman. Before I left I was taken to see the new balcony which had a gorgeous wrought iron railing that had peacock shapes in it and I ooohed and ahhed appropriately and I really meant it!
Got a little lost on the way home and ran into some school children who were trying to get me to take 4 kittens home with me. I tried to explain that I lived in a hotel and asked where their mother was until a little boy finally understood and drew his finger across his throat one time, making a face and I understood the universal sign for dead. The kittens barely had their eyes open but when I called Shibu to ask what to do he told me “I know you want to help, but it is not feasible. They will have no where to go and there are too many stray cats. Just put them to the side of the road so they do not get run over but leave them there. There is nothing you can do.” I told him later that it was so against everything I believe in to leave them there to starve, but there is no animal shelter to take them too and I miss America's systems. He understood and felt the same way but it did not really help scrub off the guilt even though there really had been nothing I could have done. Such lessons are hard learned and make me more determined than ever to prevent things like this from happening when I have the ability.
I am an oddity here because I call street dogs over all the time for a quick scratch on the head, baby talk to our patients while stroking their head to calm them, and want to play with each puppy that comes in. The street dogs are all so sweet and get the happiest looks on their little faces when you give them attention. One quick cuddle and you are fast friends, people in America would kill to have such friendly and well behaved dogs. At Mad Dogs Trust I found that the street dogs were often the most well behaved for exams and in fact not once did any of them growl at me or try to snap even when I was cleaning very extensive wounds. I don't know if I mentioned Spartacus who had a wound which covered where his ear used to be and did not need restraining at all to have it cleaned; he simply gritted his teeth and looked pained until we were finished. Your loss America, too bad I cannot ship you some of these amazing dogs!
The rest of the day I spent running errands and having dinner and am now watching What
Happens in Vegas in our living room area. Oh also talked to my mommy, cuz, well...a girls gotta talk to her mom! Working again tomorrow and I cannot wait.
Appreciate our nicely organized animal shelters and go adopt a shelter dog!
To start off I think I am finally prepared to explain about driving in India. Now I have been putting it off as I don't want my parents to have a heart attack but it is the most bizarre experience and I feel a bit selfish keeping it to myself!
There are very few rules about driving in India
1)Honk all the time
2)Fit through any space necessary
3)Slow down abruptly before one of the millions of speed bumps or potholes
4)Do not hit cows
5)Do not hit anything else
6)Go where you need to go by any means necessary
Did you notice that drive on the correct, the left, side of the road isn't listed? Or pass on the right hand side? Or go the correct way on a roundabout? Nothing about right of way?
Yea....those are not important. Check rule number 6, the means is not important! It is much more important to honk at anything that is even remotely in your way and, in very high traffic situations, to weave your vehicle to the front of the queue even if that means that there one bus, 3 motorbikes, and 2 rickshaws all jammed onto one side of the road waiting turn. Now if the vehicle in front of you is going too slow, you may pass as long as there is enough space to wriggle through on either side. If a car is coming from the other direction, you will either speed up and make it or one of you will slow down at the last minute.
Now in America I hate when people speed until the last second and then slam on the breaks, but here? I'm over it. If I wasn't, I would already have an ulcer. The amazing thing is that they are really excellent drivers. Everyone has known at least someone in their lifetime who drove at ridiculous speeds and dared to do what you never would in a car and yet you would trust them with your life because they had such control over the vehicle...and some of you reading may even even be that person. But in India, nearly everyone is like that. It is really something amazing to see, if a bit terrifying. I told Penny once that I think that the Indian driving test should be nothing more than driving in a straight line while someone rolls soccer balls in front of you and you pass if you manage not to hit any of them. There really are not that many accidents, I saw my first one yesterday on the way home from the elephants and I do not believe there were any injuries.
Now that you know about the driving, do you see why I was a bit nervous riding 35 min on a motorbike in the city? Sorry mom and dad, but alls well that ends well :-)
Now on to today! The morning was extremely busy as far as cases are concerned and I watched Shibu reposition and deliver a stillborn baby goat,it took probably half an hour and was very nerve-wracking for Shibu I'm sure as the vet work is carried out on one of 3 tables in an open area in the hospital and at times the place looks like a cinema with everyone standing and watching the veterinarian work. Today Shibu and I both learned that there is an exam/surgery room but they don't use it because the door was hard to open...
That would have been nice to know as it is not good to have 5-15 people on hand to point out any mistakes which may have been made. It is being cleaned so that it can be used for surgeries and other procedures that are best done without an audience.
Bedside manner is very different here. Owners restrain their own animals because they know them best and it is not the veterinarian's job. I have explained to Shibu that it is VERY inefficient because often they muzzle a dog that I could have easily restrained or have to do an injection twice because the owner cannot keep the animal from wriggling about. But I cannot change Indian culture as much as it kills me to watch things done so.....ridiculously!!! It's a puppy for heaven's sake, you don't have to muzzle it, just don't let it bite you. It's the size of a football...But Indians are usually nervous around dogs even if they are small.
Indian culture is something I learn more about each and every day. For example, I am was helping the senior veterinarian with his plans for a clinic he is building and when talking about staff I told him that we do not have a sweeper at Agri-pet (where I work at school) but that the receptionists, technicians, and myself clean during slow moments. It also came up that we have 3 receptionists who work half days and alternating days, etc... Both these things would be unheard of in India. You would only have one receptionist, who would only do receptionist work and would work Mon-Sat and maybe even part of Sunday. No back-up person and no pitching in on other work. It is simply how it is done.
Shibu and I also had a conversation about how he hates that in Western culture relationships are not as strong. Meaning that father-son, mother-daughter, husband-wife relationships in America are not as strong as in India. This may or may not be true as it is important to both parties in a relationship in America that the other person is happy and sometimes that means stepping a bit on the happiness of others. For example, if your mother would really be happy if you stayed home and cleaned house for her all your life, she would not force you into it because it would not make you happy and she wants you to be happy. I dunno if that is the case in India...familial guilt seems to run pretty deep and has large effects on behavior. We also discussed the most common reasons for divorce which he was sure was extra-marital affairs and I told him that it was one of many reasons which also include people who married too young and eventually grew apart. He laughed (still unsure of why, maybe because most women in India are married with 2 children at the age of 26?). We also discussed whether I had met any presidents and whether or not the Monica Lewinsky thing was just a story or actually happened. Sadly I had to tell him that it was a true story. Was also reminded that even though the world hated him, George Bush was our president for 8 years, India is not impressed. Way to go America on both counts
.
