I wrote the title of the blog and then realized it says "Miss America." Yeah, you all have read about the American pageant queen with the Indian background who is currently the topic of discussion before something more worthwhile to talk about comes into play. I'll be honest and say reading some of the articles about all those discussions has simply verified my opinion that I don't understand people. I don't understand the ignorant Caucasian Americans who seem to forget that our ancestors also immigrated to the place we call home, and that pretty much everything we are isn't of the culture and people that were there originally. *Are you gasping in shocking realization of this obvious fact?* I also don't understand the Indians (and other cultures) who claim the woman isn't drop dead gorgeous just because she's dark--after all, I'm planning on getting myself an arranged marriage to the darkest, tallest Indian man around in 5 years. (Joking....well, sort of.)
But the main topic of this blog is supposed to be the "When" not the "Miss America" part. So, I will continue on that note:
For me, it's kind of too soon to miss my family. I mean, sometimes I wouldn't see them for 2 months when I lived only 2 hours from them, so nearing 3 months isn't that big of a deal to me. In December, when most of the long term volunteers leave Ongole, it will likely be a different story!
But I do miss things about America sometimes: Like how I didn't have to cancel work once every ten days for my stomach's slow internal death. How I didn't have to become a Google-certified gastroenterologist. (I'll let you guess how my day has gone since these are the first two things to pop into my head). I miss being able to fill out an order form, send it to a hospital secretary, and have a custom-made orthotic to give a child after 4-5 business days. I miss being able to leave the house or answer the doorbell without first having to think about putting on pants to cover my knees and ankles. I miss washing machines and dishwashers. I miss calculating costs in only one currency. I miss these things usually just one at a time, and I'm fully aware I can only make an actual list because my stomach hates me today and I've been stuck at home researching ways to make splints (out of essentially no materials or budget) and watching episodes on Hulu through a very slow internet connection.
Now, I will do my best to be optimistic and tell you about the otherwise glorious week I've had:
Last week was the 7 day Hindu holiday for the birthday of elephant god, Ganesh. It could be a wee bit obnoxious when I was walking home from work and parades had all traffic stopped to beat on drums, shout things, and throw powder at me; but frankly, I find the 6-8 weeks of playing Christmas music, singing hymns at church with words I don't even know, and 900 people jingling bells at me for money to be a lot more obnoxious. (Yes, I am aware that I'm a bit of a Scrooge). :)
I was able to make the most of the holiday though, as my apartment building had their pooja (worship) and then dinner every night. Considering that I'm now living on less than a college-student-budget, free food is still awesome, so I'd skip the worship part and then join everyone for dinner. But more than my love for the free, home-cooked spicy cuisines, I loved getting to reconnect with all the neighbors with whom I'd been friends last year, plus many others.
Sunday was the final day of the festival, so all the neighbors piled into a van, a couple cars, and a huge truckbed to take their 8 foot tall statue of Ganesh to the beach. Because the kids begged me to join them, I rode in the truckbed, playing UNO before our cards blew away, and admiring the view as we traveled through farms and villages.
When we reached the beach, in the most unceremonious fashion, the hired men shoved the idol head-first into the waves while the aunties, kids, and I jumped the waves and paid them no attention. Whereas the neighbor men were shirtless, doing back flips off each other's shoulders, and playing catch with lemons (surprisingly, this is way more fun than it sounds), the women were fully clothed and fully terrified of being taken out to sea. They held hands (or in my case, wrists, as I didn't return the super-tight grip) and clung to each other for dear life, lest they be standing in water more than waist high. And then they dragged each other to the ground if the wave was remotely strong. Through this I learned that while we Americans do not have the grace of Indian women, we do have a stronger sense of balance and ability to dig our feet into the sand to maintain an upright position. Whenever I'd venture out to what is maybe 3 feet of water, Aunty Kavita would yell at me to come back, truly afraid for my well-being, which I found quite hilarious.
