For those who know me well...

I have to tell this story for those who know me really well. This will make you laugh. It made me laugh.

My roommate wanted to show me one of her favorite cafes. When we entered the cafe we were overcome by a smell which we thought was from cleaning supplies. It's common to be overwhelmed by smells here but you usually get use to then after time). We went ahead and sat down and ordered. As we sat there the fumes became stronger and we started to feel funny. Then it hit me. . . I was going to throw up. I couldn't figure out where to go so I ran for the door and that's where it happened. Then I continued out the door and threw up on the side walk. Then I noticed I had an audience of business men on the first floor (2nd floor in the US) watching me. Did I mention this cafe was located in a 5 star hotel?!? I don't think I've ever thrown up on marble before.

My roommate took care of the bill (which they didn't make me pay for my meal) and came out. She said that the fumes were actually from the construction site nearby. She had other adverse reactions to the fumes like a strange taste in her mouth, burning eyes, and later it came out her other end.

After this incident she did say that she has never had anyone have so many weird things happen to them especially in their first week. Some of the things that have happened to me have never happened to her in her 9 years here. Yeah, it's always exciting to be me!

The other funny incident that happened today was in the bathroom. You have to understand my history with bathroom follies and how wet bathrooms can be here. The wash machine is in my bathroom. When the wash machine drains it goes out a pipe and onto my bathroom floor and then into a common bathroom drain. They don't always have direct links from devices to the drain (thankfully my sink and toilet do). Another example would be the kitchen sink. Water runs out the drain in the sink onto the floor which has another drain. That's just how it works here. Anyway, the drain in the bathroom is right in front of the toilet. I was trying to go to the bathroom before the wash machine drained...didn't make it. My shoes got wet along with the bottom of my pants. They dried in no time. It was a funny little incident that can only happen here.

Successes

It helps to name the small successes I've had in order to keep perspective. I wanted to share them with you.

I'm actually recognizing some Hindi and able to use context to interpret meaning.
I found my way to and from language school.
Made orders on the phone.
Been shopping for clothes, food, and a mobile.
Had a conversation with the house help. (in broken Hindi/English)
Gave a rickshaw driver directions to my flat.

Not too bad for the first week and being sick.

Still Sick and Miserable

I'm still sick and miserable but trying and coping. It just takes so much energy to do things here and I barely have any. I did manage to find my way to and from language school today. I'm venturing out on my own in a bit to meet my roommate at a market so I can buy a spike guard and hair dryer...oh, and lots more tissue!

I was thinking about how some things here I've seen before so I forget to tell you about them. I thought I'd take a second and describe the things you see one the roadway.

There's a variety of animals you can see here. I've seen lots of dogs and some cats. I saw some monkeys yesterday. There's also lots of cows that roam near my neighborhood. Not as exciting are the rats I've see. I saw a dead one yesterday when we were walking with just it's head and tail in place and the body missing off the backbone. I had to wonder how it go that way. It probably was someone/something's dinner (most likely someone's b/c of the way it was so nicely butchered. I haven't seen any camels or elephants yet (or snakes and I don't care to). There are lovely birds that wake me up in the morning.

Vehicles here come in many shapes. The slowest would be cycles (bikes). Cycles can be rickshaws or supply transporters. You would be amazed at the amount of materials (and people) Indians and put on a cycle. I most commonly ride autos (auto rickshaws) which are motorcycles turned into miniature cars. Then you have the common variety of bikes (motorcycles), cars, buses, and trucks. Mix in people walking and beggars on the corners and that's a typical Indian roadway.

I'm trying to take pictures of things like these and pics of my flat and will be posting them in the next few weeks. I'm heading out of town for the rest of the week. I'll have to catch you up later on any new adventures then.

Explanations

Mobiles are very similar to cells back home but some functions operate differently. It’s amazing how trained your hand becomes to the functions of the phone you are use to using. The first time my mobile rang I couldn’t figure out how to answer it. Only one button allows you to answer a call. Then I couldn’t figure out how to operate the text messaging. I couldn’t get it off the prediction text. Then I couldn’t figure out where the punctuation or symbols were. I kept confusing the keys for space and capitalization. I guess I have learned that no matter how familiar you are to something it’s always good to read the instructions thoroughly.

About the water. We have to fill our tank usually twice a day. That’s our water supply (if there’s water available). That water is used for flushing toilets, washing clothes, taking showers, washing dishes, and anything else you might use water for except for drinking. In the bathroom there’s a hot water heater that you heat water in before you shower. They call it a geyser and pronounce it geezer=)

Ugh, I hate being sick!

So I had a moment of frustration…ok, it was like a buildup of encounters that left me a bit frazzled.

First, I’ve been sick and in bed yesterday and today (Friday, Jan 30th). My host says it’s normal. I was pretty exhausted and the pollution here can get to you especially if you have any kind of allergies. There’s nothing like blowing out black snot. Most of the past two nights I’ve been hacking up my lungs and other gunk. This was accompanied with a fever and a severe sinus headache. Today after sleeping in till almost noon I was awaken by my mobile ringing. It was my good friend B. After a few sentences the call was dropped which I’m finding to be very common here. I couldn’t reach her after that. I was a bit bummed.

I got up and made myself some of my favorite tea that I brought with me. I snuggled into this nice chair and wrapped this warm blanket around me. I also enjoyed a delicious orange. I had a great afternoon catching up on email and my blog. Then I realize that my legs are itching. Yeah, we are pretty sure that the nice cozy blanket has been infested with some sort of bug(s). I have red itchy whelps all over my legs.

I changed over to the couch which I know is safe. I have to place an order for water and milk. Seems pretty simple unless you’re trying to figure out how mobiles and phone numbers work here. I couldn’t get any of the numbers to work. I finally called someone and they said that sometimes you can’t call landlines from mobiles. I went and used the landline. The items were delivered.

I was ready to crash at this point (it’s about 5pm & the headache is coming back), but instead was sent inspiration to learn Hindi. Not only did the person come to deliver the water and milk, but then some strange man came to the door. After that someone came to deliver my roommate’s train ticket which I wasn’t expecting. I tried to ring her but there wasn’t any answer. I just paid for the ticket and tried to lay back down. Then came the neighbor. All I understood was water and pump. I took a guess that one of the roommates had turned the pump on to fill our tank and it was now overflowing. I went and turned it off. I ended up being right. At this point I had given up on resting and decided to try to order food to be delivered. It was a success. I enjoyed some amazing chicken biryani, garlic nan, and paneer parantha. The first is a chicken and rice dish. The others are types of tortilla like breads (one with garlic, the other filled with cheese).

Then the evening ended well with my roommates coming back and a surprise visitor. We had great conversation over tea and biscuits.