No Problem…No Problem…well

I’ve found that it’s a big part of Indian culture to say “no problem” about pretty much everything. The issue with that is that sometimes I do have a problem. Like when I got locked in the hostel and I went storming over to talk to Mr. Jaysh he said “it’s ok Leigh, no problem” and I said “No, Mr. Jaysh this is a HUGE problem” and he was confused. No problem has become one of those phrases that I NEVER want to hear again. Our dear friend Rumi, got bit by an ant that was carrying some kind of bacteria and her skin is turning black, and when she went to tell someone about it they said “no problem no problem” to which I responded well her skins going to fall off, so maybe there’s a small problem?

I got my culture on last night!

it’s so pretty! the girls are so talented! Well there was a problem with the culture on my arm…it resulted in a particularly itchy rash…#fail

On top of the new rash that’s broken out on my arm, I also went to the “hospital” last night. I put hospital in quotes because it was in fact not a hospital. It was a man at a desk wrapping pills in pieces of cut up newspaper. I told him I wasn’t feeling well and that I probably had Malaria and asked him was I going to die. He looked at me and said I’m confident you don’t have Malaria and that you’re going to fine. The kids were al gravely concerned about me because one of them touched my arm and signed to me that I had a fever…well I didn’t know how to sign back that my skin was hot because their entire country is hot, so most of the day was spent with children touching my face or rubbing my arms…so much touching. O and there’s a new girl who has taken to pinching my cheeks…I’ve had to tell her never do that again.

We went to the Gandhi Ashram (house) a couple days ago it was super cool. The ashram is where Gandhi lived when he was in Ahmedabad (for 15 years)

                                                           "My life is my message"- Gandhi

I really love this quote! New tattoo? I think so!

I’ve found the one thing that India has that if it makes it to the US half of our population will die off:

 

Delivery McDonalds? Seriously? Who in Gods name would want that awful food delivered? I might be bias because I hate McDonalds and everything they are (except the philanthropy aspect, that’s cool)

Somehow I have become the person responsible for mediating conflict amongst the kids. So they do a lot of hitting here because they don’t have another way to call each other, but sometimes they hit each other as a game…that I don’t approve of. So yesterday one of the boys that I love dearly slapped (playfully) one of the girls that I also love dearly. Well I marched right on down to him grabbed him by his shirt and told him to apologize. It was such a spectacle; well this incident, which occurred in the cafeteria in front of everyone, prompted all the students to bring their grievances to me.

Well yesterday I saw a dog sleeping in a planter:

I asked  “why is that dog in that planter?” the response was “o he’s just taking a rest” I said “well that’s odd because dogs don’t sleep in planters…so…”

In the evening I hang out with the boys at the boy hostel, this is the time where all of my electronic devices (both phones, laptop,  ipad, and camera) are passed out and they boys pretty much go to town. I have SO many pictures that I’m not quite sure what to do with them anymore…I’ll be printing about 200 photos before I head out.

My life is my message,

Leigh

+

Not hunrgy...really though...

What I really need is for people in this country to stop trying to force me to eat as much as humanly possible.  Everyone in this school eats a lot, the boys the girls, the women the men, even the dogs, so when you don’t eat as much as them they think you’re literally starving. I ate a normal breakfast and was full, but all of the students were trying to tell me I needed more food and I needed to keep eating, but they don’t understand that I’ve stopped eating because I'm not hungry anymore. Today after lunch (which is at 10 am, I know what you’re thinking; that’s breakfast! I thought the same thing) they gave all the kids mangoes for dessert well they gave all the kids 3 and they tried to give me 3 and I told them no and that I only wanted 1, well that wasn’t acceptable so they gave me 2. I ate one and tried to give the other one back, that didn't work. One of the boys I was eating with made me put it in my purse and told me I could eat it later...I carried a mango around all day.

I know it’s customary and traditional but people have to start letting me do my share of the work (thank you GRP). I haven’t washed a dish, made a bed, wiped a table, or help prepare a meal since I got here, but that’s not from lack of trying! I have tried so hard to wash my own dishes or help in whatever way I can but NO one will let me do anything. I mean if we’re being totally honest some of it I don’t mind…this making my bed everyday thing is no joke.

Let me tell you what is truly unacceptable: I was in a convenient store the other day and my total was 49 rupees well who has perfect change these days? So I gave the nice man 50 rupees expecting to get 1 rupee back, because that’s how simple math works…or so I thought. He gave me back this:

 

In what world and on what planet does 1 rupee change=random Indian candy??????????? I thought it was like a mint that you would get after dinner…then as I stood there staring at him waiting on my change my friend kindly informed me that he didn’t have any change so the candy was my change. I looked around, particularly perplexed…and stated that in my country if a store runs out of change they either give you more back than you’re supposed to have, or they GO FIND SOME CHANGE! No where is it acceptable to give someone candy instead of change. I’m actually still confused.

