1) The weather - I actually miss how the weather changes with the seasons. I know that might sound bizarre, but here in India there is a rather limited menu:
- hot
- hot
- even hotter
- hot & humid
and
- Aargh, I’m meeelting!
[Josiah reminded me that they get the monsoon season here too (also known as 'fish swimming by your window') but that’s not till June so it doesn’t count!]
2) The fact that people don’t stare. Walking around here makes you realise what celebrities must feel like. Everyone stares and watches you from the moment you step foot outside the gate. If they could, I’m sure they’d watch me inside my house too. Coming from a culture where if someone’s staring at you it’s probably because there’s something wrong with you, I started getting pretty paranoid about my appearance. I think Josiah was getting rather annoyed by the number of times I’d ask him “Joe, do I have anything on my face?!”
Now I just ignore everyone & repeat to myself: “There’s nothing on your face, you’re clothes aren’t see-through, you haven’t grown a third ear, they’re just staring because you’re fabulous!”
3) I loved how everything was all in one place. If you went to the supermarket, you could get pretty much get whatever you needed. From towels to cream cheese to a mop and bucket. Here, you can go to the markets, but they won’t necessarily have what you want. Each market seems to be famous for a few key things, so it takes patience and a good memory to suss out what each has to offer. But that’s no good for me because I’m a very impatient person with a very bad memory.
4) Plants are easier to look after because everything comes with instructions & little diagrams: full sun, half sun, morning sun, water daily, water weekly, water whenever you remember. Here all my beautiful roses and the plants with the little pink flowers (have no idea what they are) are all dying on me and I don’t know why! I water them, I talk to them, I touch their leaves (I’m not crazy, these are scientifically proven to make plants happier) and they’re still dying one by one. It’s stressing me out!!
5) Being able to have a conversation where I don’t have to repeat every sentence 5 times or until they pretend to understand and nod their head (even when I wasn’t asking them a question).
and
- Aargh, I’m meeelting!
[Josiah reminded me that they get the monsoon season here too (also known as 'fish swimming by your window') but that’s not till June so it doesn’t count!]
2) The fact that people don’t stare. Walking around here makes you realise what celebrities must feel like. Everyone stares and watches you from the moment you step foot outside the gate. If they could, I’m sure they’d watch me inside my house too. Coming from a culture where if someone’s staring at you it’s probably because there’s something wrong with you, I started getting pretty paranoid about my appearance. I think Josiah was getting rather annoyed by the number of times I’d ask him “Joe, do I have anything on my face?!”
Now I just ignore everyone & repeat to myself: “There’s nothing on your face, you’re clothes aren’t see-through, you haven’t grown a third ear, they’re just staring because you’re fabulous!”
3) I loved how everything was all in one place. If you went to the supermarket, you could get pretty much get whatever you needed. From towels to cream cheese to a mop and bucket. Here, you can go to the markets, but they won’t necessarily have what you want. Each market seems to be famous for a few key things, so it takes patience and a good memory to suss out what each has to offer. But that’s no good for me because I’m a very impatient person with a very bad memory.
4) Plants are easier to look after because everything comes with instructions & little diagrams: full sun, half sun, morning sun, water daily, water weekly, water whenever you remember. Here all my beautiful roses and the plants with the little pink flowers (have no idea what they are) are all dying on me and I don’t know why! I water them, I talk to them, I touch their leaves (I’m not crazy, these are scientifically proven to make plants happier) and they’re still dying one by one. It’s stressing me out!!
5) Being able to have a conversation where I don’t have to repeat every sentence 5 times or until they pretend to understand and nod their head (even when I wasn’t asking them a question).
And not having to endure this sort of exchange on a daily basis:
Rickdriver: “I something something something, ok?”
Me: “What? I don’t understand. Are you speaking English? Just give me my change please.”
Rickdriver: “Something something you something, ok?”
Me: “No, I don’t understand!!! Just give me my change fcker!”
Rickdriver: “I something something something, ok?”
Me: “What? I don’t understand. Are you speaking English? Just give me my change please.”
Rickdriver: “Something something you something, ok?”
Me: “No, I don’t understand!!! Just give me my change fcker!”
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