What adjustments in daily living have I become accustomed to after 41 days in India?
Let me start with the bugs. Now, growing up, I wasn’t much of an outdoorsy kind of girl. I enjoyed climbing trees and being outside with my dogs, but for my formative years of young-childhood, I lived in 100 mile house where it traditionally snowed on my birthday and Halloween costumes were designed around the same insulated, reversible sweater (orange- pumpkin, black- cat) or a full body snowsuit. Then I moved to the west coast. It should have been easier to enjoy the outdoors, and I did get out a bit, but the really messy camping for days, hiking and the like just never materialized for me. Since learning to love running in the beautiful trails of Powell River and gardening, I have probably spent more time outside in four years than I did in my youth. So yeah, bugs are a bit of an adjustment. The first night we arrived in Orchha we were greeted with swarms of what we affectionately call stink bugs. Within the first week, I made the mistake of opening the front door at night with a light on behind me inside. I have never experienced the kind of wind-fury these creatures could create. What makes me laugh now is my general level of tolerance. Oh, there are only two stink bugs in my sink this morning. Hmm, I wonder how many insects I will find throughout the process of handwashing my laundry today. Well, there’s a bug on my food; luckily it moves faster than my spoon. I’m not too sure if this counts as personal growth, but I’ll take it as a win. Second. Showers. I posted a picture early on about my first bucket and mug “shower” consisting of about two gallons of water, max. It was surprisingly enjoyable. Perhaps since the alternative was a cold, traditional shower that I couldn’t help but turn off between soaping/shampooing because it was so frigid. So yeah, my kettle-warmed bucket water was heaven. It really helps me appreciate some of the simple pleasures I took for granted. I had that same thought before coming. My home is over 100 years old and we have yet to rip out the chipped, dirty-no-matter-what, blue bathtub our home came with upon purchase ten years ago. But I can jump into a shower and enjoy warm water, good enough to drink, at any moment I wish to. Showering is a process here. Long. Planned. Often accompanying laundry efforts. I really have a new appreciation for this simple task and hope I can help my kids understand and conserve what we enjoy so recklessly. Lastly, power and the ability to connect. Within the first week of work in rural India, each power outage or surge would make me jump. Computers beep. Things make strange noises. It all can happen quite abruptly. Now, I can compose a reflective essay without missing a keystroke during the multiple outages throughout the day. It’s my new normal. The internet connectivity, however, is something I still get frustrated over. Signs of the times and how I really need to unplug a lot more. For instance, wifi is shut off outside of working hours. This isn’t too much of a problem unless people you wish to communicate with are 12 hours behind you. Today, I had to miss a school board meeting because there was nowhere to connect to. Even my cell coverage doesn’t work in my location. That’s the joy of rural living I suppose. I just have to take this experience for what it is and really re-evaluate the role of connectivity back in Canada. Eyes open on this one and what changes should be made when I get back home. If you’ve found some helpful strategies, I’d love to hear them. There is so much more I have spoken to earlier, like the freedom to walk around and shop after dark and to be unassuming in the majority of life’s situations. It gets quite tiresome trying to calculate each person and each scenario all the time, so I have to be selective in this regard. I certainly don’t plan on loosing myself in this process. Just enhancing. That’s the short-listed nitty gritty. Maybe the rest will make their way to paper/screen eventually. (Oh yes, and enjoy the picture of "Cami" my room lizard. I named her to keep Venise from killing her, but we are pretty certain after Venise threw a shoe in her direction one night that she lost her tail, Just this week our building helper ushered her outside with a shower squeegee. I'm a bit sad over the lack of her presence in my room.)
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AuthorAshley J.E. Hull Archives
November 2017
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