Apparently fire hazards aren’t like a thing in India. Let me tell you a little bit about how my afternoon went:

4:30 sitting casually in the hostel

4:32 decided I needed some water

4:33 found that the door to exit the hostel was locked…from the outside

4:33 remembered I worked at a school for deaf kids so yelling wasn’t helpful

4:34 waved down a kid made them go get me help

4:38 help finally arrived with a key to let me out

4:39 stormed into the office and ranted about how I could have died

It was pretty eventful.

Just in case anyone was wondering: Yes, it is still hot.

locked safely away,

Leigh  

Please stop touching me

If you know me at all you know that I am NOT overly affectionate, not particularly sensitive, and above all else I REALLY HATE being touched, I don’t really hug. I mean I don’t particularly mind hugs, there just not like on the top of my priority list or anything. I don’t just casually touch nor do I care to be touched. Well apparently people in India are touchers…why????????? People here are always touching me, there’s petting me or rubbing my skin. SPOILER ALERT: contrary to popular belief I am black and no, the color doesn’t rub off. So you can imagine the look on my face as I’m walking through the zoo and someone starts rubbing my head or stroking my arm. I mean do I look like I need to be rubbed???? I couldn’t possibly.

                                                                A lady petting me.

                                                    The crowd that gathered to pet me.

The zoo turned out to be quite disappointing. The animals were behind 3 and 4 fences therefore I couldn’t get a good picture. We however did turn into a side show again, this time it was kind of our own fault. We really wanted to see the hippos but they were chilling hard in the water so we started making all these awful high pitched noises and told people that was a hippo call…we thought it was funny….they thought we were idiots. Even though the zoo was a little disappointing that’s ok, because I kind of live in the middle of the zoo. On our way back to the school from the zoo we saw about 16 cows, 1 donkey, 7 goats, 3 horses, and when we got back to the school there were 12 monkeys…in our backyard…so…that’s my life. Speaking of cows, while I love India I need to be back in a country where cows understand their place: steak.  Now some of you may say that’s culturally insensitive and I should know better, but you trying being held up in traffic because a cow is just chilling in the road…eating some hay and looking around like he has not one care in world.

Things I’ve learned thus far in India: don’t let other people document events you find important. For example, Phoebe and I went halves on a new cricket set for the boys, well it was a surprise for them so last night all of us (Rumi, Mélanie, Phoebe, and myself) and Mr. Jaysh (the man pretty much taking care of us) went to the boys hostel and Mr. Jaysh explained we had a surprise for them! Well it was super exciting to see how their faces lit up when we pulled out the new equipment, they were so stoked! Well I was pretty stoked to see the pictures I asked our dear Puerto Rican friend to take, this is what they look like:

SPOILER ALERT: this picture sucks. There went that moment.

Speaking of my precious baby angels (sorry GRP’ers), all of the interns got a little dressed up the other night because we were going to have dinner with a friends family, so we put on our best clothes, and even put on some make-up. Well the boys were so surprised that I could manage to not look gross that I was receiving compliments up and down and naturally it turned into an event for pictures, they told me they needed to remember that I could look nice…things that are socially unacceptable: THAT.

                                    YAY! Leigh can manage to not look disgusting! SWEET!

and to continue on that thought, in addition to being the translator here I have also become the police of deeming what is and is not socially acceptable. Which is EXTREMELY funny, because I rarely fall into line with what is socially acceptable.  I’m having to constantly tell people I’m with, “you can’t do that” or “you can’t say that”. For example, taking a picture of the police while he’s scolding someone who just ran over his foot: SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE or speaking loudly about two guys holding hands who are literally right beside you: SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE. If you don’t understand being gay that’s fine I will explain it later, but really talking about anyone doing anything that you don’t understand or disapprove of when they are actually right beside you is…you guessed it: SOCIALLY UNACCEPTABLE

Well, half of my toe nail is missing…In the hostel, there’s a little ledge and I was running to get to my cellphone because it was ringing (thanks mom) and I hopped the little ledge and one foot cleared it…the other wasn’t so lucky. So my toe nail cracked about half way down the nail and it hurt like the pain of a thousand red ant bites. Well this situation brought my mind back to a conversation I was having with my doctor back in the states before I left. The conversation went like this:

Doctor: Leigh I see you’ve never had a tetanus shot?

Leigh: You’re correct.
Doctor: Well you should probably get one now, before you go to India.

