Saturday, October 15, 2005

The ups and downs of India

Hi everyone,
Just thought I'd add a few comments to my blog....considering more than one person has said they're getting sick of looking at Ganesha (!) So- for those of you who haven't been receiving my update emails, I had a great long weekend on the East coast two weekends ago. I went with Cheryl to Mahabalipuram and Pondicherry via Chennai (Madras). I loooved Maha and Pondy was okay- more of a big city than I was expecting. Maha was a little hippie beach town, whihc suited me just fine- so relaxing- and the cows on the beach were so funny! Who ever heard of cows on the beach!? There are cows everywhere- they've just become a daily part of life :) The weekend ended badly though as I came home to find that there had been an attempted roberry at my house, and a robbery at Shallin and Mark's below me. Sad state of affairs-they took all their documentation and mP3 and I-Pod and all that- and Shallin's favourite jeans, which is what she says she misses the most! So, we have upped the security on our places- getting grills put on the doors and heavier padlocks. But I guess if 'they' want to get in, 'they' will find a way- the cut through steel bars on Kathy and Chris's place last year! Anyhoo, that made me a little disillusioned with India...and I still am a bit. They say that you go through ups and downs in a 'W' shape, so I have been up and now I am down. India is getting on my nerves....and I am suspicious of everyone now, cause they could be the one who robbed Shallin and Mark. Not a good mind set, I know- everyone should be innocent until proven guilty, but it's hard...especially when everyone looks at you (me) with such skeptical eyes....like 'what is she doing in my country!?' I am tired of being stared at wherever I go and being ripped off just because of my skin colour- huuuuge racism wake-up call. Anyway, I hope my next upward swing starts soon- maybe my trip to the UK at Diwali will kickstart that :) I am so excited for my week-long getaway- comfy hotel beds and 'real' food!! Yippee! Well, it looks like the server here at school is too busy too download any pics onto my blog- I will put some on it this weekend- I promise!! So, you'll just have to settle for some reading material for now y'all!
Peace from India...
Jess

1 comment:

Jen Galicinski said...

Jess....

ah culture shock....as much as we were told about it CONSTANTLY in Teachers Abroad, its totally different when you experience it, eh? I TOTALLY know how your feel....I'm still in my high phase in Korea, because I've only been here two weeks, but I'm expecting it to go down soon....but when I was in Nepal, omigosh - the crowds, the STARRING (wanting to scream, "WHAT THE FLIP ARE YOU LOOKING AT???????" at everyone), the inability to communicate, the dirtiness, yeah, at 3 months, i was SO ready to leave....so just hang in there and know that EVERYONE goes through this and it is perfectly normal...i'm glad to hear that you are feeling up again.....and i'm so happy you get to see sexy John in a week!!!!! ahhhhhhhhh!!!

oh - and how does November 28- December 8th sound for my visit? I think that's when I can get time off....

love you!!! *kiss* !!