Hello!!
I'm realizing more and more every day how many of you actually check in on my blog...it motivates me more to continue updating it. I think this every week thing is working out well :) It's so hard to commit to detailing my experiences here when so many truly indescribable things happen to me on a daily basis. It's both hard to process and even harder to record sometimes.
Anyway, we leave for the foothills of the Himalayas tomorrow morning! We come back on Tuesday. I'm excited for a break and some nature. There's so much "city" here- noise, dirt, people- I'm looking forward to getting away.
Two nights ago my roommates and I made dinner for our host family! I (I did a lot of it) made STIR FRY- my absolute favorite meal ever to both eat and make. It's "winter" here and things that are in season are snap peas, green bell peppers, onions, garlic, broccoli, mushrooms, green beans, carrots, and eggplants. It's like the farmers market in JULY! I was in heaven the first time I walked by the nearby vegetable market. Seriously, heaven. So when I found out that Arundhati (our host mom) had soy sauce, I was all over it. And guess what? They loved it! I was so happy. Arundhati also wants us to teach her how to make pasta (because she claims she's not very good at it) as well as banana bread. Two very simple things that we are excited to teach her how to make. And that also means that we'll be getting a taste of home too, which is much needed here sometimes.
Another thing on my list of things to write about tonight are the EXTREMES here. We encounter such major extremes every day and it's exhausting! For example, we go to the shopping mall, a movie, or to school and I feel like I'm in the US, but I walk outside and there are beggars and street vendors and temples 20 feet away. There's no happy medium! Another example- I'm either privileged and honored (like at school) because I'm white or I'm treated like crap by taxi drivers, shop owners, or men in general. Can't I be normal?! That's one thing that I'm getting used to, but still unnerves me sometimes- we just cannot blend in. Everywhere we go we get stared at. I was shopping with one of my Indian friends yesterday (yes I've made Indian friends) and she said- don't you get sick of everyone staring? And I realized that I don't even notice it anymore. So strange.
I got henna, called mehndi here, the other day on my hand! I'm pretty pumped about it. Hindu brides traditionally get them for their wedding! But now, anyone can do it. The darker it is on your skin, the more your husband will love you (apparently). But I do have to say, my mehndi is pretttty dark :) It stays on for about 2 weeks. I'm including a picture of my hand.
Okay it's time for me to go to bed! We have to get to the airport tomorrow morning pretty early for our one hour flight to the foothills of the Himalayas. The place we are going is called Chilapata- if you wanted to google it.
I'll update more when I come back. I love you all!
Elizabeth
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