Leigh: I’m good, but thank you.

Doctor: Well why not?

Leigh: Because I know that getting a tetanus shot is a choice.

Doctor: Ok…and?

Leigh: And I am choosing NOT to get one. Really thanks though.

When my toe falls off because it gets super infected, I’ll remember that choice and the pure sass I gave the doctor. Ehh…win some, lose some.

I GOT TO SLEEP IN A ROOM WITH AN AIR CONDITIONER! Ok so imagine you’ve been living on the sun, then all of a sudden you got to live in Alaska…in November. Imagine how happy you’d be! Then multiply that happiness by 16. That’s how happy I was! I had to use a blanket! I never thought I would need a blanket again. Our friend let us sleep at her house and her family fixed us the best meal we’ve ever had in India and it was a beautiful and blessed experience. Here’s the family that made my entire weekend:

Well as you may know I’m from the south, where it’s customary to bring a dish to dinner or to take turns buying and cooking. Well that’s not the case in India, the family invited us all to come back over for dinner next weekend so I excitedly asked “What can I bring” I was met with confused stares. So I asked again, “what can I bring to dinner next weekend” I was promptly and politely told I could and would bring nothing and if I did it would not be accepted. So then I was confused. Indian culture demands that guests be treated like family and apparently family doesn’t help by brining a covered dish. Also family doesn’t say ma’am and sir, I told them that was one thing I couldn’t help.

O and I may be teaching Gujarati studies today…

Love and Social acceptability,

Leigh

Shaking hands, Kissing babies, Petting elephants...NBD

 I PET AN ELEPHANT TODAY! so I was just chilling in India hanging out at a festival and up walks some elephants! They were the best things in the entire world and I love them with all my heart! Here’s a pic of me petting one!  I named him Jello, to make up for the fact that I have no one to call Jello…

That awkward moment when the foreigners turn into the main event at the festival: So we were just chilling at the festival watching some elephants and camels go by when all of a sudden person after person start asking us to take pictures with them or dance with them in the parade, or (and this is my personal favorite) hold their babies. It was a tad bit disconcerting…I felt like a politician: shaking hands and kissing babies. So many people wanted to shake our hands and touch our hair or skin, or take pictures with/of us. My personal favorite (other than holding someone’s baby) was when a police officer took his phone out and took pictures of us.  I wanted to let him know that he didn’t look as intimidating as he thought when he was cheesing from ear to ear while taking photos of us.

O and did I mention that we will be on the Indian evening news? Because we will be.  While at the festival a news reporter came up to us and asked us how we were feeling in India and how we were feeling at the festival, then he took lots of photos and videos! We even got special privileges while at the festival because we were foreigners. We got to get out of line and take special pictures; we got to get out of line to have pictures taken of us. It was pretty cool, we were pretty much VIP’s.  We spent the last 45 minutes of our time at the festival taking pictures with people.  The weird part is a lot of people wanted to take pictures with us, but they didn’t have cameras, so they wanted us to take pictures with them on our phones and cameras, so they’ll literally never see the pictures…

I’ve figured out why America is the most obese country in the world. At parades and festivals we’ve gotten to the point where we toss out full sized candy bars to the people in the crowds…not in India, in India they toss out stuff like cucumbers and mung beans, and water, and some candy, but not nearly the amount or size of that in America. #problemsolved When we got back to the school we divided all the candy into 3 bags (one for the boys, one for the girls and one for the blind boys) then we took the candy around and passed it out like it was Halloween! It was great : ) I’ve pretty much become besties with all of the boys.

Speaking of the boys, I realized that boys will be boys, no matter where you go or who they are they’re all the same, even here in India.  Today my friend (the one from previous blog posts) tried to convince me that some elephants would be coming to the school at 6, well at 6 when they weren’t here I asked him where they were, then he tried to convince me they would be here at 7, well I told him I thought he was full of crap. I told him he was dishonest and we were no longer friends, at which point he immediately started trying to convince me that there were elephants across the street…he knows I can’t leave the commune…this all basically ended with me being super over it because I was quite excited about seeing some more elephants.  But at the end of the day the boys are pretty much the sweetest things ever, they gave me flowers and it was cute : )

As I told a friend of mine yesterday, I can tell this is going to be one of those rip my heart out and leave me for dead summers…I’ve still got plenty of time so I’m not thinking about leaving yet....

Foreign Celebrity,

Leigh

TEAM AMERICA WINS AGAIN!