So after work the past two days, I have been kidnapped. Sort of. I am sent off in a rickshaw with one of the ladies at work who lives about ¾ of the way home. She speaks little English and before I got to go home yesterday, I had a cup of tea and met her husband, oldest daughter, and grandchild. Today I went to her other daughter's house, was fed snacks, and met her younger daughter, other granddaughter (who was woken up for the occasion), son in law, niece, niece's husband, a neighbor and then was taken back to her house to meet her son. It is so weird watching people talk, being able to pick out enough words to know they are talking about you and not understand a word. Her daughter whose house I visited today spoke English but had trouble understanding me and laughed when I commented on the fact that almost everyone was watching me eat and drink tea. I can't have too much of a conversation but I think just my presence is enough for everyone else and my answers to questions about the size of my family, what I am doing in India, where I am staying, and what I eat are translated and discussed though I cannot understand any of it. I had to use calling my mother as an excuse to leave today after an hour and half of being offered snacks any time I was not eating and the stress of smiling because you have no clue what is going on. They probably think I am just a rather dull but very happy woman. Before I left I was taken to see the new balcony which had a gorgeous wrought iron railing that had peacock shapes in it and I ooohed and ahhed appropriately and I really meant it!
Got a little lost on the way home and ran into some school children who were trying to get me to take 4 kittens home with me. I tried to explain that I lived in a hotel and asked where their mother was until a little boy finally understood and drew his finger across his throat one time, making a face and I understood the universal sign for dead. The kittens barely had their eyes open but when I called Shibu to ask what to do he told me “I know you want to help, but it is not feasible. They will have no where to go and there are too many stray cats. Just put them to the side of the road so they do not get run over but leave them there. There is nothing you can do.” I told him later that it was so against everything I believe in to leave them there to starve, but there is no animal shelter to take them too and I miss America's systems. He understood and felt the same way but it did not really help scrub off the guilt even though there really had been nothing I could have done. Such lessons are hard learned and make me more determined than ever to prevent things like this from happening when I have the ability.
I am an oddity here because I call street dogs over all the time for a quick scratch on the head, baby talk to our patients while stroking their head to calm them, and want to play with each puppy that comes in. The street dogs are all so sweet and get the happiest looks on their little faces when you give them attention. One quick cuddle and you are fast friends, people in America would kill to have such friendly and well behaved dogs. At Mad Dogs Trust I found that the street dogs were often the most well behaved for exams and in fact not once did any of them growl at me or try to snap even when I was cleaning very extensive wounds. I don't know if I mentioned Spartacus who had a wound which covered where his ear used to be and did not need restraining at all to have it cleaned; he simply gritted his teeth and looked pained until we were finished. Your loss America, too bad I cannot ship you some of these amazing dogs!
The rest of the day I spent running errands and having dinner and am now watching What
Happens in Vegas in our living room area. Oh also talked to my mommy, cuz, well...a girls gotta talk to her mom! Working again tomorrow and I cannot wait.
Appreciate our nicely organized animal shelters and go adopt a shelter dog!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
And I got a little behind on blogging....
Oops!
Well I am really loving shadowing at the hospital although Indians are very blunt as a rule and when I asked Shibu to translate what a lady we work with was saying about me he informed me that she says I will be hard to marry off because I am tall and big. So that's...awkward. But I laughed anyhow!
Sunday I did not shadow because Shibu's grandfather is ill with cancer and he had to go see him so myself and two girls I met in Goa who are staying in the same hotel as me (I recommended it to them when in Goa not thinking that I would be living there also) went on a cruise in the backwaters of Kerala. It was so gorgeous! a big wooden boat just floating for 7 hours in the sun with the palm trees all around and we stopped to see how to make.... calcium hydroxide? maybe...something out of shells with a chemical process that made me think of my dear friend Matt Smola although I meant to remember the process and promptly forget even the name of the substance. We also saw how to make rope out of coconut fiber and ate a delicious Keralan lunch served on a banana leaf and eaten with your hand. Only your right hand is used to eat food and I am getting much better at the technique. It is kind of complicated and Shibu laughed at me for most of lunch while I tried to oush rice in with my thumb without touching my mouth with my fingers and usually spilling rice down my front. But now I look like a pro!
Then Monday was a boring day because of HARTHAL. Always all caps. I dunno why. It was an India-wide strike because of the increase in petrol prices and all but 2 restaurants were closed and most shops so we ( Laura, Beca, and I) wandered a bit, ate, and bought pastries to eat for dinner later. We also read a lot, watched TV, and let Beca, an illustration major, draw on us with henna. Which by the way looks awesome and proves that a girls night in is a concept that spans continents.
Today we awoke at 5:30 to get in a rickshaw at 6am. Ew right? Butttttt!
I got to touch an elephant!!!! We went to the Kononadu elephant training camp and walked to the river to watch and help bathe the elephants. So much less structured than here, I got to cuddle on the 7 year old named Asa as long as I wanted and was smitten by her ever moving trunk and her sweet eyes which were eye level with mine at her age. The little 4 year old, Alesha was also gorgeous and when I ran my hand down her trunk, the tip reached out and curled around my finger and I think my heart stopped beating. The two adults were absolutely massive and made me nervous, excited, and amazed all at the same time. They feel nothing like you would expect, both stiff and rubbery and the bristles on their heads and body feel like toothbrush bristles against your hands.
It was interesting to note how the younger two were treated as opposed to the older 2. The younger ones were constantly being talked at and smacked with sticks, and when I say smacked you must understand that the hardest I could hit would have barely phased the elephants, because they must not be allowed to get away with any misbehavior. If a young elephant wanders about and plucks at your hair it is cute, if it does it when as tall as a house, it may squash 6 people on the way. It was a bit like watchin a mother bathe a two year old. I imagined the conversations went like this although I could not understand the language of the Mahuts.
"Lift your leg I have to wash them"
elephant tries to sit
"no no your leg!'
"now behind your ears"
elephant rolls over
"oh come on seriously behave yourself and it's filthy back here what did you roll in?"
It was marvelous and I am so glad I went! Then we went on an elephant ride, very short but the feeling of sitting on an elephant bareback, even with 2 other people, and feeling the warmth of their skin radiating onto your legs and their muscles barely registering the extra weight, it is simply addictive. I cannot wait to schedule a trek into the wildlife preserve on elephant back, the forestry department elephants are trained at the training center we went to and now I know that whatever the price may be it's worth it for this kind of experience.
Then we went shopping and Beca and I bought a silk patchwork quilt which cost 4000 at the start and we argued down to 1050 for each. It's king sized and gorgeous and cost about $20. Hell yes! Even though the haggling does leave you quite exhausted I tell ya!
Oh and my laptop cord got fixed for free, all I had to pay for was the plug for 6 rupees (12 cents) and I gave the guy 10 rupees because he was so nice. Now I must go eat cuz I'm starving and the girls leave tomorrow :-( But I will make more friends soon I'm sure and I will be at the hospital again tomorrow woohoo!!!!
