Experiencing the Culture

I’ve looked at a few homes (apartments) to rent. It’s so different from what I expected to find. All three have marble floors – real marble, not some tile made to look like marble. In the winter they are dang cold, I’m hoping they continue to feel cool in the summer. ☺

The first one we looked at is on the ground floor and ready for immediate move in. This was two rooms, one bathroom, a sitting room and then a large open space and I think a big storage room. There were some nice additions (like built in cupboards, built in wardrobe closets and built in desk), but no western toilet. Also, I’m not sure about it being on the ground floor – I don’t want to be that low and I don’t want to have to answer the gate all day (might need to as the one closest to it). Also, there is this interesting feature in most homes – there’s a breezeway that usually happens via a stairwell. As I was in a room, I looked up and saw a whole family squatting there peeking into the house I was touring. All that divided us was a grate. Trash/dirt would be falling into my home and they could see me whenever I walked by – might be a little more than awkward in the hot summer months, if you get what I’m saying. Of course, a curtain could be put up to stop the looky-lues, but they could still overhear conversations.

I went to the house I photographed in the previous blog. Which, by the way, I probably need to clarify…I won’t be renting the entire house. It’s on the second floor – which they call the 1st floor (below is the ground floor). It really was beautiful inside. Again with two bedrooms (one with built-in wardrobe closets and the other with a western toilet) as well as a hosting area and a dinning room area. There was a nice balcony (also with marble floors) you can see this in the picture. At one end it comes in under the above floor to create an enclave that could hold a small table and chairs, overlooking the “Buffalo Bay” as Deacon puts it. ☺ They are still working on it...no lights or wall fixtures, toilets and sinks need put in, but there’s nice woodwork. It’ll take about 2 months to finish. One of the ladies (a daughter) from below spoke English, so that was nice too. This is the one I want to sign a rental agreement with. It feels safer being up a little higher (not only for personal security, but also from the monsoons.

I met another lady and daughter who have a room available for the meantime. I think it might work out well to stay there while I wait for the other one to be completed. The daughter spoke English and I said I’d love to learn how to cook and she said they could teach me (and added that maybe I could teach them some of my western recipes). This would be a great option for me to learn more about the culture and practice my language learning with. I will follow up with the last two tomorrow.

At the same time, I’m trying to figure out how to get phone service. Everyone in India has cell phones, so you’d think it would be easy. But they want a rental agreement to show as proof! Proof of what, I’m not sure, it’s a pay as you go plan, so it’s not as if they need to send me a bill or anything. There’s a thought that if I apply for insurance it’ll give me some sort of an ID that might be beneficial. Today I rode a rickshaw alone and Dan was on his motorcycle (though he was so far ahead of us I had no idea where to send the rickshaw driver when he asked which way – when I got on you could hear air coming out of his tires – so he had to pull over when we got to a roadside tire care station – I could share more, but just know that Indians in general are very resourceful, entrepreneur type people and never miss an opportunity for making money and setting up business). I finally saw Dan waving us down and so the journey continued. Inside I stood in a line with a ton of men. One guy was nice enough to tell me that as a female I could go to the front (separate queue for women). But I was behind another lady and she looked at me and I motioned for her to go first. She had the hugest grin of thanks on her face. Then someone was ushering us into the boss’s office where I was initially served water and then some chai – hospitality towards foreigners is incredible here. I signed blank pages and later watched a guy fill in all my information. Then they wanted a photo and money. I didn’t have the photo so Dan thought he knew where to go, a few shops down. Nope, again I got on a rickshaw and this time we followed him on the bike. Each trip on the rickshaw cost the equivalent of $0.25…crazy! I had my picture taken, but would have to wait about 6 hours to get it back. For $0.75 I got 12 copies! Dan says I will probably need them again, now I’m ready. I was on my own getting home (Dan did give directions) – the nice think is that most people know of our colony (sorta like what you’d call a development in Anytown, USA) and once I get close I know my way around (even the correct directional names).

This afternoon I went with Darla and Afreen to get my eyebrows threaded – a cultural thing that I recommend all women do (this cost roughly $0.30). This was done in the market, which is very challenging to navigate with three kids, so it really was fun to have Darla come solo. Nearly everything one would use in day-to-day life can be found here. And though there are nicer, more modern stores closer to us, I think I will enjoy getting to know the layout of the market. One word of caution – rickshaw drivers will run into you. I don’t know what happened, the three of us were walking pretty much single file, but a rickshaw hit my hand. And the funniest part about it was the guy in it glared at me like I’d done something wrong – well, from their perspective I probably did. Now I understand why men walk with their hands behind them. I need to be more observant of what women do. I did get a cut and have since cleaned it out (don’t worry Mom – I’ll let you know if it turns to gangrene. Ha! ☺)

Then this evening the insurance guy came by the house to find out about the photo, and maybe the money too. Odd, because Dan had called him and told him exactly what had happened and that I’d be back tomorrow at 11 am. I have a feeling he was checking up to see if I was really staying where we said I was. I’m telling you, customer service here is amazing.