I have a new friend!!!! Her name is Nikki, and she’s an English speaking American who understands that PR is a US territory, plays hide and seek AND speaks Gujarati!           She is everything that is right in India. We’re pretty much bff’s…I’m not sure if she knows that though…she’s a senior in high school and from Chicago. When she got here we went on a tour of the commune then we ended up playing cricket and hide and go seek with the boys for a while. She doesn’t really sweat though…and I’m super jealous about that. I’m trying to convince her to apply to UNC #goheels #goamerica

Things I don’t understand: long sleeved shirts in this heat. So apparently Wednesday is casual (forgot about Friday they said), so the kids are rocking their gear, some are in jeans, others in their traditional indian gear, but still…some…were in long sleeves…like what the heck? It’s literally 106 degrees here everyday (at the minimum) and on the one day these kids can wear literally whatever they want they choose to wear long hot sleeves. I don’t get it. I think my issue is I don’t particularly care for sweating, I think it’s gross…it leaves you sticky and weird looking, feeling, and smelling and I honestly just don’t have time for it. I chose the wrong country apparently. I just cant comprehend these sleeves, I mean even ¾ length would have been better, but no lie, half the kids were in long sleeved shirts, I mean why didn’t they just put on turtlenecks and be done with it?

Ok so as I was sitting still and sweating last night while doing my homework…yes I said homework. My Gujarati languages teacher assigned me homework. If I wanted to take a summer class I wouldn’t have come all the way to India to do it! I would have stayed right in good ole Chapel Hill.

That SUPER AWKWAD moment when you YELL heads up during a game of Frisbee with deaf kids…whoops…well we hit a couple kids in the head with  a Frisbee, but really what could we do? Mélanie taught the kids how to toss and catch the Frisbee today and I would like to say that it was a win.

Things I am doing when get back to my beautiful country: writing a letter to the President demanding (yes demanding) that they teach English in ALL US territories (because this language thing is no joke, we are riding the struggle bus something serious to understand each other), AND I’m suing McDonalds India for false advertising. I’ve never wanted anything more than I wanted the ice that was supposed to come with my coke (I know it was supposed to come with it because it showed in the pictures, that clearly stated “come inside”, which led me to believe that if I went inside I would have ice and a coke) WRONG: all I had was coke. my feelings were sooo hurt.

Writing on the festival tomorrow,

Leigh

 

Tattoos and dreadlocks

Those 2 things seem to be very interesting to these kids. We had a full day of “let’s touch Leigh’s head!” yesterday. Some were scared some were amazed, but at the end of the day they all gave me the thumbs up or the Ok symbol, basically meaning I’m in the cool kids club.#finally

Also, apparently word has spread that I like Jesus because different kids come up to me all the time and point at my cross tattoo then ask (well not really ask) if I pray. When I say yes I get that thumbs up. #winning My other tattoo isn’t of as much interest because they can’t read all the words.

Yesterday this man asked me what part of Africa I was from…I have no problems with the motherland but I was still over it. I said I am an American but I would love to visit Africa someday soon.

One of the teachers at the school is convinced I need to learn Guajarati, so his class is now solely focused on teaching me how to speak their native language which is totally awesome! Except for the fact that this is literally the hardest language I have ever studied or read or looked at. I can’t even repeat the words once someone else says them! I learned a phrase yesterday that means “how are you?” I asked one of our caretakers in Guajarati how she was and she was so excited! She responded and looked so proud of me! Then she started talking…a lot and very quickly in Gujarati…and I was silent again…she was so proud of me for one second…then she was like lol…you don’t speak Gujarati, and our moment was over. I’m working on being able to hold a minimal conversation….ya…I’ll let y’all know how that goes.

There’s a little girl here and it’s her first year at the school and is just crying and boo hoo-ing all over the place. Well naturally the camp counselor in me wanted to hug her and tell it would be ok, but when no one was looking and I went to sit with her she stopped crying and stuck her tongue out at me. then got up and moved somewhere else to pretend to cry -__- I was SUPER over it. She’s fine. She gets no more sympathy from Leigh.

So I am the best English speaker here…which I find weird because I say things like gooder and bestest  and other things that would shame my high school English teachers, but that is the role I am playing. I am a translator, sure makes me wish I had paid attention during those 3 years of French and 3 semesters of UNC Spanish…whoops…

Many of you have been expressing your confusion about my purpose here in India at this school. To be quite honest, I’m just hanging out. Everyday the kids teach me new signs and help me remember old ones. I’ve literally taught no one anything…and I probably wont…because I don’t know Gujarati…or Indian sign language…or how to embroider, which is what the principal asked me help with…that’s going to be a fail of epic proportions.  I brought plenty of embroidery floss though…so I guess I could teach them how to make friendship bracelets?? Maybe? 

