I have been travelling back and forth to Mundgod and then onward to Tibetian settlement for the last week and it is very tiring to travel over 2 hours each direction.
At the same time, I can hardly believe that I've been on the road for almost a month. It certainly has gone quickly.
My couchsurfing hosts have been amazing, and my current host was so worried that I couldn't stay in contact with him and everyone else that he bought me a android smart phone. I originally insisted that I get a phone because they are so cheap here and sois the time and EVERYONE communicates that way here. I told him that we should go out one day and purchase one and if he could help me. He instead surprised me the for Christmas with one. I insisted on trying to pay him but he was upset that I would even suggest such a thing. So I thanked him profusely.
Now, I have to figured this thing out. EEK!
Siddu has more or less left me in this one bedroom apartment to use by myself. He drops in every couple of days to see if I am okay, and to drink a couple of beers, 'cause he can't do that at home, 'cause the neighbors would talk! Really a paradox.
I went to beauty parlor yesterday and absolutely all the young girls came in and watched me being waxed...kinda disturbing but they were certainly curious and one of the young girls said that my English is very different then theirs. YES IT IS! I have to talk very slowly to even be partly understood. Another young woman asked me why I was so white...I laughed and said I was born that way. Then I smiled and said why are you so brown? She laughed and we shared a moment.
It is true, I can't hide. I'm like an exotic bird here. When I get a particularly amazing gawk I sometimes say, Yup, you weren't expecting that were you?
In a primarily Hindi country I wasn't expecting people to take the time off around Christmas, but surprise surprise the whole country is taking holidays from the 24 of December to about the 4 of January. This is causing me booking problems for the train. I would perfer to book a train than to take a bus. Most of the buses travel at night and after my last washing machine experience, I would like to pass.
So Siddu tried to book an onward ticket for me to go to Mysore on the 3rd of January. He went to the website and there was nothing available and there were people wait listed.
Today I went down to the train station. They have a line for JUST women...but wait a minute why are all the men in the line??? Okay I get in line with a foreigner from France and wechat a bit.
Every train station operates differently and so there is one guy at the front of the line and there is me. I get to the front and ask about the train, the woman tells me to get the train number from the first kiosk and then come back. I do this but when I return there is one guy in the front of theline and there are three women behind him. I get in behind him and then I turn to the women and ask them is this not the EXCLUSIVELY ladies line? The raise their eyebrows at me and nod. I ask the man in front of me what he is doing in the line. He says that he is getting a ticket for his wife. I DON'T think so. So now I have three other women in line and he is trying to get some solace from another guy trying to bump the line. I point to the sign : Exclusively Ladies, Senior Citizens and Disabled. I ask him if he is a senior citizen....so he finally backs away. Just at the same time they close the wicket for 15 minutes. He turns to me and tells me this. I say I can wait 15 minutes. He leaves but then wants to return to the front of line. I say to him are you a gentleman? He says yes. I say good then you can wait until the ladies are done. The women start to talk to me. One of the younger ladies calls her aunty and tries to butt in front. I say you can wait your turn. So eventually when the wicket reopened I got my ticket, made some friends, 'cause there were other men in line at that time and so I asked another lady to step forward. I spoke to the man behind the wicket why there were men in this line and he said he wouldn't serve them. Yah right...until I left...HA! But the ladies did say that they happen to be subservient...I said to them maybe that needs to change a little...hmmmm?
It is extremely disconcerting when you are at the front of athe line and a man or men just push you away. I am getting with it and pushing back. They say that you are supposed to stand your ground here as a woman, so I guess I need to get with it.
At the same time, I can hardly believe that I've been on the road for almost a month. It certainly has gone quickly.
My couchsurfing hosts have been amazing, and my current host was so worried that I couldn't stay in contact with him and everyone else that he bought me a android smart phone. I originally insisted that I get a phone because they are so cheap here and sois the time and EVERYONE communicates that way here. I told him that we should go out one day and purchase one and if he could help me. He instead surprised me the for Christmas with one. I insisted on trying to pay him but he was upset that I would even suggest such a thing. So I thanked him profusely.
Now, I have to figured this thing out. EEK!
Siddu has more or less left me in this one bedroom apartment to use by myself. He drops in every couple of days to see if I am okay, and to drink a couple of beers, 'cause he can't do that at home, 'cause the neighbors would talk! Really a paradox.
I went to beauty parlor yesterday and absolutely all the young girls came in and watched me being waxed...kinda disturbing but they were certainly curious and one of the young girls said that my English is very different then theirs. YES IT IS! I have to talk very slowly to even be partly understood. Another young woman asked me why I was so white...I laughed and said I was born that way. Then I smiled and said why are you so brown? She laughed and we shared a moment.
It is true, I can't hide. I'm like an exotic bird here. When I get a particularly amazing gawk I sometimes say, Yup, you weren't expecting that were you?
In a primarily Hindi country I wasn't expecting people to take the time off around Christmas, but surprise surprise the whole country is taking holidays from the 24 of December to about the 4 of January. This is causing me booking problems for the train. I would perfer to book a train than to take a bus. Most of the buses travel at night and after my last washing machine experience, I would like to pass.
So Siddu tried to book an onward ticket for me to go to Mysore on the 3rd of January. He went to the website and there was nothing available and there were people wait listed.
Today I went down to the train station. They have a line for JUST women...but wait a minute why are all the men in the line??? Okay I get in line with a foreigner from France and wechat a bit.
Every train station operates differently and so there is one guy at the front of the line and there is me. I get to the front and ask about the train, the woman tells me to get the train number from the first kiosk and then come back. I do this but when I return there is one guy in the front of theline and there are three women behind him. I get in behind him and then I turn to the women and ask them is this not the EXCLUSIVELY ladies line? The raise their eyebrows at me and nod. I ask the man in front of me what he is doing in the line. He says that he is getting a ticket for his wife. I DON'T think so. So now I have three other women in line and he is trying to get some solace from another guy trying to bump the line. I point to the sign : Exclusively Ladies, Senior Citizens and Disabled. I ask him if he is a senior citizen....so he finally backs away. Just at the same time they close the wicket for 15 minutes. He turns to me and tells me this. I say I can wait 15 minutes. He leaves but then wants to return to the front of line. I say to him are you a gentleman? He says yes. I say good then you can wait until the ladies are done. The women start to talk to me. One of the younger ladies calls her aunty and tries to butt in front. I say you can wait your turn. So eventually when the wicket reopened I got my ticket, made some friends, 'cause there were other men in line at that time and so I asked another lady to step forward. I spoke to the man behind the wicket why there were men in this line and he said he wouldn't serve them. Yah right...until I left...HA! But the ladies did say that they happen to be subservient...I said to them maybe that needs to change a little...hmmmm?
It is extremely disconcerting when you are at the front of athe line and a man or men just push you away. I am getting with it and pushing back. They say that you are supposed to stand your ground here as a woman, so I guess I need to get with it.
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