Life in India

We’re being spoiled. Have I already mentioned that?

Here’s what a typical day looks like in the life of Z in India…
7:50 alarm goes off.
8:00 snooze goes off.
8:05 Roll out of bed, slip on clothes without having to worry about fashion, hair, or makeup and head up to breakfast.

What’s for breakfast?
Depending on the day we will have a choice of several of the following:
Fresh yoghurt (curd)
Paratha’s (like potato/spice stuffed pancakes, delicious)
Pouridge
Fresh Papaya/Apple/Banana
Omlette or Scrambled eggs
Fried Chapati with potatoes in sauce
Toast w/ Jam & Ghee (clarified butter)
And of course Chai.

Did I mention we always eat buffet style?

We walk after breakfast down a quaint 1km path to meet the Jeeps that take us to CHIRAG. CHIRAG’s new building complex is quite nice and we have class there from about 10-1pm. Sometimes class is watching a bollywood movie.
Lunch is at 1:30pm and consists of rice and dal (lentils) with a vegetable dish and chapati’s (flat bread). From here we can decide to walk back (if it’s not too hot or we aren’t feeling too stuffed from lunch) the 5km uphill or get a ride back in the jeep.

We’re usually back by about 3:30pm, in time for the 4pm snack:
Chai and either cookies, pakoras, or French fries (everyone’s favorite).

The next 3 hours may be spent reading, playing Frisbee, learning to cook Indian food in the kitchen, having a Hindi lesson, or anything else you can think of.

Dinner is @ 7. I can’t begin to list what I may eat for dinner, but I can say it is always at least 3 dishes and delicious. We often eat traditional Indian (better then anything from an Indian restaurant in Seattle), but occasionally Vinod, the chef, will surprise us with pasta, Chinese, pizza, and more. Dessert is always sweet, often fried, and incredible. Again this is all buffet style.

I’m not losing weight in India…

I don’t have to clean my room, wash my dishes, or do my laundry.
I share a comfortable private one room furnished cabin with beautiful views and a private bathroom (w/ toilet paper!!!) with my roommate Amity. Some people are uncomfortable with the amount of bugs, but having lived in the jungle in Costa Rica for a month I feel quite well trained, as long as there are no mosquitoes I’m happy.

This next week though my schedule will begin to be much more dense. I will be having Indian/salsa dance practice nearly every other day. I will be going to the women’s self help group meetings some days in different villages with some possible overnight stays.
We are adding another class when Professor Patak arrives to begin lessons in Indian history. Occasionally I go to the CHIRAG School to teach dance and movement to 3-6 year olds. Also by the end of the month our 2 projects/papers are due.

And so the next month will be packed with dance, classes, study, social observations, ecological research and experimenting, plenty of reading and writing, and of course eating.

I’m looking forward to finally feeling busy, though in many ways I have really enjoyed the past month of relaxation and reflection.