 Melanie and I NOT teaching anything...

The first friend I made (that is a student) here, is named Gelo (short for something I can’t remember how to spell), well I’ve been pronouncing it like Jello…because that’s what is looks like! Well yesterday I found out it’s pronounced like Gela…how was I supposed to know that? I guess I should stop calling him Jello…

 He's the taller one on the second row

The other night I was sitting on a bench with my feet dangling carelessly over the edge, when all of a sudden…BAM this random stray dog tentatively approaches me looking all sad and sullen and he plops his self down with his ENTIRE body pressed up against my feet. Like he wasn’t rubbing his body against my shoes, just sitting literally as close as possible to me. I was just looking around and no one seemed to think that was super strange except for me. SPOILER ALERT: if a stray dog does that weir crap to you MOVE. I mean nothing happened….he just sat pressed against my shows for a few minutes….kind of anti climatic now that I think about it…but still, of all the room in the entire country of India, that is where he chose to sit.

OOO AND LOLZ SO HARD: I have a cricket phone….hahahahaha! does anyone remember those awkward moments when someone asked you for your number and you had to tell them to give you a couple days so you could put some minutes on your phone???? Well I don’t because I’ve never had a Cricket, but I remember my friends riding the Cricket struggle bus. So, I’ve pretty much been sent back to the past in terms of a phone.

More tattoos soon,

Leigh  

Jeans, Tea, Sweaters: Things you never need in India

That super awkward moment when you get locked out of your room…at the deaf school…when no one can hear you…that happened. We stood outside for like 15 minute just a hollering…in vain…because we work at a school for deaf students. #fail on our part for getting locked out. No one be alarmed, we eventually got back in.

It’s very difficult to explain to deaf kids what stepping is…so thank you Joe Bryant and Denzel McCollum. My day just got more confusing! I have about 900 photos on my cell phone and about 20 videos, my tiny human friend went through at least 500 of them and watched a video I had of Joe and Denzel stepping at least 20 times. It is also very difficult to explain why my mother was dancing with my dog…but she was and she watched that video at least 40 times! It didn’t matter that she couldn’t hear the signing or yelling the dancing was quite amusing.  Something I’ve found, these kids love pictures, they love seeing us in pictures and they love taking pictures and most importantly they love seeing themselves in pictures, therefore I take about 100 pictures a day just so they can see themselves. There’s something about a photograph that makes them very happy. So just imagine what happened when I pulled out my laptop and started showing them all the special effect that could happen. They were just tickled pink! Hence the attached photos of them looking like aliens.

Also, through the pictures they have been teaching us signs! So when we look through our phones or computers or cameras, we’ll point to an item or animal or whatever,  and they show us how to sign it. It’s been pretty awesome.

It’s so amazing how easily these kids understand us, we’ve only been at the school 3 days and they’re teaching us all kinds of things! You know that awkward moment when I can communicate better with deaf children than the speaking and hearing adults? Ya that’s been everyday so far.

Things that aren’t meant for India: Jeans. I for some dumb reason decided that wearing jeans in this HOT HOT HOT country was a solid idea…it wasn’t. So im walking around sweating bullets. All day. Something else I’ve learned, it’s important to pay attention to your surroundings.  So I came bee bopping and gallivanting out of the school office today and I failed to realize everyone else is standing perfectly still as some kind of prayer/song blares through the speakers. It took me a solid 3 minutes and a few hard stares to realize I was failing…again.

Things I’m over: the amount of HOT tea that is consumed in this HOT country. Ok so here’s my daily schedule:

6:30 AM- wake up, eat biscuits (cookies in America) and drink tea

10:00 AM – lunch (don’t ask me why they’re calling breakfast lunch, I have no idea)

2:30 PM – Tea time

5:00 PM- Tea and biscuit time

6:00 PM- dinner

sooooo much tea…sooooo much food…all the time…everywhere. In the words of Lindsay Chambers: “Eat ALL the things” 

Hot tea all the time,

Leigh

P.S.- if any was concerned we WILL be celebrating the 4^th of July in India.

just chilling in India...playing some cricket.

Today a group of deaf boys taught me to play cricket...and it was awesome! We stood outside for like a total of 3 hours today just playing cricket! Even though they can't speak they taught us the rules, how to keep score, when we were out (which for me was quite often). They taught us new signs and showed us on a map where they were from, and we showed them on world map where we were from. The cool thing about this is that we don't know any sign language but we pretty match talked to them all day. They're funny and try think we're pretty funny. 

