Culture Shock

When you travel to a new place, you are most likely aware that the destination will exhibit many differences compared to the place you traveled from. It is my opinion that this awareness can shield you from the shock of being thrust into a starkly different culture. However, I have come to realize that awareness can only go so far as a shield. You need much much more that this.

Some privileges I took for granted in America:

• Not being stared at. Or at least openly stared at. Aren't we taught that staring is rude? And pointing! My goodness it's truly like being a zoo animal. 
• Being able to wear shorts. I could dedicate an entire essay to this concept. Not to worry that is coming. 
• Warm showers. Even though you don't really want one when it's super humid. The cold water is actually nice and I've adjusted to that part just fine, but I miss a nice warm shower in the morning. 
• Windows with screens. Don't get me wrong our verandah is my favorite place in the house. It's  like being outside, but you don't get rained on! Screens would be nice for the mosquitos though. I've itched a few (thousand) bug bites into oblivion and now have lovely new scabs all over my legs. (Now they will think I'm a leper and stare at me more, oh wait I can't show my ankles never mind!)
• A protein or whole grain based breakfast. We have Idli (google it) with curry a lot, and occasionally spicy noodles. They are both really really tasty, it's just still odd to me to eat it for breakfast. 
• WINE!!! In the village it's very taboo for anyone to drink really, but as a woman you are actually not allowed to drink. You can't buy it in a store, and you can't go to a bar. I have many thoughts on this.  But I need to collect and organize them so they do not come out in babbling fits of rage. 

These are just a few things I've realized I completely took for granted while living my comfortable life in America. I'm sure there will be more cultural shocks that we will experience over the coming months, and we will constantly work on how to live with and assimilate to these changes. 

On being stared at:

I don't know what it is like to live in a small village or small city where there is not much tourism, and then all of a sudden see two ladies walking around everywhere who look absolutely nothing like everyone else. It's funny because in the shopping centers the poster ads usually have white people on them. The children's store advertises their clothing on white babies. From what we have seen, and what we have heard from a few locals, light skin is an aspiration. Which is odd for me because I've spent my entire life wanting to be darker, or to have the ability to tan at least a little bit. The grass really is always greener on the other side! I am never sure if the reason for the stares is simply the difference in our skin tone, or the fact that we are also women. I think if the residents of Aymanam or the nearby city of Kottayam were to have ever seen an American, it would have most likely been a man, perhaps traveling for business. I don't know this for sure, but most gender stereotypes are unfortunately accurate here so I would not have much doubt if this were the case. 

Maybe one day they won't see us as zoo animals. We're not the first to be here, so they must have some awareness of the new influx of international teachers at Holy Cross School. The stares and the pointing is harmless. They seem to be teeming with curiosity, and who am I to blame or judge? In this case, we came to India aware that people would stare. The teachers who came before us warned us of this.  But it is one thing to imagine it, and another to actually experience it. When you feel a curious gaze, it's a little uncomfortable. When they point, giggle, and talk to the person next to them in Malayalam, it's even more uncomfortable. I'll never know what they're saying, so we have to learn to just not care. Awareness shielded us from being surprised by the staring and pointing, but an adjustment in attitude will shield from the constant discomfort of being ogled at everywhere we go. 

By the way the power went out three times while I was writing this. ~just India things~ 

Settling In

One week down! Kind of. It has been one week since I left the United States, but because of the spherical world we live on and a very confusing concept called time change, I have only been in India for five days officially. I think....math is hard.

So much has happened already, buckle up! We have been in school since Tuesday, and our program predecessors were right, they really just throw you right in. We were teaching that very first day. We did some fun stuff the first two days, mostly because we had absolutely no idea how to teach a class full of English language learners, but by Thursday I was doing a lesson on verb conjugations with my sixth graders. Oh and by the way it's really hard to teach a language that just comes naturally to you. Do you know what the participle form of a verb is? I bet you do, it's just the "-ing" form. Did you remember that's what it was called? I sure didn't.  So yea I am basically re-learning English and teaching it at the same time. It's actually kind of fun because I am a nerd and have always been a lieutenant in the grammar police force. I think this gig will earn me a promotion. Truthfully this week of teaching was a blur, I created only one full lesson, and executed half of it. The other classes we did a lot of coloring, and a lot of shadow teaching. Stickers are my new best friend. Currently my schedule includes Kindergarten, classes one, three, five, six, and seven on my own. My class is Language Lab and I basically can do whatever I want. The goal is to improve their English (I currently plan to focus on speaking and pronunciation) and there are no required exams. Additionally, I have classes one, three, four, eight, and ten alongside another teacher in their everyday subjects like English, Social Science, General Knowledge, and Morals. In these classes, so far I am either just circulating the classroom making sure the students are listening and doing their work, or I am giving the lesson and the staff teacher is circulating. I initially thought the younger students would be easier to teach (because, you know, cute) but that is not the case. The younger classes, like Kindergarten and class one, do not really speak much English yet I think. They either talk too fast for me to understand, or they are actually speaking Malayalam, I can't tell. My language and pronunciation will certainly improve by being here because I have to talk veeeeerrrryyy very slowly and articulate each letter and syllable so that they understand me. You never realize how fast you speak until you are talking to someone who is a non-native English speaker. 

