Post #51

I started this blog about half a year ago. if you've been reading along since then...have you noticed how much things change?

i'm taking malaria pills...apparently it makes me sensitive to sunlight....i actually think i've darkened a little bit. I'm not a big fan of the sun, so i'm used to having fairly pale skin. when you see me in a few weeks, look out for a possible tan (if any)

i dunno whats going on with indian food. LOVE IT. but i think its causing me to me WAY more flatulent than i'm used to. if you don't know what that word means...don't look it up.

I don't dream much, but yesterday i had a dream. i woke up in the middle of night, and thought it was so interesting i actually scribbled down some words, so i wouldn't forget. i'm looking at the words now... "breakfast at safeway" ... ... I have no idea what my dream was about.

Indians like to drink their tea and coffee in small cups. These cups are slightly larger than espresso cups and probably hold about 3-4 oz of liquid. which is about half the size of a regular mug. they're cute. but i like my cups big, it just saves me time from pouring another. the cups we have here as well, are aluminium. that makes for a hot cup of tea when it touches your lips. or as my american friends would call it... hAt...The good thing? it actually cools quite a bit faster than a regular mug. the minus? its hAt when you first pour it.

I realised that in a program of about 50 students. i have more friends in this 3 weeks here than i ever did in Caronport. A lot of the students here are closer in age, and most of them seem to be single as well. So there's a lot more commonality. That's pretty cool i guess. Their understanding of community is so different from the individualised consumeristic attitude we have in the West. its refreshing at times. but being somewhat of an introvert, i relish the 1 or 2 hours a day that i get to be alone in my room. (i was fortunate enough to score a room alone, you usually share it with another person)

coolness...

I've been so blessed by the hospitality in India, so don't take this as a way of griping, but we don't get to eat a lot of fruit out here. you get a piece of fruit probably for one meal, every other day. so a couple of days ago, i decided to go on a bit of an adventure and check out the local stalls outside the school compound. I headed about half km up the road and found a local fruit stand. I asked how much each fruit was and was given a bunch of pretty reasonable prices. 12 rupees for a pineapple - thats about a $0.25. sure beats $3 at superstore. and when i asked about oranges i was told 12 for 60 rupees. straightforward enough....BUT a dozen oranges are bit much for me...so i asked...how much for 4? (expecting it to be more expensive. i was told that it would be 16 rupees for 4 oranges....huh? its cheaper if you buy more?!? so i didn't argue and walked home paying about a dollar for a bagful of oranges, apples and a pineapple. and then it occured to me, that even while i paid next to nothing for a tonne of fruit...they were still probably jacking up the price. and since they were probably uneducated, they probably couldn't do math very well. only in india do you pay less when you buy less, well only if you're a foreigner i guess

incidentally...the fruit was really ripe. and the apples were so old, they tasted like styrofoam or dry cake without an ounce of juice in them. on the outside though, they looked pretty good. seriously, even dried apples you buy in the bulk food section had more moisture. oh yea...each orange has about 20 seeds in them...its kind of annoying...but the rush of vitamin C is always enjoyable.

i was pinched the other day by one of my male indian friends. apparently it happens quite often here, where foreigners get pinched by sneaky, gleeful locals. i guess the fair skin is a novelty or something. although, i must say, i wasn't very comfortable with it. it wasn't even a hard pinch (which i can take better) but it was kind of...limp. um...awkward!?! yea and he did it again yesterday, maybe i should say something. oh yea. guys readily hold hands on the streets, or sidewalks...they are pretty secure in their masculinity...but its odd. its not even manly holding...its kinda girly...like a guy would hold his girlfriend's hand. of course, this is all weird to me cos i'm a westerner, but perfectly normal in india. i'm not in anyway criticising whats going on here, i just thought it would be interesting to report it...thats all.

oh yea, i originally thought that i was going to buy clothes if i needed it for cheap, and then just leave em behind for people who needed it. i realised this the other day. the only thing my shirts would be good for is table cloths. for two reasons. obviously, they would be too big for the average indian male. but their tables are TINY. i don't get it. but hey, thats why travelling is cool.