my life in india

Okay, so let me tell you everything about my life here. I'll post about specific experiences later. This is going to be a long one...

The orphanage

The orphanage consists of two main rooms, two smaller sleeping rooms, a kitchen, a supplies room, and the roof area. Not big whatsoever, and there are 78 kids staying there. At night, there is basically no walking space, just kids sleeping everywhere.

There are a few adults at the center who are paid to cook, and do random tasks. Unfortunately their English isn’t very good, so it is hard to communicate with them, but they are very friendly and helpful.

There are a few fans in the rooms, but it is still sweltering in there. The supplies room is very limited, and contains a small random assortment of basic medical supplies, story books, a few games, and pens/pencils/paper etc. That is to say, supplies are extremely limited.

My accommodations

I am staying down the street from the orphanage. I am a 15 minute walk away from the city center, so it’s a little bit less crowded here, but there is still a lot going on.

My place is actually quite pleasant. Quite pleasant indeed. It is solely for the volunteers, but I’m the only one here so I have it to myself. There is a fan (thank GOD), a fridge, a TV, a shower (really just a pipe coming out of the wall), and a small kitchen. The awesome thing is that I actually have a computer with internet here. Fuck YES.

There are an additional 14 kids staying above me, so that makes 93 kids total. Keep in mind that there are also about 25 kids at the orphanage’s old location, too! The kids upstairs aren’t actually in an apartment, it’s just an outdoor area with a roof; very basic. They are not allowed in my apartment, and they are keenly aware that this is a forbidden zone. This is by design, to give volunteers some personal space. Sophia said that if you let them in, they will all want to come in all the time, and you will never have a moment’s peace.

The center has a DVD player and they allow the kids to watch a DVD on the weekends, and during the week I can borrow it. They have chain stores here that sell pirated DVDs, and I have already bought a few of them, which go for 100 rupees, which is like $2.50.

The kids

The kids are absolutely fantastic. I was actually afraid that they wouldn’t like me, but ohhhhhhhh no. They cannot get enough of me. They are around me all the time, and I mean ALL THE TIME. Every time I need to go into the supplies room, whether it is to pick out a book or give a kid a bandaid, I have to lock the door or I will get kids billowing in trying to be near me. They even fight over who gets to hold my hand when we walk down the street! True story.

Lemme tell you, these kids are really freaking cute. I have studied there cuteness levels, and the statistics are off the charts. I even had to bring a specialist in to confirm the results. Karen, if you were here, your head would explode. Fact.

The kids have so little, and want anything at all that they can hold in their hands. They will beg me for half an hour for a pen, and will guilt trip me beyond belief. “Oh please uncle, oh PLEASE uncle, I NEED a black pen. Please, I need it.” And if I give one of them a black pen, it is a moral outrage if they don’t all get black pens.

Communication is difficult. They know basic English and learn it in school, but it is still hard to understand them. I’m getting by though, and I’m sure I will get better at communicating with them as time goes on.

I have two main concerns with these children. The first is health. For one thing, many of them, if not most, have boils. Some have a lot of boils on their heads and they have to shave their heads. I am very worried about infections too, as some wounds go untreated. I bought some Neosporin, and am going to try and make that the standard for treating wounds since there are numerous opportunities for infections. Fever seems to be very common, and it certainly doesn’t help that they are recovering in a sweltering room.

The other thing is their education. For the ones falling behind, it is very difficult for them to get the constant attention and help they need. At night, I’m trying to help 93 kids with their homework; not an easy task. I saw that a previous volunteer was working on a piece of paper describing each kid’s status in school, their specific educational needs, and how best to help them. I will try to locate the other records to aid in my teaching.

Chennai

Chennai is alright, but is very busy and hectic, with a lot of pollution. There isn’t a whole lot to do there, but it is the place to go to get supplies, get a nicer meal, etc. Chennai is not a tourist city at all, which is very little that caters to tourists and you really get to see how people live around here.

There is a mall called Spencer Plaza that is one of the trippiest places I’ve ever been to. It is a giant maze, and is not recommended if you suffer from claustrophobia. Actually that’s their motto, written in big letters out front. The mall has all these different areas and is very crowded, and just twists and turns into oblivion. Seriously that place is going to haunt me in my dreams for years to come.

One problem about Chennai and the surrounding area is that it is the driest place in the world. In fact, the only place to get a beer is at the expensive hotels. Which I will be going to next weekend.