Well I am really loving shadowing at the hospital although Indians are very blunt as a rule and when I asked Shibu to translate what a lady we work with was saying about me he informed me that she says I will be hard to marry off because I am tall and big. So that's...awkward. But I laughed anyhow!
Sunday I did not shadow because Shibu's grandfather is ill with cancer and he had to go see him so myself and two girls I met in Goa who are staying in the same hotel as me (I recommended it to them when in Goa not thinking that I would be living there also) went on a cruise in the backwaters of Kerala. It was so gorgeous! a big wooden boat just floating for 7 hours in the sun with the palm trees all around and we stopped to see how to make.... calcium hydroxide? maybe...something out of shells with a chemical process that made me think of my dear friend Matt Smola although I meant to remember the process and promptly forget even the name of the substance. We also saw how to make rope out of coconut fiber and ate a delicious Keralan lunch served on a banana leaf and eaten with your hand. Only your right hand is used to eat food and I am getting much better at the technique. It is kind of complicated and Shibu laughed at me for most of lunch while I tried to oush rice in with my thumb without touching my mouth with my fingers and usually spilling rice down my front. But now I look like a pro!
Then Monday was a boring day because of HARTHAL. Always all caps. I dunno why. It was an India-wide strike because of the increase in petrol prices and all but 2 restaurants were closed and most shops so we ( Laura, Beca, and I) wandered a bit, ate, and bought pastries to eat for dinner later. We also read a lot, watched TV, and let Beca, an illustration major, draw on us with henna. Which by the way looks awesome and proves that a girls night in is a concept that spans continents.
Today we awoke at 5:30 to get in a rickshaw at 6am. Ew right? Butttttt!
I got to touch an elephant!!!! We went to the Kononadu elephant training camp and walked to the river to watch and help bathe the elephants. So much less structured than here, I got to cuddle on the 7 year old named Asa as long as I wanted and was smitten by her ever moving trunk and her sweet eyes which were eye level with mine at her age. The little 4 year old, Alesha was also gorgeous and when I ran my hand down her trunk, the tip reached out and curled around my finger and I think my heart stopped beating. The two adults were absolutely massive and made me nervous, excited, and amazed all at the same time. They feel nothing like you would expect, both stiff and rubbery and the bristles on their heads and body feel like toothbrush bristles against your hands.
It was interesting to note how the younger two were treated as opposed to the older 2. The younger ones were constantly being talked at and smacked with sticks, and when I say smacked you must understand that the hardest I could hit would have barely phased the elephants, because they must not be allowed to get away with any misbehavior. If a young elephant wanders about and plucks at your hair it is cute, if it does it when as tall as a house, it may squash 6 people on the way. It was a bit like watchin a mother bathe a two year old. I imagined the conversations went like this although I could not understand the language of the Mahuts.
"Lift your leg I have to wash them"
elephant tries to sit
"no no your leg!'
"now behind your ears"
elephant rolls over
"oh come on seriously behave yourself and it's filthy back here what did you roll in?"
It was marvelous and I am so glad I went! Then we went on an elephant ride, very short but the feeling of sitting on an elephant bareback, even with 2 other people, and feeling the warmth of their skin radiating onto your legs and their muscles barely registering the extra weight, it is simply addictive. I cannot wait to schedule a trek into the wildlife preserve on elephant back, the forestry department elephants are trained at the training center we went to and now I know that whatever the price may be it's worth it for this kind of experience.
Then we went shopping and Beca and I bought a silk patchwork quilt which cost 4000 at the start and we argued down to 1050 for each. It's king sized and gorgeous and cost about $20. Hell yes! Even though the haggling does leave you quite exhausted I tell ya!
Oh and my laptop cord got fixed for free, all I had to pay for was the plug for 6 rupees (12 cents) and I gave the guy 10 rupees because he was so nice. Now I must go eat cuz I'm starving and the girls leave tomorrow :-( But I will make more friends soon I'm sure and I will be at the hospital again tomorrow woohoo!!!!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
American Celebrity
*Written Thursday June 7th*
Well today started out rather humdrum....
I went to the Internet café and wrote my blog and tried to decide if it was worth another $800 to go to an elephant sanctuary for 2 weeks which wouldn't be very veterinary but would be really interesting but I hadn't really planned to spend that kind of money. I was really at a loss for what to do.
So I walked the 10-15 min walk to where Linda had left her dog at Serenity Homestay and took Mimi for a nice long walk and picked up some more dog food, good for both Mimi and I. While I was walking, Chris who I had just met the day before called and told me that he had talked to his veterinarian friend and he was interested in letting me observe/assist but his private clinic was only open from 6-9pm and it was a 30 min trip...damn. Chris told me he would pick me up and drop me off, but I had 2 issues in my way.
1.
It was on his motorbike and I could not hold an umbrella and ride on the back of a motorcycle at the same time, thus if it rained I was SOL.
2.
Chris had proven to be very driven, very kind, thoughtful, and very smart however....truth was I did not know him all that well.
And I learned a very big lesson today when I asked Chris what I should do about these things. First he gave me his raincoat and said if he got soaked it would be ok he'd just go home and change and then he said I would just have to trust him. And let me tell you that worked out wonderfully!
I rode the 30 min on the motorcycle over bridges and around buses and over potholes and finally we reached the vet's little clinic where I met the veterinarian, Sunil, and a veterinary student who was doing his 6 months of practical clinic work, Shibu. Sunil works at the government clinic from 9am until 3pm and then runs a clinic out of his house from 6pm until 9pm and Shibu works at both places as well.
It was like being in a little vet class, Shibu was so great about explaining everything that is going on and Sunil taught me that I must “Learn to do the basics perfectly, when you draw the injection, you must do it the proper way, otherwise you will look like an amateur.” In case it was not clear, I do not draw injections the proper way and I do look like an amateur, but never again, I have seen the light :-) So much information is coming at me that I have been told to bring a note book with me tomorrow to keep track of each case and what I learn about different drugs etc...
But wait Bree, what are you doing tomorrow?
Well I am so glad you asked, because tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, I will be following Shibu (and sometimes Sunil) around the government clinic, learning how to do things properly and listening to Shibu's mini vet school. I think Shibu enjoys having someone to teach because he was so recently a student, and while I don't know that he will admit is, I think it is also good for him to explain the reasonings for things so he doesn't forget. In Kerala (the state I am in) people tend to be a bit arrogant and so in his slightly condescending way, Shibu has informed me that I must study at my own pace and learn each thing very well but only learn a few things at a time. He will teach me about something new each day! I really cannot wait because he says there will be so many different kinds of cases with sheep and goats and cows and such. He is also very considerate and called to make sure I made it home safe with Chris and to remind me that he will call at 8am to make sure I know where I am going. He also texted the directions to me and called me dude. Indians are strange cookies sometimes.
