I woke up in the middle of the night. I haven't been sleeping well. Its probably the anticipation of going home in a week. When I decided to get back to sleep around 5 am I heard a hurdling shriek... No doubt it was my roommate but I was in bed, my door was closed, and I was almost positive it had to be some sort of small creature that caused her shriek. A few moments later I heard the computer turn off and her door slammed shut. I was relieved but too sleepy to text her or call out to her. I knew she would be awake a few hours later anyway to tell the story.
Other:
First think in the morning I opened my door to my two roommates having breakfast. I asked what it was. To my surprise it wasn't a lizard, which I jumped at the night before. She said that it was a RAT. What! Rats in India? So I asked if it was a mouse and we went on... it was with no doubt a rat. Gross I know.
School has been pretty great. I can finally see the progress I've made in the past few weeks. I remember trying to simply write the Urdu script with the 30 or so characters. Now, I can actually have a select number of small talk conversations. Progress!
All is well, but the last couple of weeks have been extremely up and down. I was first beginning to get excited about going home when just about the worst thing happened. You need to remember that most of the floors in India are made of marble. So... I was on my laptop typing up my final paper in Urdu when I turned to look at how to spell a word on a nearby computer. Of course I was listening to music at the time through my headphones; it was actually gospel music. Then it happened... I could hear it shifting from the table... my heart dropped. My laptop crashed into the ground. The marble floor! I was thinking, "I cannot believe this just happened." I turned to see the damage. I picked it up and the screen was terrible. It was so bad I cant describe the pain both the laptop and I felt. The music was skipping so i sadly turned it off.
My mood shifted back to happy after being reassured by a few folks that it was ok, and that I was doing alright in the program. I know that the program and the computer are kind of unrelated but not so much.
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| A Bit of The Crowd |
In Lucknow, the outside world, things go on as usual. Rickshaw valas wave us over to pay for a ride. People stare at us while passing and wave insistently. One day this happened so much I'm sure they thought I was a pop star. What would happen if I dressed in native garb...would I go unnoticed? Of course I would... I've grown to disregard the celebrity treatment.
On a CLS trip to Deva Sharif, while taking a group photo, a crowd bigger than us took pictures in fascination. Pictures of us. That was the biggest crowd I think we've assembled at one time. It was borderline scary.
One week...
But First... Let us recap a few of the "priceless moments."
- Not understanding the people who are obviously talking about you in a foreign country.
- Disliking the continuous smell of garbage in the streets. Even though the disposing to trash system may work.
- Not seeing African American magazines or any African American/Africa influence...I know it's south Asia.
- Being in a two month language program that would normally take a year and feeling behind.
- Finding joy in the small things. Such as seeing Heinz 57 in a random corner store in Lucknow.
- Absolutely not being able to locate adequate hair products. Glad I bought something with me. :/
- Interacting with people who refuse to smile until I make the first smile.
- Being excited about learning Urdu and desiring to finally conquer Spanish.
- Progress!
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| Deva Sharif |
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| After an Ancient Art Documentary viewing |
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| Emily and I getting prayer cloths |
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| Mid Air at the Residency |
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| The Residency |
All in all I have had a great time...
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