I had some trouble with my ATM card so I couldn’t withdraw any money since I’ve been in India. Unfortunately, that meant that I couldn’t get on internet for the last couple of days, and therefore meant no e-mails. So, I’m sending this short e-mail out to let you know that my money issues have been solved and I should be back on track with regular e-mails from here on out.
This festival season seems like it’s never going to end. You would think that I would welcome it, but unfortunately all of the festivities have made it difficult to do any work. In Vizag these festivals aren’t exactly grand experiences. Some of the villages have cock fights, but other than that there isn’t much fanfare surrounding the harvest. Mostly, all the shops are closed and everyone that I would be interested in working with is drunk. So, I’ve been staying at home wishing for something to do besides studying language and reading books about my project.
On that note, this language thing is hard. Telugu has cases, just like Latin and Greek, which makes it silly. Apparently, it’s supposed to become quite intuitive, but to me it just feels like more work. Hopefully, I’ll get it before I leave, but I’m not exactly counting on it. I am getting closer to reading Telugu though. Lots of people on the program aren’t really interested in being literate in Telugu, but I feel like it’s the most likely way that I’ll be able to keep up my Telugu after I leave India (although I understand that the chances of that happening are still small).
It’s heating up here, and I’m regretting having brought jeans. I have no idea what the temperatures have been, because no one has thermometers here, but it’s been on the lower end of unpleasant and I’m starting to sweat during the day when there isn’t a fan on. It’s still in the middle of winter though, and it’s only going to get much much hotter. I’ll probably end up buying some lighter clothes before to long.
I feel like India is lacking artisans. Everything that you see for sale by street vendors looks cheaply made and mass produced, and I’m holding out on buying things until I find something that I think will last and be worthwhile. Those things may be more expensive, but I think that in the end I would just rather have something nice instead of something that looks like a 10 year old in a factory airbrushed it in 2 minutes. We’ll see what I eventually find, but I may just have to resort to buying things that are subpar. Sorry Katie, but your Christmas present might not be coming from India after all.
However, I feel like living in India is going to make me a miser. Everything is SOOO cheap here. If something is significantly above 500 rupees then I’m thinking, “why on Earth would I spend that kind of money?” 450 rupees is only 10 dollars, but it feels like so much more. It also makes haggling more of a hassle because I really don’t care about 10 rupees difference (about 20 cents worth), but I feel obligated to haggle so that people don’t get the impression that white people are easy to take advantage of. Haggling just isn’t something that I’ve ever enjoyed. If it’s worth 30 rupees today it should be worth 30 rupees tomorrow.
Justin
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