It's really funny because all the kitchen and school staff gather around us when we eat to make sure we like the food and that we've got enough to eat. The thing about is I'm not hungry pretty much anytime we're supposed to eat but I can't tell them I'm not hungry! It's been a lose lose for a couple days now.

Ok now let me tell you how I got guilt tripped into drinking this HOT tea in this HOT country. So what happened was they kept trying to give us water, but we didn't know if this was sink water (that we can't drink) or mineral water (which we can), so they're offering us this water and we're all refusing and they look at each other and look back at us and with this sad look in their eyes say "but it's clean.." the thing about it was at that I wasn't even thirsty! So we all kept saying no. 4 minutes later they are making tea and they tell me I should drink the tea bc I didn't drink the water...so I'm standing around sweating and drinking this hot boiling cup of tea and I'm actually dripping at this point. It was awful. The tea was great, the feeling I had while drinking it was awful.

There's a tiny human following us around, she's real cute so it's cool.

I got bit by an ant, I was super over it. It hurt...like a lot. And the ants are literally the size of my pinky nail. They're HUGE.

O and the puerto rican is still saying she's from pr...and they still have no idea what she's talking about.

Also, we still don't speak Gujarati and they still don't speak English. We should probably just start signing to everyone. 

So I was on my way to this temple and we in a toot toot (this was by far the most errifying ride ever) we almost hit like 4 people, 2 cars and a donkey. Well anyways, on our way to the temple there were these 3 guys on one motor bike (yes 3 normal sized guys on 1 bike) well, all three of them were looking at us soooo hard they almost crashed into the car in front of them. Then when we pulled up beside them (after they almost crashed), I looked at them and said "you should pay attention to the road." Then we pulled off. They were SUPER failing. 

School starts tomorrow so we'll see how my first day goes!

Ants...Ants everywhere,


Leigh

There's so much culture...everywhere...all the time. O I don't have a toilet anymore.

So, when I said there was someone look down and chuckling at my life I meant it. When I arrived at the school today with my 71 pounds of luggage and I climbed the 2 flights of stairs to get to our commune with said luggage I see that there are no little cots set up for us. So I’m thinking hmmm…maybe they will set them up now, or maybe they waited so we could help them?  Both of those thoughts were wrong. I will now be sleeping on the floor…on a very thin mattress. What is happening here? I just don’t even know…So to recap: I left a house that is getting an actual shower, I lost my toilet privileges, I will be sleeping in a room with 45 children, and together we will be sleeping on the floor. My life is a huge lol. O and there’s not toilet paper. O and we don’t know how to use the toilet. Great. SOOOO MUCH CULTURE! 

PICS TO COME! (on FB)- pic 1

I washed my clothes today! It was a fail. For those of you that know me, you know that I don’t joke. I don’t kid, I don’t do anything of the sorts, I don’t like it, it’s not my strong suit. So when I tell you that adter washing my clothes they were actually dirtier than they were before you have no chouce but to believe me. I can’t even tell you what happened, Iw as washing my clothes I hung them to dry then these random weird stains appeared. WHAT IS GOING ON? The stains weren’t there when I packed my clothes, they weren’t there when I wore my clothes, they were there AFTER I WASHED THEM! I just can’t…O and to make matters 110% worse, after I washed my clothes and hung them to dry and sat down it started POURING. I’m not talking about a little drizzle, I’m talking about a freaking ocean coming out of the sky. My clothes are still wet to this moment.

We were setting up our floor spaces at the school and there was a very cute tiny human named Domeni, her a pic. Now let me explain the pic, Rumaire (the intern from PR) was super excited about taking a picture with her, so she sat right down and scooped her up into big hug, well apparently they don’t hug much here, hence the terrified look on poor Domeni’s face. I laughed a lot about this photo.

PICS TO COME! (on FB)- pic 2

So the people at the school who are taking care of us,  don’t speak English, they don’t sign, they speak a language that we don’t know. So this communication game jut got really tricky. They’re both super nice though, we just all do that thing that people do when they don’t understand someone, that haha..ok…uhh… So we’re really just standing around looking at each other.

O, there was a camel walking down the street today…casual.

PICS TO COME! (on FB)- pic 3

When I was in the toot toot coming to the school I had another end of life vision. Let me tell you what it was like. For those of you that have seen Harry Potter (can’t remember which one) The scene where the Hogwarts double decker squezzes into a tiny sixe in order to fit through 2 normal double decker buses and they just barely made, remember that? Remember that was able to happen because of magic. There is no magic on the roads in India.  What actually happened was my toot toot was in between a car and bus and I thought death was there to grab me. I leaned out my toot toot touched the bus beside me, leaned back and said “I just touched that bus and that’s HUGE problem.” I had my sassy pants all the way on, and I was looking at the driver for an explanation or at least hoping he was going to move, he looked at me ignored me and drove even further into the belly of the beast.  

