First Post in India

I’m finally here in Sivakasi (I’ve been here for 5 days now but it feels much much longer). India has been so overwhelming that I haven’t had time or energy to write an entry, but now that I’m settling in, it doesn’t seem as daunting. Arriving at the Chennai airport was quite an experience. With no air conditioning and hundreds of people back to back (literally) in customs/ baggage claim, it took over an hour to get my luggage. I met a man from Projects Abroad named Pandi who took me to a hotel to rest before my train ride the next day. I knew it was going to be hot, but I’ve never experienced heat like this before. I was so nauseated the first few days that I could barely eat anything; I ended up drinking about 6 1-litre bottles of water a day (more water than I usually drink in a month!). I felt absolutely terrible because Pandi bought me a nice breakfast and lunch before the train ride and I couldn’t eat much of it. I’m still adjusting to eating with my hands (or ‘hand,’ you don’t eat with your left hand). I have to put my left hand between my knees to avoid the embarrassing mistake of accidentally using it. I’ve been experiencing a lot of “lost in translation moments.” In India, they shake their head to the side to say yes. After attempting (but failing miserably) to finish my dinner after the train, Pandi asked if I wanted more and I shook my head in the Western “no” motion. I ended up getting three more chapatis when I could barely stomach one. Now that I’ve been here for about a week, I’ve started to adjust to the heat and I can eat a little bit more.

I’m living with a host family and two other volunteers. We usually eat about 2 meals a day with the host family and then have lunch at a hotel near our office. For the first few days, we ate all three meals with the family, but this made us feel excluded from all the volunteers who live and eat at the hotel. We talked to some Projects Abroad workers and now we’re going to eat lunch with the other volunteers. It’s just a difficult situation because we did not want to offend the family. My host family is extremely nice but they speak absolutely no English (besides the basic greetings and numbers). Alisha (my roommate) and I might start to try and help them in the evenings (we have to be back by 8:30 every night). I have never had a curfew before so I feel so restricted--it is not acceptable for women to be out much later than this. 

It’s frustrating because women are basically second-class citizens in small town India (at least in the small town where I am living). Bigger cities are more progressive. In general, we cannot shake hands with males or sit next to them on the bus. Friederike, a girl I work with at the magazine, said she was sitting on the bus by herself and two men who wanted to sit down made her get up and stand for the two hour bus ride. It’s somewhat problematic when the women at the magazine go on interviews because men do not take us seriously (sometimes I haven’t even been acknowledged). Not all situations are like this—I have met many friendly men who are willing to talk and seem very curious (this could be because we are Western looking as well). Overall, the people in Sivakasi are extremely hospitable and welcoming (much more polite and generous than Americans). Projects Abroad gave us a “tour” of the city by rickshaw (a mini taxi) and we met “the richest man in Sivakasi” who is famous for his Indian tea. There were about four of us lounging around drinking tea (the chai tea in India is amazing!) and 30 or so townspeople surrounded us and just stared (it was somewhat unnerving!) I have become accustomed to walking into a café or shop and having everyone stare (for some reason it doesn’t bother me as much as some of the other volunteers). We are hoping to profile the “tea man” in the upcoming issue so the interview will be next week! 

So much more to say, but I’m off to the backwaters of Kerala (supposed to be absolutely gorgeous) for a boat tour. Eleven of us leave on an overnight train tonight and we will get back late on Sunday. I Promise to post pictures for my next post!