Speaking of Indians, did you realize that I am a hot commodity. I mean seriously in high demand, romantically that is. But why you ask? Well obviously because I am so obviously and wonderfully WHITE! Yes I am a foreigner and that makes me essentially a movie star! When I was in Goa, we were constantly asked to be in pictures; I held babies, put my arms around groups of men, heard the calls of “one more with my son, with my daughter, with my friend” until you felt like a diva finally saying “no more photos please!”
But even more than that is the boys and men alike. My new favorite thing in India is to see a group of young boys (preferably 8-12 as they are so cute in their little uniforms) and look at them smile, wave, and say hi. The whole group will burst into giggles and in fact today I spoke to 4 little boys and shook each of their hands and I thought they would burst with their little grins. It was so cute.
With the men it is less cute sometimes, you get a little sick of hearing “hellooooooo what is your good name?” “Where are you going” and even when you are trying to have a normal conversation,for example when I wanted to watch the teenage boys catch fish in the little ditch with a bow and arrow made of a coat hanger (badass right?), they will talk in a language you don't understand, laugh and eventually ask the inevitable “you here alone?” or “you are married?” and that is the end of the innocent good time.
In other cases it is less obvious. For example when Chris told me he could tell it was my first time on a motorcycle and I quickly informed him that I love motorcycles and used to ride around on one all summer with my ex-boyfriend. Guess which part of that he picked up? You guessed it “ex-boyfriend?” and inevitably “so you are single now?” I felt a little bad when I told him that I had a boyfriend now also, just not one with a motorcycle. Sad day for Chris but I'm glad we got that out of the way. Although he called just a little bit ago to make sure I got home ok (I walked part way in the rain with my umbrella cuz I had to stop at a store) and to tell me he will check to see if the old wireless connection he has can be recharged and how much it would cost for me to start using it so I could have wireless at the hotel.
It'll be sad to be back in the US where I am not told I am beautiful on a daily basis by random men and where the boys will just wave back if I wave at them. Sometimes it's good for the ego to be in the minority!
Today turned out so well! I will definitely be making it to Sunday English mass because things seem to be working themselves out. But as Junie would say “Touch wood” (The Aussie version of knock on wood.)
Ps. List of cultural topics to be covered later skin whitening, Indian obsessions with certain American films and people, Indian Driving, Indian red-tape, the Rickshaw racket, and eventually Government Veterinary Hospitals!
Well today started out rather humdrum....
I went to the Internet café and wrote my blog and tried to decide if it was worth another $800 to go to an elephant sanctuary for 2 weeks which wouldn't be very veterinary but would be really interesting but I hadn't really planned to spend that kind of money. I was really at a loss for what to do.
So I walked the 10-15 min walk to where Linda had left her dog at Serenity Homestay and took Mimi for a nice long walk and picked up some more dog food, good for both Mimi and I. While I was walking, Chris who I had just met the day before called and told me that he had talked to his veterinarian friend and he was interested in letting me observe/assist but his private clinic was only open from 6-9pm and it was a 30 min trip...damn. Chris told me he would pick me up and drop me off, but I had 2 issues in my way.
1.
It was on his motorbike and I could not hold an umbrella and ride on the back of a motorcycle at the same time, thus if it rained I was SOL.
2.
Chris had proven to be very driven, very kind, thoughtful, and very smart however....truth was I did not know him all that well.
And I learned a very big lesson today when I asked Chris what I should do about these things. First he gave me his raincoat and said if he got soaked it would be ok he'd just go home and change and then he said I would just have to trust him. And let me tell you that worked out wonderfully!
I rode the 30 min on the motorcycle over bridges and around buses and over potholes and finally we reached the vet's little clinic where I met the veterinarian, Sunil, and a veterinary student who was doing his 6 months of practical clinic work, Shibu. Sunil works at the government clinic from 9am until 3pm and then runs a clinic out of his house from 6pm until 9pm and Shibu works at both places as well.
It was like being in a little vet class, Shibu was so great about explaining everything that is going on and Sunil taught me that I must “Learn to do the basics perfectly, when you draw the injection, you must do it the proper way, otherwise you will look like an amateur.” In case it was not clear, I do not draw injections the proper way and I do look like an amateur, but never again, I have seen the light :-) So much information is coming at me that I have been told to bring a note book with me tomorrow to keep track of each case and what I learn about different drugs etc...
But wait Bree, what are you doing tomorrow?
Well I am so glad you asked, because tomorrow, and for the foreseeable future, I will be following Shibu (and sometimes Sunil) around the government clinic, learning how to do things properly and listening to Shibu's mini vet school. I think Shibu enjoys having someone to teach because he was so recently a student, and while I don't know that he will admit is, I think it is also good for him to explain the reasonings for things so he doesn't forget. In Kerala (the state I am in) people tend to be a bit arrogant and so in his slightly condescending way, Shibu has informed me that I must study at my own pace and learn each thing very well but only learn a few things at a time. He will teach me about something new each day! I really cannot wait because he says there will be so many different kinds of cases with sheep and goats and cows and such. He is also very considerate and called to make sure I made it home safe with Chris and to remind me that he will call at 8am to make sure I know where I am going. He also texted the directions to me and called me dude. Indians are strange cookies sometimes.
Speaking of Indians, did you realize that I am a hot commodity. I mean seriously in high demand, romantically that is. But why you ask? Well obviously because I am so obviously and wonderfully WHITE! Yes I am a foreigner and that makes me essentially a movie star! When I was in Goa, we were constantly asked to be in pictures; I held babies, put my arms around groups of men, heard the calls of “one more with my son, with my daughter, with my friend” until you felt like a diva finally saying “no more photos please!”
But even more than that is the boys and men alike. My new favorite thing in India is to see a group of young boys (preferably 8-12 as they are so cute in their little uniforms) and look at them smile, wave, and say hi. The whole group will burst into giggles and in fact today I spoke to 4 little boys and shook each of their hands and I thought they would burst with their little grins. It was so cute.
With the men it is less cute sometimes, you get a little sick of hearing “hellooooooo what is your good name?” “Where are you going” and even when you are trying to have a normal conversation,for example when I wanted to watch the teenage boys catch fish in the little ditch with a bow and arrow made of a coat hanger (badass right?), they will talk in a language you don't understand, laugh and eventually ask the inevitable “you here alone?” or “you are married?” and that is the end of the innocent good time.
