I can't quite tell whether it's been a long or short time since I've been in India. The jet lag plus finals plus fatigue from the whole semester plus hard goodbyes all cumulated for a vaguely out-of-body experience my first few days here.
I arrived at our friends' home around 4:30 am on December 23rd. On Christmas Eve, we went shopping and had dinner out. Christmas Day was spent chilling. My parents and I exchanged cards, but that was about it for the Christmas traditions. Overall it felt much more like Christmas when I was back in Grinnell, listening to music, with snow on the ground.
And today we went for a hike up this huge rock (literally just a ginormous rock that sticks randomly out of the landscape) that afforded amazing views of the city and surrounding countryside. Combine that exercise with that required to move out of my third-floor dorm room a week ago, and I think I'm pretty much set on exercise for a couple months.
Today was the first day that I felt like I was aware enough to start to absorb some of this country. While we were driving to the rock, it really hit me that I was in India. Although I've been here before, I'm realizing that I really don't remember much from eight years ago, and that my experience now is quite different, both because of where I am and who I'm with, but also because of who I am now.
I made the choice before I left the states to not bring my camera with me. It was weird, traveling without it, knowing I'd be seeing amazing things that I would want to document. And while I do miss it, and am still framing shots in my mind, there's something nice about not being able to document everything. When I'm not preoccupied with getting the shot and recording everything in sight, I'm able to just sit with it and absorb it in a very different way.
The first morning when I came downstairs after sleeping for a few hours, it took a second for my mind to register that breakfast was being eaten both on the floor and with hands. In my sleep-deprived state, it didn't seem like that big a deal, so I sat down and joined right in. And it's really not a big deal. That's just how things are done here. It's fun, to have societal permission to lick my fingers after every delicious meal (because ohmygoodness the food).
Most impressive statistic so far: thirteen mosquito bites on one foot.
And proof I'm alive:
No comments:
Post a Comment