So, F has been in India for 1 1/2 weeks...and I miss him. But at least we can talk (yay for VoIP + international flat rate) or chat every day. (That hasn't stopped me shedding a few tears, but it does make it easier. :'-) )
Here are a few things I've heard about:
Here are a few things I've heard about:
- Being a TALL, white man among Indians (he had an extra security line, the tour guide spoke English for him, he had a separate place to store his shoes when in the temple...interesting.)
Okay, foreground/background helps the height in this picture..but notice the lack of other non-Indian tourists. This was taken on Ghandi's Birthday, so there were plenty of tourists, but, other than F, all apparently Indian. - Being told to "please go away" because the university librarian didn't know him...okay...(could this have anything at all to do with #1?) Germans are generally quite direct as well, but still. Amusing. Luckily another librarian came by and was able to help him.
- Cows that do yoga* (or "yog"--apparently it is spelled
in Sanskrit. It is generally 'understood' that an 'a' (pronounced 'ah') follows each of the consonants, unless otherwise marked. Sometimes there is another vowel and sometimes the 'a' is just removed from the final consonant. Apparently because Indians know that it was supposed to be 'yog' they are sometimes lazy with the markings. In any event, whoever transliterated the word didn't know this..so now we call it yoga in the West instead of yog. Go figure. Hooray languages!) - Flies that jump on your lap (yes, this happened to him while we were talking on the phone.)
- Tired, apathetic dog parties
They hardly blinked an eye as F rode between them on his bicycle. He managed to avoid running over any snouts or paws. - Heat. Plenty of it. (And it's October.) Currently ~30°C/86°F (It gets worse in summer. Think melting crosswalk stripes + 48°C/118.4°F)
- Puja. Puja is the practice of honoring mentors, ancestors, gods, etc. Here Ghandi could be honored by tossing cut grass and flowers.
And apparently Mickey Mouse is big there too :) - Geckos. Just chilling outside the hostel.
- Some more temples from Ghandi's birthday (incuding the ghat (platform) where he was cremated). Go figure. F managed to be in India for one of the four national holidays--and at that very temple. Impressive :)
Here we've also got some delightful alliteration "Please don't pluck" (notice that feels even more alliterative than the alternative "Please don't pick"; we've got 2 sounds repeated P + L :) Hooray for being married to a linguist + teaching 2nd grade!) 
- ALL the sari fabric! Just look at it! Beautiful :)
- You could also receive sari consultation :)
Just imagine being a sari consultant :) Colors! - Oh, and Indian traffic. Can't forget that :)
I'm sure there'll be more to say, but here are the highlights for now :)
* Here's a polar bear doing the cow's yoga pose (although the cow's was stationary)
3 comments:
Great pix and comments. (I didn't quite understand the yog/yoga thing though. Does that mean "yoga" really means cow, or that "yoga" should really be "yog," and so the cow is...?
That polar bear--I bet we all have days when we feel like that....
The cow was in a position similar to that of the polar bear: back legs upright, but chin on the ground. In my husband's description of it, it sounded like a yoga position..and because it was an Indian cow, I found it even more appropriate :) (but perhaps it was just me trying to hard to be obscurely funny :) :P )
And apparently the western world is mispronouncing yoga, the practice of meditation+excercise+poses, etc...
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