India - Day 3

Today began with me waking up and being told to quicly put my clothes on, because the maid refused to come in otherwise (I slept in underwear and I was initially not given a blanket to cover myself while sleeping). We then had breakfast after which I was taken to an hour long ride with Tom to see the school.

The school was located in the outskirts of the city. On the way, there were cartboard tents that people were living in. The school itself was actually quite nice, but heavily packed - 4 classrooms + a small computer class with 5 computers. Classrooms were all quite small (maybe 5 by 4 meters) and one of them had around 60 students sitting on the floor. I imagine I was quite a scary sight for them, both with my weird clothes, hair and of course height. Tom wanted a picture with me and one of the smaller girls. The girl was clearly terrified.. but I couldnt calm her down either, as the children are native Telugu speakers and are only learning english. After that I had a brief look at the computers there. Three were in quite good shape (although I had to install shortcuts of MS Office to the start menu in one of them - something they were unable to do themselves :) ) and I did not have time to look at the other two as Tom already wanted to get going.

We returned, at whcih point Tom and Dave made themselves ham and eggs. I did not join them but instead decided to check out the chinese place Tom had mentioned the day before, and also go shopping for more appropriate clothing. Tom had shown me to a store that was quite upscale by local standards but where I managed to get myself a robe, a shirt and pants, all from natural cotton, for 1700 Rb (about 425 EEK). It is somewhat strange they carried my size (and even larger, actually) since all the natives are quite short, as I mentioned before. The chinese was quite good, although a bit too spicy (too much red pepper).

I came back and read a book. In the evening, the gang of assistants came yet again and this time Tom asked them to move the furniture around a bit so that the laptops would all fit on the tables. What followed was an hour long cleaning and reorganizing session during which a lifting bench got carried to the balkony, all the computers were moved around and the apartment got a whole new look, much nicer than before.

After the evening meal (pasta with tomato sauce), I decided to go out walking. I headed downtown to see what the natives do at night.
The streets at night look very similar to those in china. Lots of small shops and eating places. Less motorbike repair shops though. Also, I saw a cow not at all far from one of the central shopping streets. Maarja would probably like this place, though, because it definately has an atmosphere.. People are very helpful, but not at all pushy. For instance, it seems that bargaining is not standard practice here (unlike in China where it seemed kind of mandatory).

A few words about traffic, which I have gotten quite used to by now. Everyone is sounding the horn quite often, and it is usually done for a reason. When I asked Tom whether there were any traffic rules, he replied - "Yes, of course there are. Do not mess with anyone heavier than you (a.k.a. Bus drivers can do what they want)". This is definately the case here - rikshas and mopeds will usually not try to run you over, but cars and buses are best let to pass. I would, however, say that the main rule in play seems to be "Live and let live". One has to use every opening available to him in order to move forward, but these openings do generally generate themselves (the "let live" part). The traffic here is the perfect metaphore for flow - complete chaos, but in a relaxed kind of way. Im actually enjoying it more than the traffic in the western world.. it seems a lot more natural. Probably because it is.

I have yet to see anything ressembling either a casino or a night club and to be honest, I suspect not many of them would be around. As I understand from Tom and Dave, the culture here is such that the equivalent of a word "Lover" probably does not exist. So - any of my friends secretly hoping I would find someone here can probably forget about it. I still kind of miss the one person back home but my mind is generally occupied with other matters, thankfully.