Kanchipuram

Kanchipuram is a smaller town, but I say that only in comparison to Chennai, as there are a fucking shit ton of people here. The streets are teeming with life (finally, a chance to use the word “teeming”). When I go out in the morning, there are people weaving on enormous looms that span two houses, women balancing giant jugs of food or water on their heads, bicycles and motorbikes and autorickshaws whizzing through everyone, cows lingering about…it’s pretty much what you would imagine life here to be like, but actually being here and seeing it all overwhelms your senses.

The kids in the town are anxious to meet me. They run up to me and say “what is your name?” or “where from?” The adults, on the other hand, are not as welcoming, for the most part. They give me a look as if to say “what’s up WHITEY.” The ones who do approach me are very friendly, though. One woman even invited me in to her house to eat (I couldn’t because we were on our way out).

I haven’t gone to any of the famous temples here yet, because they are on the other side of town. I won’t be able to see them for a while because during the week I am busy from 8 in the morning to 10 at night, with a two hour break, and next weekend I will be going into Chennai.

Animals

Dogs. I have discovered that, left to their own devices, dogs are filthy, dirty, mangy, bug ridden creatures that I wouldn’t touch with a biohazard suit on. They seem happy enough, though – they prance around with big smiles, eating whatever scraps they can find, and napping in shady spots.

Cows. They are everywhere. They are different from cows in America though, as they are much smaller and skinnier. I guess if they’re not being fattened up for the slaughterhouse, they will look different. Often, the horns on steers are painted, and they will sometimes put jingly things on them. I’m going to start naming the ones that live next to my house. I am currently accepting suggestions.

Goats. Lots of goats. Goats go baaah.

Cats. Not too many of them, but the ones I’ve seen meow like it’s going out of style. Really cute, but like dogs, I’m not about to touch some goddamn filthy street cat and get the plague.

Elephants. I saw a real live elephant yesterday, just walking down the street along with all the other vehicles. It was fairly small, and it’s trunk had been painted with a really interesting design. I don’t know what it was up to. I assume it was peanut related.

Money

There are about 40 rupees to one dollar. The dollar goes FAR over here. The funny thing is, you start to get used to their system, and you’ll be like 60 rupees, forget it but really that’s $1.50. A bottle of water at the corner stand nearby is 13 rupees, a bus into Chennai (~1.5 hours) is 25 rupees, and meals at nicer restaurants in Chennai will go for maybe 100 rupees.

Food

As expected, the food here is very different from the Indian food we get at home, but it is very good. I get three meals a day from the orphanage, and what they give me is different from what they give the kids. The kids get rice for breakfast, rice for lunch, and rice with sauce for dinner. Sometimes they get these soft rice patties instead of rice. The other adults and I get a variety of things, like chapattis, curried vegetables, rice with a yogurt tomato sauce, etc. They give me a lot of food, more than I can usually eat.

Today (Sunday), we took the kids to the school grounds to play. The school fed everyone – everyone was lined up down the edge of the building in the shade, and we were each given a banana leaf, on which they put rice, curried chicken, a different type of curried chicken, and some sort of onion lentil thing that was delicious. For orphanage meals, you always eat with your hands (actually just your right hand).

The bananas here are these mini bananas (I call them minanas, ha!), and are sweet and delicious.

Going out to eat, I have only gone to nice restaurants, which is really worth it. The nice restaurants will cost you $6-7 dollars for a full meal and a bottle of water, and you definitely want to be on the safe side when it comes to food, plus I’m only eating out occasionally so it’s definitely worth it.

The coffee here is great! It’s not coffee in the traditional sense though. It’s hot milk mixed with some coffee substance and sugar, and they do this thing where they mix it between cups and it comes out all frothy and sweet and ever so tasty.

Oh man, a half hour ago I went to a store to pick up some things, and they were selling a candy bar made by Cadbury that I thought would be a crunchie – even though it was called something else, it had very similar packaging. Turned out to not only be something else, but had obviously been in that case for a while, and had the grody white stuff on it and was chewy, but like in a bad way. One of the most disappointing food experiences ever.

Anyway, I have been overly cautious about eating here to make sure I don’t get sick. I haven’t bought any food from the numerous street shops yet, only packaged snacks and whatnot. I will start to branch out more though, because I really want to sample the local sweets. And judge them harshly.