In other cases it is less obvious. For example when Chris told me he could tell it was my first time on a motorcycle and I quickly informed him that I love motorcycles and used to ride around on one all summer with my ex-boyfriend. Guess which part of that he picked up? You guessed it “ex-boyfriend?” and inevitably “so you are single now?” I felt a little bad when I told him that I had a boyfriend now also, just not one with a motorcycle. Sad day for Chris but I'm glad we got that out of the way. Although he called just a little bit ago to make sure I got home ok (I walked part way in the rain with my umbrella cuz I had to stop at a store) and to tell me he will check to see if the old wireless connection he has can be recharged and how much it would cost for me to start using it so I could have wireless at the hotel.
It'll be sad to be back in the US where I am not told I am beautiful on a daily basis by random men and where the boys will just wave back if I wave at them. Sometimes it's good for the ego to be in the minority!
Today turned out so well! I will definitely be making it to Sunday English mass because things seem to be working themselves out. But as Junie would say “Touch wood” (The Aussie version of knock on wood.)
Ps. List of cultural topics to be covered later skin whitening, Indian obsessions with certain American films and people, Indian Driving, Indian red-tape, the Rickshaw racket, and eventually Government Veterinary Hospitals!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Don't Worry...Be Happy....
I am being lazy in India, but it quite nice and as my lawyer friend Sandash would say "It is good to be alone".
We disagree slightly on that point and when I texted him my new phone number and he asked if I wanted to go to dinner, I was a little starved for a social life and jumped at the chance. I had been laying in the living room at the hotel listening to the rain and watching Beverly Hills 90210 on TV and wondering what to do with myself.
But I got to go to dinner! And had dosa which is kind of like a really thin bread type thing with veggies on the inside and it is golden brown and delicious, plus Sandash (being the gentlemanly sort and also not caring much about money because he is government lawyer) paid for dinner and then took me to a good place to buy DVDs to watch on my laptop at night. Indians are very into action movies so it took me forever to find 2 DVDs which were not entirely action movie collections. One of them is 15ish animated movies like Shrek and The Bee Movie and Nightmare Before Christmas and the other is Great Romances and the choices on that second one include Some National Lampoon movies and Borat....not sure how those are romances. But either way I got about 30 movies for a grand total of 700 rupees....roughly 14 dollars so that is sweet!
Which reminds me that I bought a 4 movie collection while I was in Goa that was supposed to include 1) some movie I don't care about 2) Iron Man 2 3) Sex and the City 2 and 4) Prince of Persia....Instead it has everything but Sex and the City 2 which has been replaced with about a 2.5 hour porno.....That you have to fast forward through.....Awkward. But the other 3 movies will be good haha and it cost me 80 cents...
So then we went for a walk down the bridge and some very philosophical discussions on being happy with yourself and just relaxing and how good that is for the soul. Sandash is quite the philosopher and kind of a hippie also. He also an incredibly safe man to hang around and laughs a lot which is infectious and good for the mind and body.
So I talked to my mom and dad when I got home which was so nice cuz I really miss them, then I watched 2 movies and went to bed late....slept in late...got up and finished my book and now spent some time trying to weigh the cost of some opportunities with the benefits. I will consult with my people (my daddy :-) tonight and try to make some decisions. At least India is a good place to relax! I will try to sell off my old books this afternoon, buy some more, and then take my friend Linda's Jack Russel Terrier ( Mimi) for a walk on the beach. She is gonna be quite the fatty if she just lays around the Indian house where she is staying eating rice while Linda is gone for 2 weeks, gotta keep the little one in shape. And walking...well it's good for me too :-)
We disagree slightly on that point and when I texted him my new phone number and he asked if I wanted to go to dinner, I was a little starved for a social life and jumped at the chance. I had been laying in the living room at the hotel listening to the rain and watching Beverly Hills 90210 on TV and wondering what to do with myself.
But I got to go to dinner! And had dosa which is kind of like a really thin bread type thing with veggies on the inside and it is golden brown and delicious, plus Sandash (being the gentlemanly sort and also not caring much about money because he is government lawyer) paid for dinner and then took me to a good place to buy DVDs to watch on my laptop at night. Indians are very into action movies so it took me forever to find 2 DVDs which were not entirely action movie collections. One of them is 15ish animated movies like Shrek and The Bee Movie and Nightmare Before Christmas and the other is Great Romances and the choices on that second one include Some National Lampoon movies and Borat....not sure how those are romances. But either way I got about 30 movies for a grand total of 700 rupees....roughly 14 dollars so that is sweet!
Which reminds me that I bought a 4 movie collection while I was in Goa that was supposed to include 1) some movie I don't care about 2) Iron Man 2 3) Sex and the City 2 and 4) Prince of Persia....Instead it has everything but Sex and the City 2 which has been replaced with about a 2.5 hour porno.....That you have to fast forward through.....Awkward. But the other 3 movies will be good haha and it cost me 80 cents...
So then we went for a walk down the bridge and some very philosophical discussions on being happy with yourself and just relaxing and how good that is for the soul. Sandash is quite the philosopher and kind of a hippie also. He also an incredibly safe man to hang around and laughs a lot which is infectious and good for the mind and body.
So I talked to my mom and dad when I got home which was so nice cuz I really miss them, then I watched 2 movies and went to bed late....slept in late...got up and finished my book and now spent some time trying to weigh the cost of some opportunities with the benefits. I will consult with my people (my daddy :-) tonight and try to make some decisions. At least India is a good place to relax! I will try to sell off my old books this afternoon, buy some more, and then take my friend Linda's Jack Russel Terrier ( Mimi) for a walk on the beach. She is gonna be quite the fatty if she just lays around the Indian house where she is staying eating rice while Linda is gone for 2 weeks, gotta keep the little one in shape. And walking...well it's good for me too :-)
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Upside Down World
Ok so everything has gone kind of nuts, so let me start at the beginning and work my way through.
We did find a bar to watch UK play Germany and I got just as involved as the 4 Brits I was watching it with :-) We didn't realize we were in a room full of Germany fans...who were happy because Germany won, 4-1. UK Fail. Even I knew that UK played terribly and I hardly ever watch football (or footie as Junie would say) and yet was able to make catty comments when Myles tried to make fun of USA for losing. Yay for picking up sports..well watching them... quickly.
The next day I went shopping with some lovely English girls, 20 yrs old and taking a year off, and then went to the train station and took the train ALL ALONE! AH! But it went fine! I had a lovely man explain to me that we were going to have to get off the train because mud had covered the tracks in one spot so then we had to take a bus for an hour and go to a different train. When it was all said and done, my 15 hr train ride took 22 hrs. Disgusting and boring on your own although a nice man bought me curry and helped me figure things out.
Alright so here is where things get weird. And I am not gossiping, I am just letting you know what's up. So I get home to Penny's, talk to a lady I know for a minute and Penny comes up, I say hey and she says "hello, where are you staying?"....
