Ever since my phone betrayed me and everything our relationship stood for, our visits with relatives are no longer made more enjoyable with the accompaniment of Tetris. Unless I'm able to bamboozle one of the kids out of their devices (or threaten and strong-arm them, depending on my desperation level) I'm left to stare into space and alternate between stifling my yawns and nodding my head the Indian way (Directions to practice at home: lower ears halfway to shoulders one after the other repeatedly until you've set the entire room at ease with your aura of pleasant attentiveness) and also producing my most genuine and least-menacing of social smiles. I'm exhausted! Who knew sitting and staring for a month could result in such mind-numbing fatigue? I find car rides here to be extra draining, too. Whenever we arrive anywhere, I'm always ready for a nap (in my own bed, back home) because there are no seat belts to hold you in and you're constantly bracing for speed bumps and and herds of animals and inevitable impact because everyone keeps passing each other and cutting each other off. Quite a work-out!
Raja told me many people commented on how much of a drama queen I am not, if he's translating correctly. It seems that when the women from around here move to the West and then come home to visit, some of them act quite princess-y. They complain about the dirtiness and discomfort of this way of life compared to what they've become accustomed to. I don't know exactly what they would expect from me having lived all my life in the West. That I'm going to kick and scream on the floor because I'm sick of the bugs and I don't want to eat spicy rice dishes anymore? I'm glad I've got them all fooled! Haha! Raja's family did ask the neighbours to stop heating their water by lighting a fire just outside our house, on my behalf. The neighbours were trying to save money by not using their natural gas stove in their kitchen. Every day our house was filled with smoke. And it didn't bother anyone until Queen Renee came to town. Thank goodness they agreed to use their stove for the rest of our stay. Between their incense and mothball usage, the indoor air quality is already terrible, so breathing in clouds of bonfire smoke all day were just really cramping my style. Not so agreeable, after all, is she?! Plus, Raja gets an earful whenever I get a moment to speak with him. The poor guy is constantly being inundated with questions, suggestions and demands from all his various relatives, and then his own needy wife and kids. All bouncing back and forth between Telugu and English (and sometimes Hindi and Urdu (show-off)). And guess what? Everyone interrupts everyone else here. Because waiting your turn is not a thing here. You have to act on your own behalf or get lost in the shuffle because there are a million people around you constantly so the manners we are used to don't fit here. Want to hold open the door for the person walking into the building behind you? Wrong! You will spend your day there because the people never stop coming. And there are no neat-line ups, there are throngs. So. many. people. Everywhere. Constantly.
No pictures today! It was simple when I just used my good-for-nothing phone to snap pictures that I wanted to add here but now that I have to sift through thousands of pictures off our cameras, I am entirely over that process. I'll have to carve out some time ( like a week) to figure something out.
Raja told me many people commented on how much of a drama queen I am not, if he's translating correctly. It seems that when the women from around here move to the West and then come home to visit, some of them act quite princess-y. They complain about the dirtiness and discomfort of this way of life compared to what they've become accustomed to. I don't know exactly what they would expect from me having lived all my life in the West. That I'm going to kick and scream on the floor because I'm sick of the bugs and I don't want to eat spicy rice dishes anymore? I'm glad I've got them all fooled! Haha! Raja's family did ask the neighbours to stop heating their water by lighting a fire just outside our house, on my behalf. The neighbours were trying to save money by not using their natural gas stove in their kitchen. Every day our house was filled with smoke. And it didn't bother anyone until Queen Renee came to town. Thank goodness they agreed to use their stove for the rest of our stay. Between their incense and mothball usage, the indoor air quality is already terrible, so breathing in clouds of bonfire smoke all day were just really cramping my style. Not so agreeable, after all, is she?! Plus, Raja gets an earful whenever I get a moment to speak with him. The poor guy is constantly being inundated with questions, suggestions and demands from all his various relatives, and then his own needy wife and kids. All bouncing back and forth between Telugu and English (and sometimes Hindi and Urdu (show-off)). And guess what? Everyone interrupts everyone else here. Because waiting your turn is not a thing here. You have to act on your own behalf or get lost in the shuffle because there are a million people around you constantly so the manners we are used to don't fit here. Want to hold open the door for the person walking into the building behind you? Wrong! You will spend your day there because the people never stop coming. And there are no neat-line ups, there are throngs. So. many. people. Everywhere. Constantly.
No pictures today! It was simple when I just used my good-for-nothing phone to snap pictures that I wanted to add here but now that I have to sift through thousands of pictures off our cameras, I am entirely over that process. I'll have to carve out some time ( like a week) to figure something out.
No comments:
Post a Comment