Weekend Adventures

Saturday Evening:

I’ve already posted twice today, but I won’t be able to post this at least until tomorrow morning, and so much has happened since I wrote just a few hours ago! I’ll try to remember everything. I came home pretty late because Satish and Girija worked late today. I put my things down and then pretty quickly went downstairs to talk to Rayshu about shopping tomorrow. When I went down, Alook was just arriving, so I had a little chat with him. John came to greet us, and I mentioned to him that I was finding water on the floor of my flat, so something seems to be leaking.

We all went upstairs and I showed them. Alook said it was the freezer: the fridge was refurbished, and the repairman had neglected to replace the receptacle that holds water when the freezer defrosts. While Alook and John were there, I asked if we could find tape or something to fix the hole where the cockroaches had been living.

 John noticed the roach killer spray on my desk, and asked about the roaches. I told him there were at least 15 (I counted when I was sweeping them away from my front door), and he was appalled. He said that the refrigerator was not his! It came from NBJK (the nonprofit where I’m working), so I should blame them! Alook immediately got on his phone and called NBJK’s office and a repairman, who is coming first thing tomorrow. Alook and John talked for a minute and then told me that they were going to fix the problem and/or find me a new fridge. No cockroaches! They were the first people I’d talked to about the roaches who seemed as upset about it as I was.

While they were there, they also called NBJK about my ceiling fan, which is sometimes noisy (they were the ones to decide this was a problem, not me). I also asked them about the metal cylinder thing in my kitchen.

Are you ready for this?

It’s a water filter!! I don’t have to buy filtered water all the time!

THEN, they said to come with them, and they took me upstairs to the third floor of this building, which is a rooftop terrace that I hadn’t known about. John said he would put up a clothesline so I could do my laundry and let it dry up there. It’s also nice and cool on the roof in the evenings, so it’s good to know about it as a place to hang out. While we were up there, Rayshu and her little brother (who’s 15ish) came up and said hi. We chatted and Rayshu and I made plans to go shopping tomorrow morning after the fridge repair man comes. We were about to leave, when Rayshu invited me to come to dinner with her family. I of course said I would love to. Rayshu helped me pick out a more appropriate outfit, and I met them downstairs.

I had kind of known that the family was well off. I really don’t know how to judge an Indian family’s wealth, though. So here’s what I know: Rayshu is in college, and her sister is about to start her PhD in Florida. The younger brother has the same kind of Android smart phone as my brother (it’s the smart phone for people who want a tablet that will fit in their pockets). The family owns a relatively new car (I’m guessing 2006 or more recent?). The car has a small TV screen where the rear view mirror would normally be.

We went to an Indian restaurant, and John ordered for us. It was a long wait for the food, and Rayshu and I started talking about music. She borrowed her brother’s phone to show me the American music that they listen to. Some of it was pop, some of it was just old. And then I noticed Maroon 5 “Moves Like Jagger,” and said that I liked it.

There is something surreal about listening to a very American song at the dinner table in a developing country with a family that is better off than their neighbors. Oh, and by the way, we were in the small room walled off from the rest of the restaurant, with air conditioning units. Awesome.

I think that pretty much covers it. New/fixed fridge, quieter fan, water filter, dinner, Maroon 5, Christian rock music video where there should be a rear view mirror.

It’s been a good night.

Sunday Afternoon:


Hello readers. I am living a charmed life. But you already knew that.

I just got back from lunch with John and Rayshu. We had a typical Indian meal: rice, dahl, two or three small vegetable dishes with great spices, and fresh cucumber and onion on the side. That's pretty much what I've had for lunch every day since I got here.

Before that, today was already fun and interesting, and there's more to come. My day started, as usual, when I woke up at 4:30 in the morning and was wide awake. I stayed in bed and read a while, then cleaned my flat a bit, then showered and had some eggs for breakfast. (Side note: those of you who have cooked with pans that do not have any kind of non-stick element, how do you avoid ending up with a mess? No matter how much oil I use, I always seem to have issues.) Pretty soon after, Rayshu knocked on my door and asked if I would like a second breakfast, and I of course said yes. We had chapatti and puri (I think), two types of round bread somewhat similar to naan, along with a chickpea salad and mutton liver curry.

I went back upstairs and was very productive, cleaning, organizing, fixing the droopiness of my mosquito net, etc, while waiting for the fridge mechanic to show up. When he hadn't come by 10:40, 40 minutes late, I went downstairs and told Rayshu that he hadn't come. John made some phone calls and said the mechanic would come at 4, and we should go to the market.

The three of us went to three clothing stores, and I bought four salwar tunic-y tops, one of which came as a complete outfit with matching pants and dupatta scarf. Then we went to the wholesale shop where I bought material for curtains. Then came the pharmacy stand where I got cream for my foot. Then we stopped at a fruit stand and got apples! I love apples (sort of obsessively) and haven't had any for a week, so I'm really excited to have them again.

Now, having shopped, had lunch, and tried on my new clothes, I'm waiting for my laundry to finish soaking so I can finish washing it and then set it up to dry. The mechanic *should* be here at 4 (but I'm guessing he won't be), and then at 5 I'll head to Satish and Girija's house to go to the park.

I'm happy and having fun and making friends and finally feeling comfortable in my flat (except for sleeping on these awful cots). The thing that I'm happiest about, though, is that I'm both thrilled to be here, and excited to go back home. I feel like that's a balance I never got in Senegal. Either I felt like I would be there forever and "home" was a fairy tale, or I was counting down the days to go home, missing out on some of what was happening in the moment.

Thank you all for your support. I'm so lucky to be able to take a break from my normal life to do something like this, and then to be able to go back and have my life waiting for me.

Monday Morning:

Satish invited me yesterday to come with him to a meeting by Save the Children in Ranchi today. They're releasing their report on the State of the World's Mothers. Now I am at a swanky hotel with air conditioning, waiting for it to start. Internet access (or lack thereof) has been driving me crazy. I have a bunch of pictures to post soon. Love to all!