How am I? Doing great.
The weather has been really good lately, although it’s slowly getting warmer day by day. I know most of you are getting colder, day by day, as winter is creeping up. But here the rainy season has slowed and without the rains to cool it down, it’s getting hot sometimes and definitely muggy. It feels good driving around in an auto-rickshaw with the wind blowing, God’s natural air-conditioning.
I’ve been given a project on top of the Home Healthcare Training project. The Head of the Nursing Department wrote a book for training Peripheral I.V Cannulation and she has asked me to edit it for spelling, grammar and basic English. No, I haven’t any knowledge of this but basically the book is to teach students who have no knowledge so it’s a good match. Without her knowing it, though, I was once trained as a phlebotomist when I worked in a blood bank in a hospital in Wisconsin so that helps. And the book is only 40 pages so it should be easy.
I went shopping at the big mall near me and bought treats for myself…fruit, nuts and even croissants. Even though I have tried several times to find Time Magazine, they are always sold out but I scored this time. And I found some instant Latte packages. So Wednesday morning I sat out on my balcony (with my mosquito net covering firmly in place), drinking my Latte, reading my Time Magazine, I could have been on my patio in Tempe, AZ. It felt so good. I could get used to this. Not really. I was 14 floors up and still heard all the streets sounds like I was in NY.
A friend of mine emailed me asking if India is really as dirty as she has heard and I had to reply, Yes, it is filthy. But it’s funny, if you can laugh at it, after a while you get used to it. Some things you become vigilant at doing, like always making sure your hands are clean when eating or touching something you are going to eat. The fruit I buy is soaked in a disinfecting wash, either Bleach or Dettol, before I eat it.
And I don’t know if I will ever get used to the people pushing and shoving or being just plain gross when it comes to hygiene. For example (and I am picking a not so gross example here). I know someone who was hanging out with an intelligent Indian (college student) and the person threw their garbage on the street, a wrapper to a food she was eating. When my friend mentioned this the Indian said, Oh, I forgot, so she picked it up and then proceeded to throw it into the water they were next to, as if that was better! When I was in Africa there was a young woman from NY who used to say she wished she had a Common Sense Stick that she could club someone over the head and give them Common Sense. She would have a Field Day here in India.
My co-worker friend who bought a new house purchased a Top of the Line cabinet system for her kitchen cupboards. Sliding selves under all the counters, it was not cheap, even by US standards, around US $750. The items were manufactured in Germany. And the carpenters that the store sent to install them made such a mess of the installation that it’s a shame! The shelves don’t slide nice and easy. She’s going to complain to the store where she bought them but other than that there’s no recourse. Just write it off as It’s India! I will not be buying a house intending to settle down here in India. It is a temporary stop for me, even shorter than the normal 3 year pattern I have.
India is celebrating another holiday, Durga Puja and Navaratri. I think it is about 13 days long all together. There was even a stampede at a temple up north today and 89 people were killed. Such a shame. Here it is just very pretty with colored lights and decorations everywhere and lots of praying going on.
Today I went to see the movie Gravity with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. Definitely something to see on the big screen, and I saw it in 3D, too. It sold out both showings last night and we had to buy the tickets for today yesterday, but definitely worth it.
I’ll end this now and check in with you later this week. Hopefully I’ll have some news on how my work projects are going.
Love,
Marie
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