I’VE BEEN IN INDIA FOR OVER A MONTH! Time really flies. Homesickness hit me a week ago and lasted for several days. Pizza Hut and new volunteers from America helped. As did a special showing of Not Another Teen Movie on television.
Where is the line between visiting and living in a new place? I still cannot decide. I eveb have my own, personal cell phone and Indian number! I have fallen into a routine here that begins with a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for breakfast and a nice slathering of bug repellent and sunblock before departing for the day. I sleep in the car on the way to each camp because it is so hot inside the vehicle; sleeping is the only way to escape the heat. I return in the afternoon, take a short nap and/or shower, do my laundry in the bathroom, and then find something to do for the rest of the day.
I have been to the theaters here three times: once to see that English film, twice to see Tamil movies. My absolute favorite is Ayan, a three-hour-long story similar to Catch Me If You Can. Tamil films, made in Kollywood (Bollywood is Hindi), have the same basic plot. A guy falls in love with a girl and faces many hardships in getting her. The stories are woven around five songs/music videos somewhat related to the theme. Good movies like Ayan seamlessly weave the songs into the plot, whereas bad movies like Sarvam just plop music videos in between two scenes.
The glamour of being in a new place has worn off and sometimes I find myself with nothing to do and nothing exciting to see. Which is why I braved the bus system here – I had nothing else to do. Busses are a crowded affair with no windows and little fare regulation. To go 8km, I paid just R4 (8 cents) and stood up the entire time between smelly Tamil men. Neeli, one of the other volunteers, and I got a lot of strange looks from people who obviously knew that we didn’t know what we were doing.
So there is a lot of down time for me to think. I think a lot about the goals and mission of Unite For Sight, the role of volunteers here, and what I can give back to the community. I have thought a lot about Katie, who just got back from Spain; Liz, who is traveling through Europe for six weeks; Meredith still in Santiago; my other roommates plus Vara in the States for the summer (mostly in California!); Britt about to go on her archaeological dig in Siena; Marit in Madagascar (or is she back already?); Jessica going through finals. The list goes on and on and on.
I hope everyone is well and that the summer is going by just as quickly as mine.
Where is the line between visiting and living in a new place? I still cannot decide. I eveb have my own, personal cell phone and Indian number! I have fallen into a routine here that begins with a peanut butter and Nutella sandwich for breakfast and a nice slathering of bug repellent and sunblock before departing for the day. I sleep in the car on the way to each camp because it is so hot inside the vehicle; sleeping is the only way to escape the heat. I return in the afternoon, take a short nap and/or shower, do my laundry in the bathroom, and then find something to do for the rest of the day.
I have been to the theaters here three times: once to see that English film, twice to see Tamil movies. My absolute favorite is Ayan, a three-hour-long story similar to Catch Me If You Can. Tamil films, made in Kollywood (Bollywood is Hindi), have the same basic plot. A guy falls in love with a girl and faces many hardships in getting her. The stories are woven around five songs/music videos somewhat related to the theme. Good movies like Ayan seamlessly weave the songs into the plot, whereas bad movies like Sarvam just plop music videos in between two scenes.
The glamour of being in a new place has worn off and sometimes I find myself with nothing to do and nothing exciting to see. Which is why I braved the bus system here – I had nothing else to do. Busses are a crowded affair with no windows and little fare regulation. To go 8km, I paid just R4 (8 cents) and stood up the entire time between smelly Tamil men. Neeli, one of the other volunteers, and I got a lot of strange looks from people who obviously knew that we didn’t know what we were doing.
So there is a lot of down time for me to think. I think a lot about the goals and mission of Unite For Sight, the role of volunteers here, and what I can give back to the community. I have thought a lot about Katie, who just got back from Spain; Liz, who is traveling through Europe for six weeks; Meredith still in Santiago; my other roommates plus Vara in the States for the summer (mostly in California!); Britt about to go on her archaeological dig in Siena; Marit in Madagascar (or is she back already?); Jessica going through finals. The list goes on and on and on.
I hope everyone is well and that the summer is going by just as quickly as mine.
