This is the strangest and most entertaining conversation I've had in India so far. This occurred at the mini-mart next to office, while purchasing my afternoon Thums-Up soda (not a typo - there's just no b).
Cashier: "Which country are you from?"
Me: "I'm from the USA"
Cashier: "Oh.....you know about Monica Lewinsky?"
Me: "Uh, yeah, I know about her."
Cashier: "Yeah, she is BEAUTIFUL."
My first thought was, this is the last thing I expect someone to think of first when hearing "USA." My second thought was, who's first thought about Monica Lewinsky is "BEAUTIFUL!"? No joke, he said this with the utmost seriousness.
Cashier: "She had the affair with Bush, right?"
Me: "Nope, that was Bill Clinton. And that was about fifteen years ago."
Cashier: "Oh really? That long ago? And I thought it was Bush."
This is my diplomatic accomplishment - preserving the good name of George W. Bush. Who, as it turns out, many Indians seem to admire anyway. Fun fact.
Here's another conversation I've had many times over with the kids at school and at the orphanage, and it always goes in this order.
Kid: "What's you name?"
Me: "Elizabeth"
Kid: "How old are you?"
Me: "23"
Kid: "Are you married?"
Well, the answer to that is no. The first time I was asked this my reaction was more of a "Haha are you kidding, nooooo!" Since then I've gotten more used to the fact that I could very easily have been married for several years now if I had grown up here, and maybe even delivered a child or two, so its definitely not a strange question to ask.
I don't have too much more to update on right now. I think I'm (slowly) getting more settled and used to life here. I love going out to school on Fridays and working with the kids there. Its by far the best day of my week.
Last week I went to this great hill in Pune called Parvati Hill, which has five temples around the hill, along with the Peshwa Museum. The museum holds artifacts from the Maratha Empire of 1675 -1818, whose leaders were called Peshwas. Some brief Indian history for you! Funny story from our trip to that museum. I've seen plenty of people peeing on the side of the road in India at this point, but until going to this museum I hadn't seen anyone taking a public indoor leak. Some little girl decided she was going to make the floor her toilet, and her parents seemed to have no concern whatsoever about it. They just let it happen, and walked away, leaving a little pee pond for visitors to step around. Hygiene is much less of a concern here.
Here are some pictures from that excursion, and from school.
That's all for now!
Cashier: "Which country are you from?"
Me: "I'm from the USA"
Cashier: "Oh.....you know about Monica Lewinsky?"
Me: "Uh, yeah, I know about her."
Cashier: "Yeah, she is BEAUTIFUL."
My first thought was, this is the last thing I expect someone to think of first when hearing "USA." My second thought was, who's first thought about Monica Lewinsky is "BEAUTIFUL!"? No joke, he said this with the utmost seriousness.
Cashier: "She had the affair with Bush, right?"
Me: "Nope, that was Bill Clinton. And that was about fifteen years ago."
Cashier: "Oh really? That long ago? And I thought it was Bush."
This is my diplomatic accomplishment - preserving the good name of George W. Bush. Who, as it turns out, many Indians seem to admire anyway. Fun fact.
Here's another conversation I've had many times over with the kids at school and at the orphanage, and it always goes in this order.
Kid: "What's you name?"
Me: "Elizabeth"
Kid: "How old are you?"
Me: "23"
Kid: "Are you married?"
Well, the answer to that is no. The first time I was asked this my reaction was more of a "Haha are you kidding, nooooo!" Since then I've gotten more used to the fact that I could very easily have been married for several years now if I had grown up here, and maybe even delivered a child or two, so its definitely not a strange question to ask.
I don't have too much more to update on right now. I think I'm (slowly) getting more settled and used to life here. I love going out to school on Fridays and working with the kids there. Its by far the best day of my week.
Last week I went to this great hill in Pune called Parvati Hill, which has five temples around the hill, along with the Peshwa Museum. The museum holds artifacts from the Maratha Empire of 1675 -1818, whose leaders were called Peshwas. Some brief Indian history for you! Funny story from our trip to that museum. I've seen plenty of people peeing on the side of the road in India at this point, but until going to this museum I hadn't seen anyone taking a public indoor leak. Some little girl decided she was going to make the floor her toilet, and her parents seemed to have no concern whatsoever about it. They just let it happen, and walked away, leaving a little pee pond for visitors to step around. Hygiene is much less of a concern here.
Here are some pictures from that excursion, and from school.
That's all for now!
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