Lists

Stuff that I really like

Toothpaste:  Many of you know how obsessed I am with dental care.  At the chemist (aka drug store), they assured me that ‘Meswak’ was the best toothpaste.  So I decided to give it a try. This toothpaste makes me so happy!  I’m not sure if you have had the Indian version of after-dinner mints (they are some green herb things that are quite refreshing) but this toothpaste is like that in paste form!   Now, I did read the label, and it does not have fluorine, so I am only using it once a day, but still, it feels wonderful in your mouth.  

The Sealink: I can’t stand traffic, and the sea link is a nice bridge that speeds up your travel time.  It is also nice, when in a cab with no A/C, because the windows are down and they can actually drive fast enough to create a breeze.  

Marine Drive: It is a beautiful stretch along the sea with a good breeze. You can walk for an hour plus along it.  Very nice.  I’m sure the breeze will be even better in the summer. 

Customer Service in the Mall:  I bought a camera.   Yes, it is semi-annoying, how long it takes to purchase anything in India.  In America, after you buy the camera, you walk out of the store.  Here, they send you back to the camera stand to start a long process of checking over the item. I started off grumpily, but then they opened my camera box, made sure it worked, and even set the date and time for me.  So I liked that.  And everything has a very good warranty on it. So you should actually keep those receipts.

Colors: Are wonderful and fun here. Rather than plain yellow or black cranes, they are turquoise, red, pink, bright green, etc.   Clothes are all bright and fun colors.  My students all wear random neon colors.  My two-hole punch is hot pink. My tape dispenser is neon green.  I couldn’t even find them in black.

Ordering from home:  You can order ANYTHING and have it delivered to your home.  A single scoop of ice cream, for example.  And there is no delivery fee.  ANYTHING.  I eat a lot of ice cream….

Fun/Funny surprises

Comment cards: I think it is very amusing that most restaurants do not have websites, or if they do, very few have menus online.  Yet every restaurant seems to have a very professional ‘comment cards’ that they ask you to fill out.   I filled one out, just because the food was so darn good.  I hope I get a coupon! 

Socks:  We had our laundry done at the guesthouse, and my husband’s socks came back folded in the most peculiar way- rather than being paired up, each sock was folded on its own!   Like when you put two socks together, and roll one sock down, so they stay together.  But there was only one sock!  Isn’t that hilarious?  So of course, I had to unfold all of them and refold them together.   I like funny little surprises like that. 

Cheese sandwiches: I had them for breakfast on Monday.  I assumed it would be something similar to a grilled cheese sandwich.  It was very yummy tasting, but it was cheesy potatoes, not cheese!  

Michael Jackson:  I’ve mentioned this before, but he is SO popular with all of the kids here.

Kleenex: Kleenex boxes are elaborate pieces of art in all cars. You will notice this driving around. The back seat of everyone’s car has a fancy Kleenex box.  With ruffles.   Often with a decorative pillow on each side of it. 

Bryan Adams: He is SO popular with all of the adults here.  My husband’s company has even organized a trip to his concert this month!    

What I miss the most

Before we left for India, everyone would ask, “What will you miss most?”

And of course, you can make up a list, but until you are here, you don’t really know what you will miss the most.    Right now, I think I miss all the small women’s rights that we have in the States, but not here. 

I miss the ability to walk down a street and not being stared at.  I especially miss not being able to put my arm through my husband’s when we walk together.   I miss wearing a tank top in warm weather.   I hate being labeled ‘HW’ (housewife) and forgotten about on all of our paperwork.  To have all the male cab drivers remind me not to go out alone at night.   It is just a different culture, but I grew up in the US culture, so of course I find that one better.  I miss not being followed around like a hawk when I am grocery shopping. 

Other things that I never realized I would miss: Soft beds and flat pillows.  As far as I can tell, mattresses come in one texture: hard as a rock.  I am used to it now, but it seems rather odd you can’t get a comfortable bed.   And every single pillow I’ve had placed under my head has been so fat I can’t use it.  It gives my neck a crick. 

  

I miss clean air:  Each morning I wake up puffier-faced and more red-eyed than before.  I look like I’ve aged years in the span of a month.  To be fair, I knew I would miss this one…. But feeling the nasty air and imagining it are different concepts.  

I miss deodorant:  I have yet to find anything that resembles real deodorant. I’ve found weird sprays, and roll-on things that LOOK like deodorant, but sure don’t act like it.  

Valentine’s day:  Now, really, I didn’t care much about this holiday one-way or the other.  But it does happen to be my six-month wedding anniversary.  And apparently, in Mumbai, there is a crazy activist group that goes out and beats people up who celebrate it.   So that is a bummer.  I don’t like my rights being taken away.  Who cares if I am out to dinner with my husband?  

I miss seatbelts.

Stuff that makes me sad

Driver S:  Driver S has been driving me everyday.  He is incredibly nice, and wants to travel to a foreign country so he can earn more money as a driver.  He is nice, and proud (he won’t take tips from me), and I’m sure he’d do a good job driving elsewhere.  But he is stuck here, trying to pay for two siblings in school, and take care of his parents.   He used to work as a driver for a professional company (now he has his own cab), but it paid way too little.   He told me he had just gone to an interview to drive in Dubai, but he needs a license to drive there. 

He is smart, too. He finds all of us foreigners, in case we have connections that could help him find a way to another country to drive.  But of course we don’t have any.  It makes me sad to think about how many countless people are working so hard, like him.  He told me that Internet is free after 11 pm, so that is when he, and I am sure countless others, check their e-mail on their friend’s phones. 

My feet:  They are covered with mosquito bites.  Huge ones.  They itch terribly.   I have so many scabs covering them.  Plus, I have one bite on my arm that is swollen to greater than the size of a quarter.  Most  bites hover around dime-sized, though.

No three hole punch.  How do you know where to punch the 2 holes? The three-hole punch has that nice edge so you know exactly where to line it up so each piece of paper has the proper hole in the exact same place.   My notebooks are going to look so silly with this 2-hole punch with no guidance.