India Part 2--Random Observations

India is a beautiful country. It's so amazing to be here and see so much of what the U.S.A. doesn't have and doesn't look like. There is so much to be learned from a country considered "Second World". There are also some not so great things that make me realize how blessed we are in America. Here's a list of some random things I've noticed while being here:

-  These people are hard workers. I mean HARD workers. In the scorching heat you will see people all around you working hard, whether in the fields, in the markets, in construction, at home. They take pride in their work and they do a phenomenal job.

- They are awesome at carrying things on their heads. I've seen old women carrying buckets of water on their heads up hills. I saw a man carrying a sack of rice on his head up a flight of stairs. This was no puny sack of rice, this was a Costco jumbo sized sack of rice, on his head. No hands. How his neck didn't break, or he didn't fall backwards, I don't know.

- They are all so helpful. People are always willing to help give directions and are so friendly when passing each other on the streets. I feel like in America we are always looking down at our iphones and ipods we seldom look up. They look up here. It makes a difference.

- I can't decide if they are awesome drivers or awful drivers. Don't get me wrong. The"rules"of the roads are beyond ridiculous. Lanes mean nothing. They just drive. Wherever. Whenever. But, somehow, I have yet to see an accident. How they don't hit every motorcycle, pedestrian, and cow coming at them is a mystery to me.

- Guys hold hands here. Straight guys. Buddies walking down the street or standing in line at the movie theater--totally normal.

- One rupee is worth basically nothing right now. So if you give 10 rupees at a tollbooth and the price is 9 rupees they give you a piece of candy back instead of 1 rupee. I like that kind of math. Equation: If it costs 9 rupees and you give me 10, how much should I give you back? A piece of candy.

- Has PETA visited India? Pretty sure I saw a pig in a ditch on the side of the road with his legs and feet tied together today. He was alive. I am traumatized.

- Slurpees? It's this hot and you don't have Slurpees? Ok, maybe they do somewhere. But, I miss being able to drink water from my fridge, or sink, or buy a fountain drink with ice. Everything we drink has to be from a bottle or boiled and then cooled because no chances can be taken. Clean water from a tap? America is a blessed country.

- Poverty. It's not like the guy standing on the side of the freeway everyday with a sign that says "Will work for pot". It's real. It's 5 year old girls with no shoes and tattered clothes and dirty hair. It's an old man missing a limb or two with no family around to take care of him. It's thick, it's heavy, it's real.

- White people are a rare occurrence here. Strangers will stare. Hard. And they will ask to take a picture with you. They will even hand you their tiny baby, trusting you won't run for the hills with it. I think Owen feels like he is Brad Pitt right now.

- Did I mention it's beautiful here? It is. It's every shade of green you never knew existed. It's so vibrant you can taste and smell the colors.

- People are people wherever you go. America and India could be polar opposites of each other, and at the heart of the country is the people. And the heart of people is always the same. We all celebrate, we all grieve. We all have mountaintops, we all have valleys.

We can live thousands of miles and continents apart. We can be so different and lead such different lives with different priorities and different strengths and weaknesses  And yet. When you strip us down to the core of who we are, we couldn't be anymore the same.