You shocked? Hey me too!
She tells me that she really thinks it would be better if I stayed where my friends were so I didn't have to worry about coming in late at night.
I say, well all my friends have gone.
and she replies "oh you'll make new friends". So at this point I'm like crap I gotta find a place to stay when she throws in the kicker "And if you ever want to come play with the animals just call or stop by." Now if you didn't get the gist of that, it was the polite way of telling me that I am no longer volunteering.
Needless to say, I was a bit shocked/stressed/sad you know a few other s-words I'm sure. So she drops me off at the guest house where Junie and Linda had been staying. But let me remind you that Junie is no longer here ( she is traveling until July 16th, and I would have gone with but I had to come back here to help Penny....I thought) and I find out when I get to the hotel that Linda is leaving that night.
So they let me use their phone and I call Linda and she is at the beach where I meet her and burst into uncontrollable tears the gist of which consisted of "What am I supposed to do? I am all alone! and I want to go home!" Linda, absolute lovely lady that she is, mothered me and had me take a warm shower, took me to dinner which I couldn't eat because I was so shaky, and told me a few things I could do and told me not to just leave India without thinking about it. "You are halfway around the world, don't just give up on it"
So that is what I am doing. I met up with Linda's new friend Chris who is going to help me find a few vets to shadow and also has a friend who is a dog trainer and wouldn't mind me tagging along. AND I got a cell phone for myself, for the grand ol price of about $20 although it costs an arm and a leg to call home but incoming calls cost me nothing! So I am hooked up! And I found a place where I can use my laptop which makes life easier.
So I am not sure what I am doing for now, but the place I am staying is incredibly safe and the people are wonderful and I have an adapter for my laptop and they have a TV I can watch. I just need to meet some new people. Linda suggested doing yoga for 3 or 4 days, but I am really not sure I can hack it just doing 4 straight days of yoga and chanting. We will see. I just can't waste time as I need to be getting vet or animal experience or I may as well be at home. Believe me when I say that my first instinct is to get my ticket changed and fly home tomorrow, but I am going to think about it for a bit longer.
No worries everyone I am safe! Just a little confused, hurt, and lost. But like Linda said, once I get through this I will be able to handle anything. I said I wanted to grow up a bit in India, well jeez louise man! be careful what you wish for!
I am gonna try to post some pics now so we'll see!
We did find a bar to watch UK play Germany and I got just as involved as the 4 Brits I was watching it with :-) We didn't realize we were in a room full of Germany fans...who were happy because Germany won, 4-1. UK Fail. Even I knew that UK played terribly and I hardly ever watch football (or footie as Junie would say) and yet was able to make catty comments when Myles tried to make fun of USA for losing. Yay for picking up sports..well watching them... quickly.
The next day I went shopping with some lovely English girls, 20 yrs old and taking a year off, and then went to the train station and took the train ALL ALONE! AH! But it went fine! I had a lovely man explain to me that we were going to have to get off the train because mud had covered the tracks in one spot so then we had to take a bus for an hour and go to a different train. When it was all said and done, my 15 hr train ride took 22 hrs. Disgusting and boring on your own although a nice man bought me curry and helped me figure things out.
Alright so here is where things get weird. And I am not gossiping, I am just letting you know what's up. So I get home to Penny's, talk to a lady I know for a minute and Penny comes up, I say hey and she says "hello, where are you staying?"....
You shocked? Hey me too!
She tells me that she really thinks it would be better if I stayed where my friends were so I didn't have to worry about coming in late at night.
I say, well all my friends have gone.
and she replies "oh you'll make new friends". So at this point I'm like crap I gotta find a place to stay when she throws in the kicker "And if you ever want to come play with the animals just call or stop by." Now if you didn't get the gist of that, it was the polite way of telling me that I am no longer volunteering.
Needless to say, I was a bit shocked/stressed/sad you know a few other s-words I'm sure. So she drops me off at the guest house where Junie and Linda had been staying. But let me remind you that Junie is no longer here ( she is traveling until July 16th, and I would have gone with but I had to come back here to help Penny....I thought) and I find out when I get to the hotel that Linda is leaving that night.
So they let me use their phone and I call Linda and she is at the beach where I meet her and burst into uncontrollable tears the gist of which consisted of "What am I supposed to do? I am all alone! and I want to go home!" Linda, absolute lovely lady that she is, mothered me and had me take a warm shower, took me to dinner which I couldn't eat because I was so shaky, and told me a few things I could do and told me not to just leave India without thinking about it. "You are halfway around the world, don't just give up on it"
So that is what I am doing. I met up with Linda's new friend Chris who is going to help me find a few vets to shadow and also has a friend who is a dog trainer and wouldn't mind me tagging along. AND I got a cell phone for myself, for the grand ol price of about $20 although it costs an arm and a leg to call home but incoming calls cost me nothing! So I am hooked up! And I found a place where I can use my laptop which makes life easier.
So I am not sure what I am doing for now, but the place I am staying is incredibly safe and the people are wonderful and I have an adapter for my laptop and they have a TV I can watch. I just need to meet some new people. Linda suggested doing yoga for 3 or 4 days, but I am really not sure I can hack it just doing 4 straight days of yoga and chanting. We will see. I just can't waste time as I need to be getting vet or animal experience or I may as well be at home. Believe me when I say that my first instinct is to get my ticket changed and fly home tomorrow, but I am going to think about it for a bit longer.
No worries everyone I am safe! Just a little confused, hurt, and lost. But like Linda said, once I get through this I will be able to handle anything. I said I wanted to grow up a bit in India, well jeez louise man! be careful what you wish for!
I am gonna try to post some pics now so we'll see!
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Football and Food
So Junie and I decided on Thursday, that if we didn't walk the kilometer to the bus stop with our heavy bags that day, we would never leave the beach and we would never see the old churches in Old Goa.
So we did! And then spent probably 5 hours haggling over prices at different hotels and guest houses and going back and forth and back again until finally we settled on one for 450 rupees a night (more expensive that the 200 we were paying at the beach) but it was the cheapest we could find and had TV & HOT WATER! Woohoo such luxury and even though we meant to change to a cheaper hotel with a shared bathroom....we haven't been able to pull ourselves from the water.
So after walking in the rain all day searching for a place to stay, we went to a little restaurant where I got delicious seafood soup and coffee and we sat on a tiny balcony with Christmas lights over our heads and we watched the rain. Walking back we heard a shout, but it sounded like a rickshaw driver so we ignored it. Junie stopped for a smoke and a black rainjacketed, man shaped beast ran up to us! It was a 23 year old British man named Myles who has been traveling all over India and was looking for a place to stay. So we helped him out...kinda...and went to bed and met him for breakfast and a trip to Old Goa in the morning.
