Feb. 8th, 2010

2/8/10
I’m listening to the rain fall right now, my first Indian rain. Apparently it does rain other then the monsoon season. Sounds like Seattle…
Today half the students had problems with their visas so they had to go to some government building (which I heard was like the DMV but a million times worse, apparently they have stacks of just paper work to the ceiling and you can’t even imagine the people in there) so the other half of us decided to check out the Indian library. The library itself was beautiful and had books from what seemed like 800 BC! There was only one computer in the entire library and they were still using the catalogue system. It was so funny, at 1:00pm they announced it was “tea time” and everyone was ushered upstairs for chai… so Indian! Although I didn’t get much done (I wondered outside and got distracted by the ice cream cart) it was a cool experience.
I’m still not comfortable enough to walk around in the city by myself. The fact that I speak absolutely no Hindi except for “Namaste” combined with the fact that everyone else in the city speaks no English except for “hello” is a recipe for disaster, let a alone a very short conversation. Ayshea and I got lost coming home from school in the rickshaw and completely over-paid the driver. It’s hard not knowing the language or your surroundings. Our programs mantra is “patience, humor, and flexibility” which is what I keep telling myself every time I stat to stress. So far it seems to be working. We made it home ok in the end,
I hate bucket showers. I don’t care if they save water to make me realize how much I am using during one shower, I hate them. I would give anything for a long, hot shower right now. And a massage. Have I mentioned that beds in India typically consist of a sheet of plywood accompanied by a nice bag full of sand as a pillow? It’s quite luxurious… very nice right after a bucket shower.
Although I may be ranting a lot right now, there is no place I would rather be.