Things to Get Used To

Making a home for myself here involves having to adjust to some things. Like:

Bucket showers. Actually not bad, as we do have hot water. It is definitely more environment friendly. And makes for time-saving showers on particularly brisk mornings.

The beds. From people not native to India but who have experienced them, I have heard them called floor boards, board beds, and just boards. I agree with all of those terms. If anything has been hard to adjust too, it has been sleeping on these beds, which are basically flat boards with a thin mattress on top.

Barefeet! In India, you take your shoes off before entering many buildings, and definitely before entering someone's home. Feet are considered to be dirty, and therefore it is viewed as very rude to wear shoes indoors or touch someone with your feet. Personally, I love it. 

Other things to get used to:

Not being able to speak the language. Many people in India, and especially Pune, do speak English. It is a different accent, however, which sometimes makes even English difficult. So you can forget the native languages. Did you know that every state of India has its own official language? Trying to direct rickshaw drivers, order food, or ask for directions when you don't speak Marathi, Pune's local language, is a bit of a challenge.

The Indian head bob. Nodding is side-to-side, and not up and down. It is already rubbing off!

Tea times. This is another one that I love. Small cups of chai tea, often accompanied by sweet wheat biscuits, are offered throughout the day by our program center staff, my host mother, someone else's host mother if I am visiting a friend, you name it. If you are just coming in, you will get tea. 

Having no sense of direction. Obviously in a new place it takes time to learn the area. There are hardly any street signs though, and normally rickshaws know landmarks and areas of the city, not necessarily street names. It happens all too often where I tell the rickshaw driver to take me home, and he will drive for a while and then stop and tell me we are there in somewhere very different than where I live. 

Cultural norms. I think I will devote a whole week to this topic, but there are definitely very different cultural and gender norms here in India that force me to alter my dress, social habits, and comfort level. More to come on that later though!

Not knowing the base ingredients in my food. Even if I ask, there are many times I have never even heard of the vegetable or spice used. I never have any clue what to order off of a menu, but picking randomly has been pretty fun and usually very delicious.