Marble and Monsoons

I am approaching 90 days in India and can say without a doubt that if I had to make the decision again, knowing then what I know now: I absolutely would do it again! And I would not worry about some of the things that plagued my thoughts as I planned the trip. One of the items that I focused on the most was getting malaria from a mosquito bite. I have been outside quite a bit, travelled to 4 cities, and have never experienced one bite. (And if you are bitten, the chance is low that it will be a carrier.) Of course I do wear a lot of long sleeves. I have played it a bit fast and loose as far as not applying insect repellant and probably should do this more, as of course the risk is there. I worried about the potential of contracting rabies. I laugh about this a LOT now. I have been in public places where doors are propped open and dogs have wandered inside. A guy joked with me last week that the sleeping dog in his pharmacy was “for protection”. The street dogs in India are quite fascinating to see now. (How they don’t dart into the road, yet rather run alongside it.) I used to worry that I would see a dog get hit, and now my logic is “That dog is fully grown, and has been running these streets longer than I have been here. Today is probably not his day to get hit by a car!” I worried about not being able to eat an apple or any vegetables for a year. Everyone who counseled me back home (rightly so) just wanted to be sure I was cautious and safe. As I was preparing to leave, health professionals would read the literature to me and say “Only eat fruits that you can peel” (while making a peeling gesture with their hands (as I do as well!)). I could only think of bananas, as that is what they looked like they were peeling. Haha. I am able to eat apples and salads almost every day! I worried about Delhi Belly….getting sick from food or water that my system is not acclimated to, not having grown up in India. My life has not been disrupted from sickness once, yet. Everyone said “don’t eat any street food”. The first week I was here, I had a pastry puff from an outside vendor while attending a church service with a colleague. I also had sugarcane juice from another vendor, pictured above. Both tasted fabulous (think STATE FAIR) and no food fears were founded! You have to make your own decisions on these things. (Look at volume of people buying, examine a bit what is going on, obviously, but as long as it is not a lone vendor who has food that appears to have been “out” for a while, and many others are eating it, I tend to not be so scared.) You will have to “go with your gut” if you are ever in India for the first time. Some of the best food is considered “street food”. I worried about safety on the streets. Bangalore is so crowded, that I have never really felt unsafe. Of course, I do not venture down side streets alone, and only use ATMs in daytime, with someone with me, etc. Keeping my surroundings constantly in the forefront if I am walking, etc. I worried about being alone in a huge city with no one to talk to. This has been completely unfounded, as I have fabulous colleagues from India and other countries that are always available. I have met some of the most fun people that I am positive I will know for life. Just today, I laughed with a colleague as we prepared some materials until I almost cried. And I talk to the driver….even if he does not speak English. I hear some key words like “TV” or “crowded” and just talk back like I understand. He continues to talk back and so basically we are talking to ourselves, while in each other’s company. At times we even crack ourselves up.

I have analyzed it, and the ways in which I am (personally) most likely to bite the dust in Bangalore include trying to cross a busy street as a pedestrian, falling off a step (they are often dark materials or stone with no apparent “edge”) or….. slipping on the many outside marble surfaces during the rainy monsoon season, which is occurring now. There are many outdoor surfaces that are simply beautiful grades of marble or some kind of slippery stone. When it rains, and you begin walking fast on the dirt or paved road to get to cover, and then hit that marble surface...I have almost gone down 3 or 4 times...And I never worried about marble before coming to Bangalore.