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I got back. I confused my dates. I was leaving on the 10th, not the 12th as I had stated in my previous entry. Thanks to you guys who sent me your well-wishes.
So, so much to tell. I hardly know where to start. I don't really think there is a way that I can fit it all into one post. I kept a paper journal whilst I was "disconnected" but somehow the result would just seem displaced somehow, if I were to copy it over to LJ.
Anyway, some basics here include highlights, midlights, lowlights, and no lights (care to shed some?). There is simply too much to cover in one posting so I'm gliding over the main points now.
1.) India is a country of unbelievable heat. Especially when you are in the interior, away from any such ocean breezes etc. Las Vegas has nothing on this place.
2.) India is also a country of a wealth of culture and history, it was endlessly fascinating for me to experience the different aspects of it. ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) blue_leaf, I know you would really enjoy it. These are a very spiritual people, with a very different outlook on life from what we have. It really makes you think.
3.) The food is really spicy, which of course I already knew, but there is stuff -- I don't know, like roti (which is "sort of" like pita bread) for example tasted spicy to me. My mother had bet me that I would lose a ton of weight whilst I was in India because I wouldn't want to eat anything. I did not go with that bet, mostly because I knew she was right. ;)
4.) Yes, there really are cows lying and standing all over the place. Even in the big cities.
5.) My (mother's) digicam got stolen. She didn't take the news as badly as I thought she would. Fear not, I bought a film camera -- how quaint -- and managed to get some pictures. I guess I will have to get my pictures onto a CD or DVD or whatever. It's weird using a film camera when you haven't done so in eons.
6.) Got yelled at for drinking chai tea in front of a Sikh temple in Calcutta. I don't know why he was yelling--the temple was on the second floor. I was not in front of the entrance but rather standing in front of a couple of storefronts on the ground floor. But still the temple was "above" me. Whatever. Anyway I got chased from the immediate vicinity. Jeesh.
7.) This was my first experience witnessing abject poverty up close and personal. We are talking straw huts, if the poor were lucky. Often they weren't, and there were many "houses" made out of garbage bags and tarps.
8.) The garbage. Ugh, the garbage. There are mountains of it everywhere. I remember in paticular seeing one pond in which some poor people were bathing. At the other end of this pond there was garbage oozing into the water from a huge pile. As far as I can see, there are no repercussions whatsoever for littering, either.
9.) If you are white-skinned, be prepared to get stared at -- hard. And constantly. Maybe this is what it feels like to be a movie star! (haha no -- no one asked me for my autograph. ;) It seems that, on the whole, the whiter skin is, the more it is revered. They have a severe problem with what one Indian girl calls "color prejudice." Almost everybody on TV, Bollywood, etc. are light-skinned Indians, many appearing just as white as white people. For those "unfortunate" enough to have darker skin, there are special creams they can buy that promise to lighten their skin within a few days. It's really a shame. :( One ad on TV even suggested that this fellow "broke up" with his girlfriend and went to marry another girl because her skin was lighter (the ad was, of course, for skin-whitening cream. If the girl had been using that all along, then the situation probably would never have happened!). That's just wrong, man.
10.) The clothing the women wear is very beautiful. Mostly salwar kameez and sari. Rarely did I see a woman in a skirt and shirt, and even more rarely in pants or shorts. You're more likely to see Western dress in the cities than you are in the smaller towns. I was given several salwars and saris. They're pretty cool.
11.) As I mentioned in an earlier post, finally I can quit whining about not seeing the Eiffel tower. This being my fourth time in France, I put that god-awful layover to good use and took the train/metro to see it. I got some pictures.
FYI: the base of the Eiffel Tower is absolutely filled with hustlers/beggars/whatever you want to call them. I got begged at (is that a proper phrase?) at least 4 times. There was this one hustle where you would be walking past one of these beggars and they would pretend to find a solid gold ring on the ground and then give it to you because you are a wonderful and lucky person. Then they would kiss you (ick) and leave. One guy made me take his ring, but I knew it was a hustle so I waited for him to come back and ask for money. Which he did. I forced the ring back into his hand and left. This exact same procedure was tried on me, all in the immediate vicinity of the Tower, 3-4 times. They need to start coming up with some new ideas. The other beg was from a woman who held up sign in English, explaining that she was from Bosnia and had been in Paris for two months and needed money to feed her children. She was dressed like a Muslim at least. Don't know if she actually was one. I didn't trust her either.
13.) Due to my constant backtracking across the globe, after some calculating, my June 10th lasted 30 hours. Most of which I was awake. Ugh.
Conclusion: If you ever have the chance to visit India, do it. Preferably in winter if you dislike hot weather as I do. ;)
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