Culture everywhere,

Leigh

"Follow all traffic laws"

Well the title above was a complete lol and a blatant fail. As my favorite elf would say "You sit on a throne of lies!" That quote is posted in the middle of a road at a very busy intersection. Let's just talk about this intersection for a second...the stop lights don't work, there's no official there directing traffic, it's essentially just  a huge free for all. It's terrifying. I have seen my life flash before my eyes too many times to count and I've only been here a couple days. People drive like they have no concern for their lives or my safety. I asked one of our friends from Ahmedabad how high his countries traffic fatality rate was, he said "o not very high!" that was a lie. I know it. The "rules of the road" are more like "mere suggestions" and sometimes it seems like they're just something someone wrote down one day that no one cares about. People drive down the wrong side of the road, they just drive and honk instead of yielding, it is so scary.  

Being a pedestrian in chapel hill for 3 years will make you feel invincible, like you can walk in front of any car and your life will be left in tact because you know they have to stop for you. In India it is not even similar to that, they are literally polar opposites. People dart in front of cars, cars don't slow down, I envision people getting hit, then somehow quite miraculously they survive. I generally close my eyes because I don't want to see them meet their demise so I can't say how they're doing it just yet, but one day...one day. At one point today we were attempting to cross a street our friends from here just casually strolled in front of motor bikes, cars, toot toots (aka rickshaws). Well I sprinted. I don't run often, but when I do it's because I'm being chased by a coyote or a car in India is about to destroy my life. Well our friend so, "No, don't run." To which I responded with, "Well a car was about to run me over so...you know."  

I can't tell if I've made a friend or an enemy...let me tell you about our newest intern. She's from Puerto Rico, so when she got here and said where she was from I yelled (actually screamed) "YES! GO TEAM AMERICA!!!!" she was not thrilled. In fact anytime some one asked her where she was from she would say Puerto Rico, which is totally fine except that she has a super thick accent and NO one knows what or where Puerto Rico is! So after about 10 tries and misses I finally said she is from America! Which resulted in a lot of "oooo ok USA!". They were happy, I was happy, she was over it. I think what really did it for her was when she looked at me upset about the statement and I responded with "what? My country owns your territory." Ehh...we'll see what happens. 

Well it seems that there's someone in the heavens looking down at my life and chuckling, and thinking how can I continue to test Leigh?? Well I can't make it hotter because the country will explode...what can be done? Let me tell you: I'm moving out of the volunteer house I've been living in and moving into the school. This move was totally expected and understood. What wasn't expected was that the volunteer house would be getting...drum roll please...A REAL SHOWER. I was so flabbergasted and dumbfounded I just didn't know what to do. They're getting a shower this week! The week I move out...I can't. Not only is this happening but I'm moving to the school where I will be sharing a large room with 45 CHILDREN, taking communal showers, and (and here's the kicker) we no longer have toilets. Yes, you read correctly, NO TOILETS. What is there you may ask? A hole. A hole in the ground. That is all. A hole. I feel like my life has a hole in it.

I visited the school and got to meet the kids ill be working with! They're adorable! There is a small problem however...for some reason I thought we'd be teaching American sign language...i have never been more wrong in my entire life. We will be teaching Indian sign languages SPOILER ALERT: I don't know know any Indian sign language, nor do I speak the language. So...about that...I thought I was going to come back the states and be proficient in sign language and maybe that would help shape the course of my life. I was wrong...again. If anything I'll be returning back the states more useless than before. Once again I am failing. The principal of the school told us we would be responsible for teaching either art or sculpture...I said I have no talent in either of those areas. He responded with "yes, everyone has some hidden talents"...i said, no you'd be wrong their my friend. We'll see how this goes. Can anyone imagine me teaching art to anyone? Ya neither can I. 

Ok let's just talk about a few things that are not helpful at all:

1) when the news is on in India it reads in English "breaking news!" only to have said breaking news in a DIFFERENT LANGUAGE. How is it that helpful or informative??? If America is destroyed while I'm gone and anyone survives can someone please give me a call because I won't know. 

Also, Indian food is delicious! It's flavorful and spicy and great all around! What's not great all around is when I'm in a restaurant and I ask what something is and the waiter says "something I don't understand, something I don't understand masala. " I will literally never know what I'm eating. 

If you were wondering to yourself recently, "hmmm I wonder if people are still staring at Leigh? Well to answer your question, yes, yes they are. They stare in a friendly sort of way and many people wave. Today a group of school girls were in front of our house about to get on the bus, before that could happen they spotted us. They started waving and giggling and carrying on, one would begin to question if they are laughing at us...I guess we'll never know. 

