Cleaning the house
Another day in India....things are getting exciting. Joe from UK has joined us -- our third ceeder!I visited the house that the ceeders would stay in for the first time and freaked out again for the tenth time in India. Coolness!Anyway, I wake up in the morning to the sound of loud music and singing. There is a huge prayer session going on next door. And the singing lasts all day except for lunch time. Wow! Talk about intense singing. We clean the apartment. In all honesty, the house is not mine so I shouldn't have been cleaning it up without asking. But wow...the dust in the house...it was crazy!I haven't even launced into such cleaning sprees in my life...will blog more about it later. Tiringdday...i wanna go sleep.:)
I freak out again...hahahaha!
Wow! India…what can I say?
Sometimes I think I am going crazy when I am here….this place is just insane!!! :)
I have moved to another friend’s house…..Rucha has kindly taken me into her house and we have slept in the gallery area. It’s like an open air area where we set up beach beds. It’s so cooling! I fell asleep listening to wild dogs barking and fighting outside (freaked out when I saw a dog walk along the ledge of her house) just like my cats at home. Anyway, I think the people here are just amazingly nice to one another. Rucha tells me she is pretty much dependent on her neighbors for help. Her mum has gone for a vacation visiting pilgrimage sites in India. Her dad has taken leave to look after her. Wow…but the AIESEC work here is intense…Rucha and I are out on the motorbike visiting companies. I nearly melt under the heat….yay to feeling sticky! I have not showered since 9am this morning and it’s 1am now! Err....
Anyway, I am at the cybercafe emailing and trying to work on a powerpoint presentation about the United States. Oops! Looks like I have to do abit of reading myself before I can put this powerpoint together. The AIESECers are at a late night meeting and I don’t think they will be done till 3am. Gawd and we have to get up for morning sales meetings at 10am. I will be staying at the Ceeder House later tonight since it’s too late to head back to Rucha’s place.
On the Ceeder house, it belongs to Deenal. I naturally freak out once again. It’s great man, I am having so many shocks and surprises. I spend the next few mins telling Deenal we need to clean up and throw stuff out to make space. The 2 room space will be used to house 9 people this summer and I don’t want to sleep in the bathroom. The kitchen is bare…literally, has no stove, no fridge, no counter top. Wow! I guess we can always convert the space into a chilling out space for visitors. Though with 9 people, I am not sure we can put any others into this 2 room space. (Gawd this keyboard is crappy! It’s buttons are junked up) I guess I just lost my nerve and ranted for awhile. I am going crazy!
However, Deenal has kindly offered to put us up so I should play my part I in cleaning it up. Juanita (a fellow CEEDer) turns to me to say “take it easy’. I figure those are words of wisdom, no point freaking out about anything in India. Man, I truly believe after living in Deenal’s house, I can live anywhere in the world. Hahaha!
I must say that having these other international AIESECers around me helps so much, keeping me sane. Because there is a natural tendency to want to judge things based on previous experiences.
I also learn that we will be traveling for 3 days on a train to get to the conference site located in Calcutta. I am fine with train rides and love them…until I find out we won’t get to shower at all! Ahh! Another freak out session is in play here. I hope I don’t jump the train when the time comes. Stay sane man, staying sane….
Anyway, Ali tells me I am too diplomatic. I’m not quite sure what it means but I tend to be more careful about what I say in general. Ali is the exact opposite of me and often uses the F word to express himself. So we’ll see, maybe I will loosen up and he will learn to be diplomatic like me. :P
P/s: I gushed about cute Indian guy with Juanita! Wish I took a picture of him though I was unceremoniously whisked away into the pool as I was about to introduce myself. Booger.
Cheering in the rain!
It's been almost a week since I have arrived in india...
My family is freaking out because of my previous email (contents much similar to the blog below)... Urm...now I feel guilty for misrepresenting India.
Firstly, this is a beautiful place. The problem is not the weather or the crazy rickshaw drivers on the street... I just wasn't used to it and I freaked out. Slowly but surely, I am finding things that are beautiful about this place...Baroda at least.
Yesterday, I was at Rucha's house. Rucha is an AIESECer too...and we had gone to her house after welcoming a German trainee to baroda. :) Anyway, we were about to leave for a meeting when it started to rain. Large drops of water falling from the sky slowly...*pit*pat*
I felt it falling on my face and my first instinct was to run for cover...like I would have in Singapore or anywhere else... Suddenly I hear this loud eruption of cheers in the entire neighborhood! Children and adults cheering...it was surreal because Rucha's house faces a big field and I can't see people across the field very clearly. But I can hear clapping from across the field and before I know it, Rucha is running out onto the road and skipping around telling me that "it's a blessing from the Gods! Isn't it beautiful?" (I was witnessing my first Rain Dance. heh!)
