In some cultures more than others, people have the capability to sleep pretty much anytime, anywhere. India is definitely one of those cultures. Part of me understands this; the constant heat during most months is making you feel drowsy. And the siesta known in other countries really makes sense to me now. Don't be surprised to find them vast asleep on a concrete slab, in a boiling hot car, or while being the passenger on a two-wheeler, during work hours or a cat-nap during break time. They are not bothered by the constant honking or the horrible fumes from the passing cars. Our driver Manu spends many hours in his car waiting to be of use. And his preferred way of spending this time is by taking looooong naps. Last week I was at a department store, just browsing the new clothes, when I found this girl half hidden in a clothes rack... Totally out! But don't worry, I made sure I did not wake her from her beautysleep! Something you have to get used to here in India is being stared at. Men as well as women will stare openly at you. In "the west" we have, what we think is, the decency to look away when our stare is being noticed by the subject you were staring at. But not so much here in India. Also, we are used to giving a quick smile once you are "caught in the act", but again not something that will happen here.
I noticed that, although you get used to being stared at, you very quickly forget about it after you leave India. During our vacation in Sri Lanka I was just one of many tourists, wearing touristy clothes, acting like a real tourist. Nobody in Sri Lanka thinks that's worth staring at. But as soon as we were back in India, on my 2 minute walk to the supermarket I could feel the stares again. Oh yes... that's right... we're back in India... At first they make you feel uncomfortable, these stares are also one of the reasons to wear clothes that cover up most of your skin. But then again, you do get used to it... Nowadays, I often start a "staring war" while sitting idle in the car, waiting for a traffic light. I can't help but feel some satisfaction when a men turns his eyes away first! Ever since our first visit to our compound, the road leading to it has been a bumpy one. Parts asphalt, many potholes, broken up many times. After the rains we had in November, there wasn't much left of the asphalt; just potholes with potholes. In December they started to clear the road, take out all the old asphalt and smoothing the base. But since most of this is done by hand process is slow... excruciatingly slow... Once the base layer is as smooth as they can get it, they start building the pavement on the sides. Underneath the pavement is the water/waste drain. The large concrete stones are very heavy, and again laid by hand. After that the road has been covered under a thick layer of large gravel, they leave it like that for a while, having traffic taking care of pressuring it into a slab. Next they cover it with finer sand which is the last layer before the asphalt can be laid. Four months after they started working on the road, last week we finally noticed some large trucks with asphalt parked on the side of the road, together with one of those "asphalt-pooping-machines". Finally!!! We thought, it IS going to happen!!! But this is how the road looks today: They keep on getting it ready, only to start digging another hole... I only guess they want to finish before the monsoon starts, which would be great because then at least we get to enjoy it for a little while. Once the rains start the inferior quality of the asphalt will soon show, and all will be back like nothing happend in the first place! |
AuthorDutch girl with an expat husband and a weird cat. Moving to India from Canada. via Holland CategoriesArchives
August 2017
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