After the past few frustrating days, today I realized why I came here. A few student were assigned to help me yesterday. Nikita and Ruchi both just returned to India from a semester at Carleton. They loved it there! They were an incredible help yesterday showing me campus and getting me a sim card. After a frustrating evening yesterday with the real estate broker, it dawned on me that he may not have my best interest and it is going to be frustrating finding a suitable place to live. I messaged Nikita this and she told me it will be fine we will start looking tomorrow. Today Nikita comes to school with a list of flats near by. She called all of them along with help from her friends Reeshma and another Nikita. We got confirmation that we can view some places right away. Reeshma and other Nikita hope on their 2 wheeler (vespa) and I go with Nikita on hers. One of the best experiences I have ever had. It was very freeing being so vulnerable to everything. Traffic in India is not like it is back in Canada. I would describe it like snowboard. You are responsible for not hitting the people in front of you. The people behind you are responsible for not hitting you. There is a lot of honking so that you are letting people know when you are passing them or just making them aware of your presence. It is loud hot and crowded. Unlike anything I have ever experienced. Its not the same in a rickshaw. In a rickshaw you are very closed in and it takes effort to see your surroundings. It was just a great way to get around the city for the day. No luck finding any apartments today, however, tomorrow is a new day. Reeshma was kind enough to drop me off near my hotel (which is quite a distance from campus, 40 min away.) She dropped me off about a 5 minute walk from the hotel. On this walk the cutest little girl was asking for money. She couldn't have been older than 4. I was told before coming here not to give money to anyone. She followed me for a little asking and smiling and just being all cute and everything. I kept saying "sorry I don't have anything." After a while I caved, I had to give her 2 rupees (which isn't a lot.) I wish there was something more I could do but the reality is this is going to be everywhere here. It was just difficult to not be able to do anything. Maybe it will get easier...
I encountered this all day every day when I was in Africa and it never gets much easier. Unfortunately most of the kids I came across didn't even really understand why they needed the money, we usually found their parents around the corner sending them out to ask because they were so cute.
ReplyDeleteBecause you already stand out like crazy and are advised to not dish out money, we started carrying around stickers, little toys and granola bars to give to the kids that made them happy but didn't pose much risk.
Hope your having a great time!! :)