India, TBD.
Almost six weeks down and two to go (not that I am counting or anything…).
If someone asked me right now what I thought of India, I would have absolutely no idea what to say. After my last post, I got feedback from another global fellow that he, as well, had a hard time his first few weeks. It’s not that India makes me unhappy in any sense, but things here are long, hot, complicated, frustrating, slow, inefficient, and this makes the moments long and the days even longer. He told me that finding the positive and the good in the “downs” instead of focusing on the “ups” really helped him. Now, I try to meditate on the moments that make me impatient or uncomfortable, and turning them into an “up”.
For instance, the other day a monsoon started. Ali and I love to work with the sound of rain outside, but this joy quickly vanished when we walked outside to see the street a literal river with no way to get home. People were trekking in their beautiful saris, school clothes, and work clothes with water up to their knees and some up to their hips. All I could think about were the two dead rats I saw laying on the streets earlier that day and them floating in the water. I imagined what my mom would say when I called her from the doctor saying I had xyz disease from walking home in the water. This is just when the adventure started. We waited for an hour as our uber tried to find us. We grew frustrated after having two people from the street talk to him in Bengali telling him where to go. This was the least of his concern. Once we got in the car, we could feel the water under the car, like we were in a boat. The force of the water even pushed in part of his bumper. We would turn down one street, and it would be impossible for the car to go. What would usually take us a ten minute drive turned into a two hour excursion. I thought I was going to cry when we had no way of getting home, and Ali and I wanted to turn on each other because everyone from work had left us and there was nobody to blame but India and each other.
This was something normal to them (the Indians), something that did not really phase them. We woke up early the next morning and the streets were normal, like nothing had happened. But for Ali and I, the dark skies at 4 pm, the high waters, and stranded feeling felt the closest to terrified I’ve ever felt. To get through this, we bickered. This was the moment Ali and I realized we act like sisters. Our co-dependent, family, and fellow relationship has surpassed most normal friendships at home. We rely on each other to get through the long moments, the long monsoons, and the long car rides. While this was such a “down” for me, it makes me realize that I don’t think I could have made it home without shedding a tear without her. This turned into something that would be considered the worst of “downs” for me, but somehow now looking back, it is one of my most memorable moments. Even an “up” I will tell people when I get home.
Meanwhile, my thoughts of India and work are for another post and tbd, the thing I am most thankful for today are the people I have met, the people I consider family, and my fellow fellows.