When I can post pictures I will show you the gorgeous old cathedrals, the tomb of St Francis (which they used to open every 3 years but after a man tried to grab a toe and run...they only open it every 12 years), and some truly beautiful greenery. We walked around Old Goa and then came back to nap and meet up with Myles to watch...what else? FOOTBALL! I am watching an awful lot of football and there is hardly any tackling, but I am managing to get interested.
We went to a very luxurious restaurant where the waiter pulled out my chair for me and everything, it had a big screen and a delicious buttery soup which was probably my undoing. Because about 10 min after dinner was over I had an absolutely awful stomach ache, spent some time in the very Western bathroom (in India you learn to notice and appreciate nice bathrooms) and finally decided I had to get home while there was a lull in the pain. Cuz I pretty much felt like I was going to pass out. So I left Junie and Myles there and went to walk home but I felt so terrible I didn't even argue with the rickshaw driver when he charged me 50 rupees...psh way over charging but I just wanted to be home. Went home and watched some TV for an hour and felt fine, but realy weak. All I wanted was wi-fi and a chocolate bar but I had to settle for TV and Tums....But at least I feel fine today.
For breakfast...at 11:30 haha...we had fried rice and Pepsi because they had no tea or coffee! Then we walked to another place for coffee and a delicious Indian sweet that I can't spell the name of. I haven't tried many Indian sweets because it is so hot that I almost always want a milkshake with my dinner , but this was delicious, like a smaller version of a donut hole, fried until it is dark brown and then served in a bowl of sweet honey and cardemon (sp?) sauce. I am glad there were only 2 as I couldn't have eaten more!
So nearly everything is closed today because it is Sunday so when Myles and I finish blogging we are going to go for a walk and make sure we get back in time for the all important and amazing UK vs. Germany match on TV! Heaven forbid we miss even a second of it and we have already rooted out the perfect bar to watch it in that has both of Myles key requirements: big screen TV and cheap beer!
Gotta love India :-)
So we did! And then spent probably 5 hours haggling over prices at different hotels and guest houses and going back and forth and back again until finally we settled on one for 450 rupees a night (more expensive that the 200 we were paying at the beach) but it was the cheapest we could find and had TV & HOT WATER! Woohoo such luxury and even though we meant to change to a cheaper hotel with a shared bathroom....we haven't been able to pull ourselves from the water.
So after walking in the rain all day searching for a place to stay, we went to a little restaurant where I got delicious seafood soup and coffee and we sat on a tiny balcony with Christmas lights over our heads and we watched the rain. Walking back we heard a shout, but it sounded like a rickshaw driver so we ignored it. Junie stopped for a smoke and a black rainjacketed, man shaped beast ran up to us! It was a 23 year old British man named Myles who has been traveling all over India and was looking for a place to stay. So we helped him out...kinda...and went to bed and met him for breakfast and a trip to Old Goa in the morning.
When I can post pictures I will show you the gorgeous old cathedrals, the tomb of St Francis (which they used to open every 3 years but after a man tried to grab a toe and run...they only open it every 12 years), and some truly beautiful greenery. We walked around Old Goa and then came back to nap and meet up with Myles to watch...what else? FOOTBALL! I am watching an awful lot of football and there is hardly any tackling, but I am managing to get interested.
We went to a very luxurious restaurant where the waiter pulled out my chair for me and everything, it had a big screen and a delicious buttery soup which was probably my undoing. Because about 10 min after dinner was over I had an absolutely awful stomach ache, spent some time in the very Western bathroom (in India you learn to notice and appreciate nice bathrooms) and finally decided I had to get home while there was a lull in the pain. Cuz I pretty much felt like I was going to pass out. So I left Junie and Myles there and went to walk home but I felt so terrible I didn't even argue with the rickshaw driver when he charged me 50 rupees...psh way over charging but I just wanted to be home. Went home and watched some TV for an hour and felt fine, but realy weak. All I wanted was wi-fi and a chocolate bar but I had to settle for TV and Tums....But at least I feel fine today.
For breakfast...at 11:30 haha...we had fried rice and Pepsi because they had no tea or coffee! Then we walked to another place for coffee and a delicious Indian sweet that I can't spell the name of. I haven't tried many Indian sweets because it is so hot that I almost always want a milkshake with my dinner , but this was delicious, like a smaller version of a donut hole, fried until it is dark brown and then served in a bowl of sweet honey and cardemon (sp?) sauce. I am glad there were only 2 as I couldn't have eaten more!
So nearly everything is closed today because it is Sunday so when Myles and I finish blogging we are going to go for a walk and make sure we get back in time for the all important and amazing UK vs. Germany match on TV! Heaven forbid we miss even a second of it and we have already rooted out the perfect bar to watch it in that has both of Myles key requirements: big screen TV and cheap beer!
Gotta love India :-)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Becoming a little more hippie everyday...
Yesterday, after an evening of long islands and movies the night before, we did not wake up until 11...
Then we lazed around and read until noon, and THEN we ate lunch/breakfast/brunch and took a ridiculously long walk on the beach while it rained. Now Goa is the ultimate hippie spot even though all the hippies move up North and out of the rain during the monsoon season, but the monsoon creates some pretty stellar waves. Again Junie and I were trying to keep our purses dry in front of us and got completely soaked everywhere else. So we said screw it and decided to go for a swim. Made ourselves a little tent out of our umbrellas to keep the purses dry and went for a swim in true hippie/skinny dipping style and my dear hippie friend Junie taught me the art of looking at someones eyes and no where else.
But never-the-less it was so much fun to jump over waves and try to surf them in and then we took the epic-ly long walk back and devoured a plate of mashed potatoes in no time flat. Hands down the best mashed potatoes I've ever had and I had been craving them for days!
We have acquired a dog who sleeps in our room and walks wherever we go and he is our protector, even walking me to the bathroom last night at the restaurant :-) Dogs are a comfort no matter where you are and Junie and I really needed this time of relaxation. We are leaving today though and moving to central Goa to see some waterfalls, animals, and old cities...if we don't leave now we may get drawn into this peaceful, carefree, easy way of life and never go home!
Then we lazed around and read until noon, and THEN we ate lunch/breakfast/brunch and took a ridiculously long walk on the beach while it rained. Now Goa is the ultimate hippie spot even though all the hippies move up North and out of the rain during the monsoon season, but the monsoon creates some pretty stellar waves. Again Junie and I were trying to keep our purses dry in front of us and got completely soaked everywhere else. So we said screw it and decided to go for a swim. Made ourselves a little tent out of our umbrellas to keep the purses dry and went for a swim in true hippie/skinny dipping style and my dear hippie friend Junie taught me the art of looking at someones eyes and no where else.
