So What!

I think I’ll soon have to adopt what I call the So What attitude. It’s hot? So what. The windy heat is drying out my eyes? So what. I can feel the sweat drops rolling down my chest and back? So what. The wind, heat, and dust are ruining my nails and drying out my skin? So what.

I have to accept the fact that the heat, wind and sand aren’t going to kill me. I most definitely have a constant urge to run away from this environment when it gets too uncomfortable. I think that’s normal for a western person visiting the desert in June. When I start to sweat, and I mean really sweat, I want to escape and cool off so badly. But there is nowhere to go. When my feet start looking nasty I want to hit the bath with my pumice stone, exfoliate those bad boys and give myself a pedicure! But that simply isn’t possible here.

These desert living conditions are harsh and pretty unbearable, but I’m not going to die here. I need to remember that. And also remember to drink lots of water. I’m a firm believer in what doesn’t kill you (usually) makes you stronger. I can do this… I can do this…

Last night we went to a wedding. Actually, we went to two weddings. The first wedding was the wedding for one of the teachers employed at one of the Gram Chetna preschools. It was not only her wedding, but her sisters as well. It was so interesting to see two sisters share a wedding without the animosity that would surely be present if it was in the USA and probably any other western country. Weddings are expensive, and the bride’s family has to pay for the whole thing as well as provide a dowry. So why not knock out two birds with one stone?

I wished we could have stayed a little longer, but we had to get to the second wedding. We only had time to walk back to the house and said hello to Bride 1 and Bride 2. We sat down in the yard for a few minutes, had some sweets and left just as the coconuts and other ceremonial stuff were being rounded up. Bummer.

The second wedding was for a young lady in Big Boss’ family. I have no idea who is who, but this young lady was someone’s niece. Indian wedding etiquette is very unfamiliar to me. At the second wedding, we didn’t see the bride or groom; we ate dinner and walked out. There were no congratulations, no introductions, no gift giving, we didn’t even stay for a ceremony. We walked in, sat down, gorged ourselves, and 15 minutes later we were on the motorbikes headed home. It was a quintessential eat and run. I asked Rajiv if that was acceptable wedding behavior. He said it was completely fine and that there was no requirement to stay and visit.

Interesting.

We are patiently awaiting the arrival of another intern. By we I mean I am patiently awaiting the arrival of another intern. She was supposed to arrive on Sunday, but no dice. John is really great and all, make no mistake. He helped me buy the right mangos in the market, he organized the whole trip to Pushkar, he lets me use his computer to access the internet, the list goes on and on. But to put it simply, I need a female companion. I am very much a girl’s girl and all this man business is wearing me down. I’m sure you’ve all picked up on that by now. I just worry that I’m looking forward to her arrival too much; I may meet her and be really disappointed.

Oh! And John figured out a solution to the electrified water cooler. When we want water we have to put on at least one flip flop, two if you‘re not lazy. That way the electricity can not be grounded or something. To be honest, I don’t really know much about how electricity travels. However, you should see everyone balancing on one flip flop while filling their water containers… It’s pretty funny.


K, Bye!
MCC