Week III

Lovely readers,

We are finishing our third week in India. Time has flown by. Past week I would say we got a little more used to Indian lifestyle. We experienced a lot of things, some better than others, but every single one a memory to never forget. Here are some highlights:

* Our neighbors are awesome. Next door there is a family with two little boys and their niece lives under us. She is 13 and speaks English very well. She drops by a couple of evenings in the week if she needs help with her homework or just if she wants to talk. She says everything that is on her mind and that is really refreshing for us, since no one in India tells us what they really think. The boys and the family next door look like they are always waiting for us once we have left the apartment. They all say 'Hi' and wave at us until we are out of sight.

* A couple of days ago Bhavvik & I decided to do a little walk outside our apartment and enjoy the scenery, sunset and banana trees. While walking we saw a private house with an attached private garden and kids playing cricket. Of course, Bhavvik joined and showed the boys (maybe 10-years old) how to hit and throw. While watching some little kids were pulling my sleeve and asking for pictures and handshakes. I’m still trying to get used to all the attention, only because of my skin color. People riding on a motorcycle and turning their heads 180 degrees, checking if they really saw what they saw. Little kids staring at me with wide open mouths, probably because I am the first white person they have ever seen. My skin color in this area is so rare, that when we are traveling or walking, and Bhavvik sees white tourists, he goes: ‘Look, white people!’ (Which has happened maybe three or four times since we have been here) All in all, it is fun for now, because I know the kids only have good intentions and do not know any better. However, I am really happy I am just me, because this attention 24/7 for the rest of my life, would be a little too much.

* We finally figured out the routine of when the electricity cuts, sort of. In the morning, around 10:00am until sometime around 2:00pm. Then before 6:00pm, but most of the time it is only half an hour or so. Again between 7:00pm and 8:00pm. Then just before we go to sleep, around 11:30pm. Most of the time it happens once or twice during the night, but I am not able to open my eyes to look at the clock.

* Thursday we went to a Child Center, a center for kids between two and four years old. After introducing ourselves and teaching them some basics about hygiene and health, a little girl came up to me and said: ‘’You are really beautiful’’, while she was one of the most beautiful, respectful, curious, wise little girls I have seen yet. When I told her that, she had this shy look in her eyes and at the same time a huge smile on her face. These small ordinary things… priceless.

* We have no hot water. And it has been raining the last couple of days, which almost makes me feel like I am back in the Netherlands. Anyway, our water for the shower is connected to the weather outside and when the weather is 30 degrees, the shower is just cold. But when it is raining and windy and cold, relatively speaking cold - say 21 degrees – the shower is ice cold. No fun.

* Wednesday we discovered another shopping mall than the one we always go to. We now have a little more dinner options, besides the usual of pasta, rice and soup (and a pancake or two). We bought some potato wedges, salami and some more meat. With the salami we were able to make ‘tosti’s’ and the potato wedges are just heaven on earth when you have not eaten potatoes in almost three weeks.

* Even better was the burger they had at the shopping mall. Yes, a burger. Chicken burger. With fries. Pieces of chicken. Tomato ketchup. Coke. It was the best burger we ever had. And not because of the taste.

* We used a ‘TukTuk’ this week for the first time. A small yellow taxi, with no doors, no seatbelts, no speed limit, but still riding on the highway and driving like a lunatic and with no conscience. Fun!

* We saw a bus accident. One bus trying to overtake another bus while another bus met them halfway. Yeah that was not a good move.

* This week we have been teaching English and hygiene/health at the scavengers group. This group lives in huts near the road and only has access to the basic things to survive. The people there are warm and friendly, and have a huge heart. Every time around 10-12 children show up to our class. Happy that we chose to spend some time with them, even if it is just for an hour or so. Twinkle in their eyes, enthusiasm and initiative during class, eager to learn. Every time we do our 15-minute walk back to our apartment I start to think. They are lovely kids. Beautiful, smart, kind, polite. In the Netherlands they would have a great future. But not here. They just have had bad luck concerning the place they were born. They don’t grow up with equal chances. They probably will live there the rest of their lives. Happy. Because that is what they are. At first I was thinking to myself: ‘’How can you be happy, living in a hut, no shower, no toilet, small space for a lot of people. ‘’
But after having been there multiple times the past few weeks, I know the answer. They love each other. They think of all the things they do have, instead of the things they don’t have. They appreciate each other and all the little things and work with that. It is amazing and makes me wonder how the world would look like if we all lived with that mentality.

* This afternoon we had our weekly evaluations. After some discussion the first couple of weeks about what we are supposed to do we finally came to an agreement. They were also really positive about the work that we have been doing so far and the reports we have made. It is nice to finish the work week like this, relaxed going in to the weekend.

* Tuesday we confirmed reservations for our holiday. Bhavvik and I will leave Dec 28th on a train to Mysore, a beautiful city in the Southern of India, until Jan 2nd. The train ride is up and about twelve hours, so that will be fun. The highlight of our holiday will be a two-day program in Dubare Elephant Camp, scheduled Dec 31st – Jan 1st, spending New Years’ Eve in wildlife. My bucket list is really long, like, really really long, but during those two days I will be able to check a few things, for example a jeep safari, river cruise, campfire dinner and an elephant ride.

* Last but not least we experienced a bus ride. A couple of things you should know about India and busses; The drivers are nuts. They overtake in corners. Sound their horn every two seconds. Their horn is louder than a cars’. It’s not nice for your ears. If you want to get on the bus you have to be fast. Sometimes it doesn’t stop, it just drives slowly. When the bus is full, you just hang out of the bus. People hang out of the bus. Even when we are on the highway. In the bus there are two guys with uniforms. They take care of the tickets. They scream something, you scream something back, and he says a price. They use whistles to let the driver know if he should stop or not. So next to all the horning, there is also whistling. Can you believe our luck. We will probably be deaf once we return home. I almost forgot a really important thing. In the bus men sit on the left, while women on the right. If a woman sits on the right and a man sits down next to her, without her knowing him, she hits him. Spread the love.

It was a good week for us. We spend a lot of time socializing and getting to know the people in this community. Since we really live in the middle of nowhere, at night there is no place to go. We have to rely on each other and the people around us.

Tomorrow we will go to the Ucchi Pillayar Temple, located on a big rock in the middle of the city. Just so you know, this rock is the place where Lord Ganesh ran from King Vibishana, after establishing the Ranganathaswamy deity in Srirangam. (You probably had to read that twice, didn’t you?) To reach the temple you have to take approximately 400 steps – I will count them for you tomorrow, no worries. On Sunday we will probably go back to play some cricket and volleyball with the local kids. Looking forward to an active weekend.

Goodnight everyone,

Stephanie & Bhavvik