Mid December 2012
Oddities to Me in India
Traveling
Traveling can either set one's ind free or frustrate you so much that you think that maybe you don't need to see anything else. You wonder why things are happening and don't get answers. You've read the guidebooks and know many things about the country your visiting but there are so many things you don't have a clue as to what's going on.
Nothing is like anything you're familiar with. OK, maybe that's why I travel. But when crossing a road becomes perilous, life gets frustrating because you don't know the rules. If a vehicle honks, is it because I'm doing something wrong? Should I hurry out of their way? Am I supposed to be crossing here? Ist is just because they see me and want me to know they're there? Are they going to hit me? Am I on the wrong side of the road as they drive on the left here? They honk constantly. What a racket. Some bus drivers hold their hand on the horn and leave it there.
Shoes
Many people don't wear shoes. I sat next to a Civil Engineer on his way home on a local bus. He was dressed in nice pants and a shirt. But as he exited, I noticed he had no shoes on. Here, the majority of the population doesn't wear shoes.
When I go to the temples, and there are many temples, we are asked to remove and check our shoes at the shoe check. Then we have to walk a mile or two in the temple grounds without shoes. Shoes are considered a sacrilidge. There are stones, dust and dirt to walk on, and the ground is very, very hot. Sometimes I walk from one shade patch to the next because my feet are burning. We foreigners have tender feet.
Shoe on and shoes off. Go get a coffe, take your shoes off before entering. Get something from the little store, take your shoes off. Enter an office, take your shoes off. The strange thing to me is that everyone going barefood drags in all the sand and dirt on their feet. But we need to tae our shoes off. As a result, the insides of my shoes are very dirty.
Temple Worship
Flowers
Flowers are for sale all over. People buy them to decorate pictures or statues of gods, offer them with fruit to the gurus, or put them in their hair. They are so colorful and make an otherwise drab side of the road look beautiful and festive with so many people selling flowers.
Stares and Photos
So many people stare at us foreigners. WHen I see them staring at me, I smile back at them. And then they smile back. When we are at temple sites, they want to stop us and take a picture with us. It feels like we are celebrities . They should 'still photo' and wave their cameras so they can have their picture taken with us. At first its fun but then each one takes about five minutes of smiles and more pictures and you don't get to see much. But it's nice anyway.
Picnics
The Indians have picnics anywhere at any moment. We will be walking around temples and their, in the walkway, a family decides to sit down, spread out their banana leaf dishes and eat right there. You have to walk around them. It feels like you're intruding but they don't mind.
Eating at Restaurants
When I eat at a restaurant, I usually get stared at because I am using a spoon and/or eating with both hands. The local people eat only with their fingers and never eat with their left hand becaue that is the bathroom hand. Maybe I'll get better at using only one spoon later on my trip. But I can't get used to food all over my fingers. I'm glad I took two plastic sppons in reserve in my purse. I use them often.
Peace and Quiet
There isn't much peace and quiet here aside for the ashrams, some temples, and my hotel rooms. I'm trying to get used to all this noise, horn honking, commotion, dust, and chaos. Just walking down the street feels like I'm going to get kiled with buses going 35mph down city streets with pedestrians, motorcycles and tuk tuks and no sidewalks or other places of safety to walk. So I go out for brief periods and then come back to my room for a little peace and quiet before I venture out again. I hope I adjust soon.
Bathrooms
There is no toilet paper in the bathrooms. There is a bucket and a cup to wash yourself using your left hand only. Newer bathroom have a spray nozzle which is easier than a bucket. The first time I came into contact with this was at the airport in India. As I entered the stall I couldn't believe how the previous person had sprayed the toilet seat and floor. I thought it wasn't water.
Traveling
Traveling can either set one's ind free or frustrate you so much that you think that maybe you don't need to see anything else. You wonder why things are happening and don't get answers. You've read the guidebooks and know many things about the country your visiting but there are so many things you don't have a clue as to what's going on.
Nothing is like anything you're familiar with. OK, maybe that's why I travel. But when crossing a road becomes perilous, life gets frustrating because you don't know the rules. If a vehicle honks, is it because I'm doing something wrong? Should I hurry out of their way? Am I supposed to be crossing here? Ist is just because they see me and want me to know they're there? Are they going to hit me? Am I on the wrong side of the road as they drive on the left here? They honk constantly. What a racket. Some bus drivers hold their hand on the horn and leave it there.
Shoes
Many people don't wear shoes. I sat next to a Civil Engineer on his way home on a local bus. He was dressed in nice pants and a shirt. But as he exited, I noticed he had no shoes on. Here, the majority of the population doesn't wear shoes.
When I go to the temples, and there are many temples, we are asked to remove and check our shoes at the shoe check. Then we have to walk a mile or two in the temple grounds without shoes. Shoes are considered a sacrilidge. There are stones, dust and dirt to walk on, and the ground is very, very hot. Sometimes I walk from one shade patch to the next because my feet are burning. We foreigners have tender feet.
Shoe on and shoes off. Go get a coffe, take your shoes off before entering. Get something from the little store, take your shoes off. Enter an office, take your shoes off. The strange thing to me is that everyone going barefood drags in all the sand and dirt on their feet. But we need to tae our shoes off. As a result, the insides of my shoes are very dirty.
Temple Worship
The woman on the left is bringing the smoke from the fire over her face
and the man with the yellow bag is spreading ashes on his forehead.
Most Hindus are very ritualistic and worship daily at the nearby temples. There are small temples all over. Many people visit them before working spreading ashes on their foreheads, bowing, saying prayers. Garlands decorating pictures n restaurants and they often burn incense to honor the statues or pictures of the gods. There are a couple of channels on TV that show non-stop worship of some temple with all the flowers, fire, incense, ashes and rituals taking hours. Even the ashram that I visited for over a week had a side temple for worship two or more times a day taking 45 minutes to prepare it before the actual ceremony began. There were special markings, placement of copper vessels, woods, incense, flowers. etc.and the man with the yellow bag is spreading ashes on his forehead.
Flowers
Stares and Photos
Picnics
The Indians have picnics anywhere at any moment. We will be walking around temples and their, in the walkway, a family decides to sit down, spread out their banana leaf dishes and eat right there. You have to walk around them. It feels like you're intruding but they don't mind.
Eating at Restaurants
When I eat at a restaurant, I usually get stared at because I am using a spoon and/or eating with both hands. The local people eat only with their fingers and never eat with their left hand becaue that is the bathroom hand. Maybe I'll get better at using only one spoon later on my trip. But I can't get used to food all over my fingers. I'm glad I took two plastic sppons in reserve in my purse. I use them often.
Peace and Quiet
There isn't much peace and quiet here aside for the ashrams, some temples, and my hotel rooms. I'm trying to get used to all this noise, horn honking, commotion, dust, and chaos. Just walking down the street feels like I'm going to get kiled with buses going 35mph down city streets with pedestrians, motorcycles and tuk tuks and no sidewalks or other places of safety to walk. So I go out for brief periods and then come back to my room for a little peace and quiet before I venture out again. I hope I adjust soon.
Bathrooms
There is no toilet paper in the bathrooms. There is a bucket and a cup to wash yourself using your left hand only. Newer bathroom have a spray nozzle which is easier than a bucket. The first time I came into contact with this was at the airport in India. As I entered the stall I couldn't believe how the previous person had sprayed the toilet seat and floor. I thought it wasn't water.
