Sometimes I reflect
and it isn't just the big things that pop out
but little things that I have learned and experienced, small daily things.
Such as:
I received 3 letters in the mail today!!! And it made me laugh to think of the first time I sent letters out and how I am still amazed that people are still just not getting them a month later. But that is probably because I forgot to write "U.S.A" on the letter and I can't imagine how long it took all of the mailpeople to figure out where the heck S.C. is located in India.
Live and Learn. Now, I always label my letters with "USA."
I never would have thought past that 3rd grade lesson in addressing mail envelopes if I had never left the US. I've never had to label anything out of the US, or into the US and therefore, labeling anything U.S.A was unnecessary.
You wouldn't know by the screams and sometimes near head on collisions, but I have figured out, and am in the habit of, looking to the right before I cross the road.
I am now an expert at withdrawing money from an ATM, even though I wonder why there are so many ATMs everywhere. There are so many people that live on the streets - they can't possibly have a bank account and card that they need at ATM to withdraw from. Nevertheless, ATMs are on every single corner.
Sometimes I can't help but laugh at some of the things I've learned. Like, people will get on a stopped train at the train station just to use the actual toilet even though it is a hole straight through to the railway. Then they get off, the train takes off and there is a pile of poop of the railway tracks. You can spot these people. They are the ones who get on trains without any luggage.
On that note, I've learned that you don't call anything a "station" or they will take you to the bus station. If you want to go to the bus station, this is ok. If you want to go to the train station, or the railway station, it is not ok.
I've started asking myself, "What would Gandhi do?" when I notice my patience running thin for no good reason except I am impatient or find something "wrong" in my world.
In fact, I did this today when at a random cultural event as I watched people spook this poor dog with a terrible skin disease that was just trying to find a place to sit down and rest. He rested behind me after awhile because out of the thousands of people at this concert, the 3 Americans were the only ones not squealing and turning away or threatening the dog when it happened to walk by. But right before we left, he got up and sniffed a guy just a few people down and the guy turned around, made a fist, and punched the dog, straight down on his spine. The dog was knocked down, uttered a small yelp and beat it.
And I started yelling.
I started yelling at him right there in the middle of a music and dance concert, fussing at him and telling him that he had no right to hit another living being. I think it was the death glares that made him get out of my way. He left to sit in another area.
Good. I do not tolerate that.
And then I think, who am I, as an aspiring anthropologist to criticize and fuss at people I don't know for actions that they don't consider wrong, that they have grown up with. I just end up feeling like an uber ethnocentric unthoughtful American bitch even though I have stood up for what I believe in. My beliefs don't matter when I am studying another culture, at least they shouldn't. I cannot judge.
Revise.
I should not judge.
ok. so Patience and not being Judgmental.
I encountered a boy yesterday in the Old City. He walked next to me and then just stopped in front of me and looked at me. After exchanging hellos, I asked how he was and without responding he asked me how I was. I said fine, he told me that he was not. He just kept staring at me. I apologized that he was indeed, not fine. He stared at me, said "that's ok." and without another word, he walked away.
What else to do in a situation as such?
There are so many things that I don't know how to react to. I am learning, but I still have a lot to learn.
I joined a soccer team today. haha I haven't been part of a team in awhile... personalities are hard to deal with sometimes. I wasn't part of a soccer team at home, but anything goes in India. We are playing in a tournament this weekend. Tonight was the first practice.
I'm waking up early. I want to see the sunrise.
I want to feel the earth waking up, and watch the sun open her eyes slowly, see her fingers rake across her hair and witness the vulnerability of time.
I've heard that you can hear the Muslim calls to worship with the sunrise.
That's something I've never had the chance to experience at home.
There are so many stories here. I hope I can remember them all and that they will always mean so much as they do to me now.
