South Asia: Always Inspiring Curiosity

I’m comprising a list of things that I encounter in this country on a day-to-day basis that may or may not make much sense to me. I’m sure this list will continue to grow until the day I fly home, since this city is always moving, changing, and causing wonder. Some days these items frustrate me, other days they make me giggle, and then there’s days where I just cry. See how you react:

•I’ve seen plenty of people wearing earmuffs even though it never really gets below 80 degrees F here. Cold blooded ears, I guess? Fashion statement, maybe?

•Many rooms in buildings are separated by random ridges that seem to have no purpose other than to trip you! You always have to be on the look-out.

•Construction here is done in a manner that some might consider haphazard. Structures are supported by sticks while being built. The way things are built and the way they turn out= sometimes questionable. Some of the walls in our apartment are crooked and my bathroom floor is tilted. (My shower drains really well, though :)

•Unnecessary security metal detectors are located in front of many stores and hotels. You don’t have to walk through them if you don’t want to and if you set it off, the guards don’t seem to do anything.

•The guards at our apartment sleep so soundly that you could clang symbols above their heads and they wouldn’t stir. Hmm…makes you feel safe doesn’t it?

•Instead of using toilet paper, they use a bucket, a cup, and a hose…I am still very curious as to how that works. A lot of my friends here don’t quite understand how toilet paper works, either, so I guess we share curiosity!

•Phones don’t have voicemail capabilities. Since my job includes a lot of calling and scheduling, you can see how this could prove inconvenient at times.

•At museums, forts, and other tourist attractions, the price for white people is at least 3 or 4 times the price for nationals. Last weekend, us whiteys paid Rs 150 to get into the Hyderabad Museum and our national friends paid Rs 10. We paid 15x the price they did simply because of the color of our skin!! Can you imagine the trouble this would cause in the U.S.? Oh boy.

•In each room there are usually at least 8 switches. Keep in mind that two turn on lights and one turns on a fan, and I’m still not sure what the other five do. Maybe I’ll never know.

•The infamous head bobble: imagine a nod and a head shake combined, looking a lot like a bobble head doll. This is used by most people as a response to any question/statement you make. It can mean “yes,” “no,” “maybe,” “let me think about it,” “I’m listening,” “I have no idea what you’re saying,” and “you’re funny-lookin.” It’s a fun game to try and figure out which one they mean in each situation! I think I’m getting pretty good at it.

•There is a river near our house that is so polluted that fish can only survive in it for 4 hours. Makes ya kinda sad, doesn’t it?

•TRAFFIC! AHHHH!! There are no rules of the road, and if you try to make some of your own, you will get into an accident. No, it’s much better to follow the crazy flow. Makes travel extra exciting! :)

•Non-stop honking. Everybody on the road feels a compulsory need to honk at all times (even the auto-rikshaws that have little, manual squeak horns:)! It ends up being semi-useless because it’s no longer an effective warning sound- it’s just a whole lot of noise.

•Most cars and autos don’t have rearview mirrors on the passenger and driver’s side. I have NO idea how they work their way through traffic without them, but it’s quite impressive/scary.

•The lay-out of the city is extra confusing. And just to make it a little more intriguing, there are no street signs. Many addresses include things like “Near St. Mary’s School” or “Backside of MR Hospital.” Landmarks are key!

•There are men on the street who feel the need to say “Hellooo madam! Madam! Madam hello! Hello madam! Madam!” I’m still trying to figure out what they wish to accomplish…? I nod and say hello, but the “Madam’s” keep coming.

•The staring: some days it’s comical, other days it’s my biggest pet peeve. Grown folks will stare at you from two feet away and they continue to stare even when you look back at them and ask them what they want. I wonder if they are waiting for me to do a trick or a little jig! I can’t live up to these expectations.

You probably have to see all these things to understand why I don’t understand them. But I figured that it was worth reporting anyway. Note: this list is not meant as an insult to South Asian culture. Rather, it is a collection of observations that make my life a little bit more interesting in one way or another. Enjoy!