There are some things about living in a different country that start to get to you. For instance, this is supposed to be vegetarian heaven. Every menu has a veg and non-veg option. However, what they don't tell you is the fact that all the veg options are either deep friend potatoes or chinese noodles covered in soy sauce. There is one dish, the samosa pav, that the college's canteen serves. It is absolutely amazing (which is the bad part). Inside the samosa is a mixture of potatoes with cauliflower or sometimes peas. Then, that mixture is fried in a triangle shaped dough. What makes it even better is they put it inside a fluffy, buttery bread roll. You never have to worry about carbs in India!
There is another thing about India that Tess and I find ourselves venting about a lot. In all honesty, we didn't really come to India to sit in a classroom. We came to learn from our experiences, which we have. Yet, we are finding ourselves stuck in the classroom more and more each day. At first, it wasn't so bad. Then, in February, they added two more classes for the international students. One of those teachers started in the middle of February. Now, she still expects to get her 45 hours in although she started the class 6 weeks late. That means Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we are sitting in our Hindi class. I want to learn the language but not at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Not to mention, my mind can't comprehend anything at that time let alone a complicated foreign language.
So, things get added and changed in India constantly. We think we are going to go for dinner... Nope. There is another gender violence workshop you have to attend at 6:30 Friday evening. We think we have the time to run some errands and buy groceries... Nope. We have to go to an afternoon workshop. We think we are going to continue to have free afternoons... Nope. We have four extra classes this week. A class gets canceled and we are excited for the break... Nope. He decides to have a make up class on Saturday. (I don't understand these Saturday classes. Weekends are a foreign concept to Indians).
If any of you know Tess, she is extremely organized and punctual. She hates it when I'm three minutes late for something. So, you can imagine how frustrated this makes her. No schedule. No time limit. I'm the more laid back, free-spirit type, and the inconsistency in India even drives me a little bonkers sometimes. However, you do have to respect their culture. Indian Standard Time means you can officially be 40 minutes late for something and not get penalized. It's just a part of their everyday life.
There is another thing about India that Tess and I find ourselves venting about a lot. In all honesty, we didn't really come to India to sit in a classroom. We came to learn from our experiences, which we have. Yet, we are finding ourselves stuck in the classroom more and more each day. At first, it wasn't so bad. Then, in February, they added two more classes for the international students. One of those teachers started in the middle of February. Now, she still expects to get her 45 hours in although she started the class 6 weeks late. That means Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we are sitting in our Hindi class. I want to learn the language but not at 7:30 on a Saturday morning. Not to mention, my mind can't comprehend anything at that time let alone a complicated foreign language.
So, things get added and changed in India constantly. We think we are going to go for dinner... Nope. There is another gender violence workshop you have to attend at 6:30 Friday evening. We think we have the time to run some errands and buy groceries... Nope. We have to go to an afternoon workshop. We think we are going to continue to have free afternoons... Nope. We have four extra classes this week. A class gets canceled and we are excited for the break... Nope. He decides to have a make up class on Saturday. (I don't understand these Saturday classes. Weekends are a foreign concept to Indians).
If any of you know Tess, she is extremely organized and punctual. She hates it when I'm three minutes late for something. So, you can imagine how frustrated this makes her. No schedule. No time limit. I'm the more laid back, free-spirit type, and the inconsistency in India even drives me a little bonkers sometimes. However, you do have to respect their culture. Indian Standard Time means you can officially be 40 minutes late for something and not get penalized. It's just a part of their everyday life.
I hate to admit this, but I never realized how important a planner and clock were to me.
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