I love everyone who works for SCH and, of course, I adore the children at SCH. But I also love having this community where other things can happen. Girls my age with whom I can go see Bollywood movies in Telugu, aunties who invite me to dinner and want me to meet all their friends, little kids who invite themselves into my apartment for manicures and ask me if they can see what my Bible looks like. There's so much to be had within this community, and I am very blessed and thankful to be a part of it!
But the main topic of this blog is supposed to be the "When" not the "Miss America" part. So, I will continue on that note:
For me, it's kind of too soon to miss my family. I mean, sometimes I wouldn't see them for 2 months when I lived only 2 hours from them, so nearing 3 months isn't that big of a deal to me. In December, when most of the long term volunteers leave Ongole, it will likely be a different story!
But I do miss things about America sometimes: Like how I didn't have to cancel work once every ten days for my stomach's slow internal death. How I didn't have to become a Google-certified gastroenterologist. (I'll let you guess how my day has gone since these are the first two things to pop into my head). I miss being able to fill out an order form, send it to a hospital secretary, and have a custom-made orthotic to give a child after 4-5 business days. I miss being able to leave the house or answer the doorbell without first having to think about putting on pants to cover my knees and ankles. I miss washing machines and dishwashers. I miss calculating costs in only one currency. I miss these things usually just one at a time, and I'm fully aware I can only make an actual list because my stomach hates me today and I've been stuck at home researching ways to make splints (out of essentially no materials or budget) and watching episodes on Hulu through a very slow internet connection.
Now, I will do my best to be optimistic and tell you about the otherwise glorious week I've had:
Last week was the 7 day Hindu holiday for the birthday of elephant god, Ganesh. It could be a wee bit obnoxious when I was walking home from work and parades had all traffic stopped to beat on drums, shout things, and throw powder at me; but frankly, I find the 6-8 weeks of playing Christmas music, singing hymns at church with words I don't even know, and 900 people jingling bells at me for money to be a lot more obnoxious. (Yes, I am aware that I'm a bit of a Scrooge). :)
I was able to make the most of the holiday though, as my apartment building had their pooja (worship) and then dinner every night. Considering that I'm now living on less than a college-student-budget, free food is still awesome, so I'd skip the worship part and then join everyone for dinner. But more than my love for the free, home-cooked spicy cuisines, I loved getting to reconnect with all the neighbors with whom I'd been friends last year, plus many others.
Sunday was the final day of the festival, so all the neighbors piled into a van, a couple cars, and a huge truckbed to take their 8 foot tall statue of Ganesh to the beach. Because the kids begged me to join them, I rode in the truckbed, playing UNO before our cards blew away, and admiring the view as we traveled through farms and villages.
When we reached the beach, in the most unceremonious fashion, the hired men shoved the idol head-first into the waves while the aunties, kids, and I jumped the waves and paid them no attention. Whereas the neighbor men were shirtless, doing back flips off each other's shoulders, and playing catch with lemons (surprisingly, this is way more fun than it sounds), the women were fully clothed and fully terrified of being taken out to sea. They held hands (or in my case, wrists, as I didn't return the super-tight grip) and clung to each other for dear life, lest they be standing in water more than waist high. And then they dragged each other to the ground if the wave was remotely strong. Through this I learned that while we Americans do not have the grace of Indian women, we do have a stronger sense of balance and ability to dig our feet into the sand to maintain an upright position. Whenever I'd venture out to what is maybe 3 feet of water, Aunty Kavita would yell at me to come back, truly afraid for my well-being, which I found quite hilarious.
I love everyone who works for SCH and, of course, I adore the children at SCH. But I also love having this community where other things can happen. Girls my age with whom I can go see Bollywood movies in Telugu, aunties who invite me to dinner and want me to meet all their friends, little kids who invite themselves into my apartment for manicures and ask me if they can see what my Bible looks like. There's so much to be had within this community, and I am very blessed and thankful to be a part of it!
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