If you're reading my blog I really appreciate it, but I wanted to inform you all that I will most likely not have daily posts starting next week. I currently have wifi where I'm staying but ill be moving into the school tomorrow so I'm not sure when I'll be able to access the internet. I know I'll be able to update at least once a week, but I'll try for more! 

Remember rickshaws are scary,

Leigh

Bucket shower was NOT on my bucket list.

Welp, last night I had my first bucket shower. Many have been asking me questions like "what was it like?" or "how did it go?" I'll tell you...it left MUCH to be desired. I told a friend of mine I won't really be clean for 6 weeks. Now, some may say that I am a privileged American and the shower could not have been that bad. You're right and you're wrong. I am a proud privileged American and the "shower" was in fact that bad. Let me tell you why: the "shower" room is a small small rectangle, about 6 feet in length, 2 1/2 feet wide, and 6 feet tall. That being said, there was not a lot of room to move around. So, there's this bucket and this cup, and just pour some water on yourself, lather up as best you can, then pour some more water on yourself...then you're done. That is it. There is nothing else. You know how when you take a shower at home you get to relish in the fact that the water is just pouring over you and you don't have to do anything? Ya that is NOT the case here. O and did I mention  the water is hot? Please take a quick trip down memory lane with me to my last blog post where I discuss that fact that this country is hotter than the devil himself, therefore the water is naturally hot...so I stood in this tiny sauna of a room and poured hot water on myself...the "shower" was really quite counterproductive as I stood and was sweating for most of it.

Bucket style is not for me...but I've got 5 more weeks...so...ya...this is awkward...

Ok so you know how when you’re walking down the street you may see a stray cat or dog? Or even a rabbit or a squirrel? And you know how that’s like no big deal. Well…in India cows, monkeys, and sheep just waltz around like the own the place! So Sunny, Mélanie and myself and gawking and taking pictures (as you’ll see at the bottom of this paragraph) and we’re getting stared at and people are chuckling at us! Well let me tell you something, next time you’re walking down the street and you see a cow just chillin remember that’s not normal. In the words my new found friend Mélanie, “where’s the farm? where’s the farmer? where’s the zoo?” those are some phenomenal questions that no one can seem to answer. I mean what am I supposed to do when a herd of sheep is stampeding in front of my house? (ok maybe they weren’t stampeding per se…but just give them time and enough motive…o they’ll stampede, I’m sure of it!) O and while we’re on the topic of animals and nature being all over the dog blasted place, there’s a lizard living in our house…he eats the mosquitos, so I guess he can stay. Maybe.

I like this one because it looks like there's monkey on my head.

 Lizzie, our resident lizard.

The herd of sheep...NBD

Our cow friends 

O and I saw that pack of monkeys I was told not to be alarmed by….SPOILER ALERT: when there’s 17 monkeys all eyeing you suspiciously, you should be VERY alarmed. Do not take them lightly, they don’t like you. Good thing monkeys are so independent because I just know they would have stampeded me if given the opportunity. I’ve had my fill. 

O ok so today I had fresh coconut water (like directly out of the coconut that I saw him chop open!) I was just down right tickled pink! I rushed over and in all my excitement was convinced I needed a picture with this young man! He was quite baffled and I think the picture speaks for itself. See below.  Well turns out I don’t like fresh coconut water…so that was a fail. I thought I got smart for a second (silly me) and I poured the coconut water into a cup and put it in the fridge thinking maybe if it was cold…? Nope, still not for me.

In addition to the fresh coconut I had this really cool mango. What you do is you squeeze the mango so that the inside turns basically into a thick juice, then you bite a small hole in the top and suck the mango out! 3 words: IT WAS AWESOME.

Have I mentioned that it’s hot? because I feel like I’m sitting inside an active volcano, that has somehow been put inside the oven at my dear friend Elizabeth’s job that gets up to 1000..CELSIUS. All that is to simply say I’m really hot…all the time. 

Today around 3:45 PM my friends asked me did I want to go for a walk…a walk….really? In this heat that feels like I’m hugging the devil you want to go for a walk? I looked at them quite exasperatedly and said, “no, never. I never want to talk anywhere in this hot country. no, nope.” Then later on one of my friends was talking about how she really wanted to go for a run. At this point I knew she was delirious (probably the heat talking). I told her I would not suggest running anywhere but into some ice or an air conditioner. Some people…

Well that’s all I’ve got for now, but please continue to check back in!

Monkeys, cows, and sheep,

Leigh