We are still slowly getting to know the fathers we live with everyday. Father Johny is the superior and the principal of the Holy Cross School. He is very sweet, small, and very engaging. It's not difficult to feel at home in his presence. There is also Father Alex, Father Abraham, Father Biju, and brother Jibin. We eat pretty much every meal with them, and we see them around the house every day. They are curious about America, and so very welcoming. The teachers at school are similar. They are smiley and welcoming, but equally as hard to understand when they speak. They almost all speak English, but it's simply a matter of understanding their words through the thick accent. We will get the hang of it, but right now I do a lot of nodding and agreeing even though I am not always sure what is said.

Yes, the food is spicy. I think they are slowly turning up the heat on us because every meal seems to get more and more hot. Don't get me wrong I like spicy foods, but Indian spicy is the kind of spicy that makes you sweat even though you're sitting still. It is all very very tasty though. The only thing I can already tell I will get tired of is the rice based items that we have for breakfast. The last thing I want in the morning is a rice pancake when we had rice for lunch and dinner the day before. But it truly is pretty good.

A quick note on the power. It goes out randomly and unannounced at least four times per day. Sometimes less,  sometimes more. Sometimes for no more than a minute, sometimes for an hour. It's super fun.

Also we live on a farm. I will try to list the animals that run free around the grounds, but I will more than likely forget a few. For starters there is the rooster. He is hard to miss especially right now because he is RIGHT OUTSIDE THE WINDOW COCKADOODLEDOING HIS DAMN HEAD OFF.  But I'm not annoyed by it at all, really. Then there is the two water buffalo, one baby cow, our dog Moshi, probably like six goats (one of whom had three babies since we have been here), tons of ducks, geese, an odd looking bird called a Guinea fowl, a turkey, and lots of chickens. I'll keep updating this list with the animals I forgot as their noises wake me up in the middle of the night. I love them all. I'm very excited to make the baby goats my friends seeing as the older goats do not have much interest in hanging out. Stay tuned for those adventures. Oh and we also saw a python. It was dead in the river (which flooded most of the seminary grounds and part of the house this week) so it was harmless to us, but the size alone was enough to give me a nightmare about a snake the size of the basilisk from Harry Potter. Think as thick as your thigh and longer than your car. Thank god we didn't see the whole thing.

We actually haven't gotten out to do too much yet, but we did make one trip to the nearby city of Kottayam to go to the mall and get more churidars and kurtas (pants and long shirts). Any time we leave, whether it is to go for a walk or to go to the city, it is like going to the zoo, but we are the animals on display. Never having truly been a minority before is pretty much the ultimate privilege, and the experience of being a true outsider who sticks out like a sore thumb is both uncomfortable and interesting. I hesitate to describe the experience as novel or fun, because I do not want to seem pretentious or ungrateful. This is a perspective we have never really seen the world through, and I value the experience of it. When I tell you Marissa and I are the only white ladies around I absolutely mean it. I mean there could be some but I have not seen any yet, and judging by the stares we get I don't think the residents have seen any yet either. I know the students and parents in the village of Aymanam have seen people who look a little different from them in real life before because they knew Sarah, Nikki, Dan, and O'Shane, the Stonehill grads who came before us. Even still they stare. We went for tea to a teachers house on Tuesday (or Wednesday? Keeping track of the days is hard when your body is still stuck on eastern standard time) and I think at least six neighbors came in to just stare and watch us drink our tea. It's kind of funny for now, they're just so curious and so very friendly! Everyone smiles and waves hello. It's very sweet. But for all I know they're laughing and talking shit about us. Ah the language barrier. Mental note to learn swear words and insults in Malayalam so at the very least I can recognize them. This weekend is a long weekend because Monday is another holiday here, so we will get out some more I hope! And maybe eat something other than rice!