My first monsoon rain....I wasn't sure what to do...I have been taught to run for shelter when it rains, not dance in it! I have been used to hearing curse the skies when it rains, not call it a blessing from the Gods! I hesitate and Rucha tells me to come onto the roads... I can smell the earth and walk onto the dark road laughing. It feels wierd but I like the feel of the rain on my skin... Surreal...
Later I find out that India only gets rain during the monsoon season and the people have been waiting for one whole year for the first rain. Other times, it's hot and dusty...that is why everyone is so happy when it rains.
INTERNET
I have found an internet wireless source! I am in Heaven!!
Longest blog ever!
June 1st
Flight to Mumbai, India
It’s 9:35pm London time and I am sitting in a super warm plane because the auxillary unit is broken. The passenger next to me is African by birth, Indian by ethnicity, Muslim by faith and British by nationality. (woah!)
June 2nd
I have just arrived in India…am hit by a blast of warm air! Gosh! This reminds me of Singapore and Las Vegas…heat combined with the humidity…it’s making me swim in my own perspiration. :P
I spend 4 hours on a wild goose chase for an air ticket to a non existent flight! Indian Airlines had offered me an air ticket to Baroda at the price of an Indian National…but the happiness is shortlived when I find out the flight has been cancelled and I have to seek a refund as well as buy another air ticket from Jet Airways.
Lesson learnt: Never go for deals that sound too good to be true!
I’ve realized the horrors of miscommunication, especially when someone only has partial information and attempts to convey the big picture or when the information given is so vague it’s open to interpretation. Take for example: Seeking directions from strangers. Cab drivers keep insisting on following me when I ask them for help, and they all want me to take their cabs to the place I want to go. Airport authorities tell me to follow the signs posted and wave me on. Strangers on the street explain the signs are wrong and wave in another direction telling me to go another way. At the end of the day, I am not sure who is telling me the right information after being told contradictory things.
Anyway, I finally make it to the domestic airport and try to find Deenal (a TN coordinator in Baroda) but I have no idea how he looks like. We finally spot each other when we board the plane! J
I’ve always wondered how our trainees feel when we meet and greet them at the airport. It’s a mix of child-like excitement and bewilderment. All the happy faces and excited chatter filling the air! Frankly, I feel a little overwhelmed and am desperately trying to remember the names of the people I am meeting. It is rather embarrassing after talking to someone for 10 mins only to turn back to them and ask for their names again.
Ketan (LCP of AIESEC Baroda) is hilarious and introduces himself as James Bond. In my disorientation, I actually take him for real. (talk about being slow) I am staying with an AIESECer, Ali and his family for the next few days. He takes me home on his motorbike (hehehe!) and it’s a fine balancing act since we aren’t wearing helmets and my luggage is not the lightest thing on earth. I look forward to speeding on Ali’s motorbike (without my luggage) like one of those hot chicks on those Harley bikes!
Their household help (who is male) places a floor mat which we are to sit around. And a big metal dish (1 meter in diameter) is placed in the center where the rice is placed. Sweet chutney is added to the rice and everyone occupies an area of the metal dish to eat from. In true Asian fashion, I have to request for a plate and spoon to eat the rice. Everyone else eats with their hands….something which I have to learn soon. J
June 3rd
It’s been another hot night in the city of Baroda. I managed to fall asleep at about 2am when the night gets cooler and am up again at about 8:30am. I don’t think I have led such a disciplined lifestyle in the states and even back at home in Singapore. Who would have thought I would be such a good girl (*_*) in India? For those who care, Gujarat is a dry state meaning no alcohol allowed for people below 21 years old. No, I am not an alcoholic junkie but it is certainly interesting to see what people do to get alcohol for parties. Apparently, foreigners are allowed to purchase 1.5 liters of alcohol and will need to apply for an alcohol permit in order to do so. In addition, one is not allowed to buy alcohol for the next 7 days following a purchase. Because of such restrictions, liquor is rather expensive in Baroda with prices that are comparable to the States. As I stand in the liquor store buying whisky and rum for the party later tonight, I ponder the irony of the situation since back in the States, I am the one who usually “enforces” the No Alcohol Policy at AIESEC US conferences. Of course, whether we really stick to the rule is another matter….
AIESEC Baroda threw a pool party tonight. It was held at a farm house which really resembles some theme styled park. It’s also a camping lodge with its own internal pool, a stage with amphi-style theatre seating complete with flood lights, and features a playground. I have never partied outdoors in a farmhouse….and we could blast the music without neighbors complaining through the night. This place is located in a rather obscure area and rather far away from the city of Baroda. We stayed till the wee hours of the morning…and went home in time to see the morning sunrise. During the night, we experience 2 power cuts and some people have to ride their bikes back into the city to buy diesel to power the generators. At the first instance, I spend almost 1 hour chatting to a German guy in the dark. He talked a lot about his experience being in India and described how he had to meet the family of this local girl when he had asked her out to a date. He was shocked because the entire family tagged along for the dinner and he wasn’t quite prepared for that. Life here is difficult to adjust to if one is living alone given the differences in the way people communicate.
