Top 3 things...
... I miss about the US (excluding family + friends):
1. BEEEEF (and a meaty diet in general, Chipotle beef burrito, I miss you)
2. warm showers when you whenever you want (bucket baths are no fun)
3. laundry machines (doing laundry by hand takes too much energy and time, and my clothes are still dirty)
... I thought I'd miss, but I don't
1. my car (it's nice to walk, although I'd love a scooter or a motorcycle)
2. TV (but too bad I'll miss the football season)
3. cell phone
... I love about India
1. friendly people who always make time to have a cup of chai
2. the mountains of Mussoorie
3. simplicity of life
... about India that I could do without
1. garbage everywhere
2. bad smells
3. people honking their horns all the time
... that smell bad
1. smell of raw sewage at certain places
2. B.O., including myself (even after I shower, I can't escape the smell of masalas - spices)
3. farts (our lentils and rice diet doesn't help)
... that I'll never get used to
1. seeing so many people bow down and worship idols (and when they ask me to join them)
2. poverty, especially seeing so many kids begging
3. being stared at (my blond friends are practically celebrities in some places)
... that I'm surprisingly used to
1. not showering every day (although I still wish I could)
2. the idea of "arranged" marriage vs. "love" marriages
3. avoiding girls (long story, but relationships between guys and girls are quite different)
... that I surprisingly enjoy
1. spending time with kids and the youth (it's like having little brothers and sisters that I never had)
2. DANCE PARTIEEESSSS, garwhali style
3. singing in Hindi
... that have made me feel old
1. my friend asked me how old I was, and when I told him my age, he said "wow, I though you were 30 or something, so I was being extra respectful to you..."
2. my knees always hurt, and my body takes longer to recover from things
3. wrinkly hands (I noticed this when I was trekking, apparently it's the altitude, but I was about to freak out cause my hands looked like an old woman's)
... that have changed since being here
1. I don't mind spiders and bugs so much
2. I'm not sure if I can go back to working at a conventional architecture firm
3. the idea of getting married and having some kiddies is increasingly appealing (scary...)
Some pictures to go along with the lists:
Our church's Easter picnic, and of course, we danced.
People bathing at the Ganga (Ganges River). They come to worship the river, cleanse their sins, do laundry, dump garbage, and some even come to die there in hope of escaping karna.
One of our momo (dumplings) and dance parties, I don't have any pictures of the dancing cause I was busy making a fool of myself.
Me playing with my pastor's kids.