But never-the-less it was so much fun to jump over waves and try to surf them in and then we took the epic-ly long walk back and devoured a plate of mashed potatoes in no time flat. Hands down the best mashed potatoes I've ever had and I had been craving them for days!
We have acquired a dog who sleeps in our room and walks wherever we go and he is our protector, even walking me to the bathroom last night at the restaurant :-) Dogs are a comfort no matter where you are and Junie and I really needed this time of relaxation. We are leaving today though and moving to central Goa to see some waterfalls, animals, and old cities...if we don't leave now we may get drawn into this peaceful, carefree, easy way of life and never go home!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Few Days, Many Aventures
Dang I don't even know where to start!
I took my very first 12 hour train ride, it went over night and I was completely enthralled by looking out the windows at the scenery. Junie, from Australia, and I felt like we were having a slumber party and Karl kept us protected by the under-sexed and slightly creepy Indian men who feel the need to undress you with their eyes. I was of course completely covered in my long skirt and kept my eyes averted in order not to show any interest. But the man across from me was lovely so between him and Karl, any man who tried to creep (and there were only 2) didn't stay for long haha.
Until people started going to bed at around 10pm, there were almost constant streams of vendors walking up and down the aisles selling food and tea and water and candy. I loved every minute of it and even fell asleep until we got to Goa at 4:30 in the morning. Then we took a cab to Callagute and tried to find a hotel. They were expensive by Indian standards and not very clean considering the price, so we said screw it and went further north to Aranbol which was very empty and everything covered in tarps because of monsoon season. So we meant to get a cheap room for the night and leave in the morning, but we've ended up really enjoying ourselves!
The first day after a long nap, Junie and I took the bus to a big city and SHOPPED all day :-) You don't buy as much as you think you will because it takes a long time to barter, but between the two of us, we make a great bargaining team. Then we ended up staying until 9:30 PM because we were arguing with cab drivers over how much it would cost to come back. I finally told Junie no more haggling and we got a ride home.
But we had a HUGE scare when the cab driver talked on the phone for awhile and then pulled into a dark street in front of a house. Junie and I both yelled "Hey Hey what are you doing? Where are we?!" and the man goes "No no no!!! It's not like that, I'm picking up my wife, she's pregnant!" and she was haha. She was completely sweet and lovely, but there was a major jolt of adrenaline for a bit.
Then yesterday we got up, ate breakfast and went to the beach! We swam for a bit in the warm water and played with the beach dogs and then Junie, who is tenacious when she gets something in her head, decided that she desperately needed to find the sulfur hot springs in the forest even though no one was able to tell us quite where they were....
And off we went on an hour long trek into the jungley forest in our bikinis, carrying purses and umbrellas, and followed by 6 beach dogs who had made it their mission to protect us. The mosquitoes SUCKED but it was so need to follow the mountain stream and see all the amazing trees. We eventually stumbled upon a huge tree which made a sort of platform in the middle of it's dangling roots. The hippies who inhabit Goa during the season must have made it into a sort of temple as there was a picture of a God, a few little altars and a beautiful sarong hung between the branches. In true hippie fashion we went into the stream and rinsed our hair and escaped from the mosquitoes.
We did eventually give up on the hot springs and found out later that they were much closer to the beach and we had walked past them almost immediately. Fail. But it was an adventure and as I am used to following Allie on ridiculous adventures, following Junie made me feel at home.
We then went to the beach and watched Prince of Persia in a bar and ate dinner and watched the storm on the beach. This place is so quiet and relaxed that it is growing on me with every hour we spend. So I am off to enjoy it a little more because tomorrow I think we are moving to central Goa for a change of pace.
Miss you all and I'll be on again soon!
I took my very first 12 hour train ride, it went over night and I was completely enthralled by looking out the windows at the scenery. Junie, from Australia, and I felt like we were having a slumber party and Karl kept us protected by the under-sexed and slightly creepy Indian men who feel the need to undress you with their eyes. I was of course completely covered in my long skirt and kept my eyes averted in order not to show any interest. But the man across from me was lovely so between him and Karl, any man who tried to creep (and there were only 2) didn't stay for long haha.
Until people started going to bed at around 10pm, there were almost constant streams of vendors walking up and down the aisles selling food and tea and water and candy. I loved every minute of it and even fell asleep until we got to Goa at 4:30 in the morning. Then we took a cab to Callagute and tried to find a hotel. They were expensive by Indian standards and not very clean considering the price, so we said screw it and went further north to Aranbol which was very empty and everything covered in tarps because of monsoon season. So we meant to get a cheap room for the night and leave in the morning, but we've ended up really enjoying ourselves!
The first day after a long nap, Junie and I took the bus to a big city and SHOPPED all day :-) You don't buy as much as you think you will because it takes a long time to barter, but between the two of us, we make a great bargaining team. Then we ended up staying until 9:30 PM because we were arguing with cab drivers over how much it would cost to come back. I finally told Junie no more haggling and we got a ride home.
But we had a HUGE scare when the cab driver talked on the phone for awhile and then pulled into a dark street in front of a house. Junie and I both yelled "Hey Hey what are you doing? Where are we?!" and the man goes "No no no!!! It's not like that, I'm picking up my wife, she's pregnant!" and she was haha. She was completely sweet and lovely, but there was a major jolt of adrenaline for a bit.
Then yesterday we got up, ate breakfast and went to the beach! We swam for a bit in the warm water and played with the beach dogs and then Junie, who is tenacious when she gets something in her head, decided that she desperately needed to find the sulfur hot springs in the forest even though no one was able to tell us quite where they were....
And off we went on an hour long trek into the jungley forest in our bikinis, carrying purses and umbrellas, and followed by 6 beach dogs who had made it their mission to protect us. The mosquitoes SUCKED but it was so need to follow the mountain stream and see all the amazing trees. We eventually stumbled upon a huge tree which made a sort of platform in the middle of it's dangling roots. The hippies who inhabit Goa during the season must have made it into a sort of temple as there was a picture of a God, a few little altars and a beautiful sarong hung between the branches. In true hippie fashion we went into the stream and rinsed our hair and escaped from the mosquitoes.
We did eventually give up on the hot springs and found out later that they were much closer to the beach and we had walked past them almost immediately. Fail. But it was an adventure and as I am used to following Allie on ridiculous adventures, following Junie made me feel at home.
We then went to the beach and watched Prince of Persia in a bar and ate dinner and watched the storm on the beach. This place is so quiet and relaxed that it is growing on me with every hour we spend. So I am off to enjoy it a little more because tomorrow I think we are moving to central Goa for a change of pace.
Miss you all and I'll be on again soon!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
