Friday, June 20, 2008
An Inch of Foam
Wednesday, June 11th: Woke early because of the time difference. Didn’t sleep too fitfully because of the thin mattress and jetlag, but I’m doing ok now. I was at the office until 4:00 and then we came home and I napped while Maria Luisa did some more work.
We went and saw two apartments, and then came to the office. I met about 10 people and spoke with 5 or so people beyond a hello. A few awkward moments, mostly all friendly. ML introduced me to a group of about 12 people sitting around the table for lunch, and people just stared. A few mumbled hello’s, but it was very strange. Did I have a big booger on my nose?
At 7:00 we headed out for dinner. $5 for a ton of food. Now that we know what to order, we’ll order more carefully and cheaply. We had way too much food! I had the best Lassi I’ve ever tasted. Absolutely delicious! We had a chick-pea stew, and a sampler with ~6 different dishes (tiny portions of each).
Aside from ordering, the real adventure was getting there by auto rickshaw. I’ll take a picture of one soon, but it’s essentially a 3-wheeled, motorized rickshaw. No windows, no seatbelts, and the roads are chaotic! Cars, bikes, motorcycles, and these auto rickshaws weaving in and around each other. You also have to negotiate the price before you go, and foreigners are charged more. We stuck to the correct price when trying to flag a rickshaw for going home, and the guy just drove off. He outright refused to take us for the local price. It was all very cordial – we just kept saying the right price, and after seeing we wouldn’t give in, he drove away.
Tomorrow should be more of the same. Looking at a few apartments (possibly going via auto rickshaw versus being taken by the driver) like today. My boss said he has one more very busy day so when I’m in the office I’ll do my best to absorb, continue meeting people, and learning as much as I can to jump in very soon.
Ok, I’m off to the most immediate challenge: finding a position that’s comfortable on 1 inch of foam. Suggestions?
Miss you all,
Sarah
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Hi Sarah, I'd be very careful about making connections between caste and living in the slums/not going to school. While there are definitely correlations, to say that "People of low castes live on the side of the road" or "School is not an option because of the caste they were born into" are vast generalizations...You have examples of very poor people of high castes, and you have examples of prominent or rich Dalits (the untouchables), like our former President, K.R. Narayanan.
Post a Comment