At the end of my year in India which has gone by surprisingly fast, I am looking back at the little things that are so different than America. These things have now become normal to me, whereas I'm sure the usual things in Aspen will shock me when I come back in a month.
1. Eating with hands instead of silverware.
2. Drinking water without touching lips to the glass or bottle.
3. Men hold hands and touch (although they are not gay)
4. Men peeing and spitting on the roads.
5. Mattresses are made from coconut fiber.
6. Boiling milk before drinking it. This creates a skin on top which we have to blow away when pouring the milk. Then there are still chunks of solidified milk and skin floating around.
7. Animals in the road, just chillin. Donkeys, cows, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats are the regulars.
8. Transportation for things such as sugarcane and other loads by ox carts.
9. The best meals are the cheapest ones. (My favorite meal was my school lunch which was about 25 cents)
10. In the summer there is always a fan or the A/C on.
11. Indians love their A/C whether it's 100 degrees or 60 and raining.
12. Spicy pizza and pasta.
13. Lack of appliances such as dishwashers, dryers, ovens.
14. Very little of their food is processed. Most of it is made fresh every day by the cooks.
15. Servants and the Caste system. The motto here is basically, "why do it if you don't have to?"
16. Lack of exercise. Indians don't hardly ever work out. But many of them go on short walks around the neighborhood at night.
17. Male-female relations- for the most part non-existent.
18. Arranged marriage is the norm. I know people who get married at age 18 to a guy they've never met before even though they are in love with their boyfriend/girlfriend. (A concept my mom really likes)
19. Any couple, married or not, abstains from any form of a public display of affection.
20. Mehendi. Usually for weddings and other occasions they will put henna in traditional designs on the hands and sometimes feet. I just learned how to put it.
21. The wealthier residents of India live in "colonies" which are gated communities that provide a safe environment.
22. Dancing does not mean grinding. Indians truly know how to dance with expression and have a great time moving every part of the body and spirit.
23. All Indian music comes from the movies. There aren't independent artists or albums or concerts.
24. In one religion - Sikhism- the men don't cut their hair. Period. They fold their beards under their chins and wear turbans.
25. People are not allowed to walk in the hills without a guide because of all the dangerous animals. But when we walk the only animals we see are birds and ants.
26. They put elephants in some Hindu temples to "bless" people who give it money. The person holds out a few rupees the elephant will take it with it's trunk then touch it's trunk to your forehead. A terrifying new experience!
27. Computers are a commodity. Many schools and most offices don't have them. The Police commissioner's office didn't have a computer, instead there were three or four rooms filled with paperwork.
28. Many upper class women don't work.
29. Many lower class women are employed at construction sites. They carry rocks, bricks, sand, etc. in baskets on their heads.
30. Respect is very important here, and people who are in higher positions absolutely demand it.
31. The color of one's skin is very important. As it is considered hot to be tan in the US, it is considered beautiful to be as light as possible here. They even have a brand of skin cremes called Fair and Lovely.
32. Nose rings are considered beautiful and worn by the majority of women (especially in the North). It used to be a sign of marriage.
33. Instead of engagement and wedding rings, the women wear gold chain around their necks.
34. Indian women wear bindis and when they are married they have a mark of red powder in the center of their forehead at the hair line, or at the hollow in their throat.
35. Tupperware hardly exists. Food doesn't keep for long, so there's no point. To store things they have metal containers. The problem with these is you have to open each one to find what you're looking for.
36. Soda here is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
37. People are classified as Veg or Non-Veg depending on their diet.
38. It is inappropriate to show much skin, especially in the South. Modesty is very important. It will be difficult to go back home and wear even soccer shorts.
39. They don't have sweet food for breakfast.
40. There are very few baked goods. Cookies come from factories only.
41. They put eyeliner and black circles on the cheek to ward off bad spirits from babies and toddlers.
42. Men drink a lot, especially when they get together. It is a rare woman who will have a drink.
43. There is a thing called paan which is like tobacco chew and is chewed by people generally in the lower class. It turns the inside of the mouth red and rots the teeth. However, it is also eaten sometimes at the end of a meal and is considered a digestive thing.
44. Michael Jackson, Justin Beiber, and Hannah Montana are hugely loved by the Indian population.
45. Every day there is a power outage for two or three hours.
46. The roads aren't cleaned, and are generally littered with trash. Although this is getting better in some of the larger cities.
47. North Indians and South Indians are very different. In the south they are very conservative whereas in the North there are more big cities with a lot of Western influence.
48. Each state has it's own language and therefore each has it's own little Bollywood. Bollywood is actually Hindi movies. Kollywood is for movies in Tamil.
49. Cars are stick shift and are driven on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. Driving in India is mostly about honking. They honk every time they go around a corner, coming up on another car, turning, just ate lunch, are in a bad mood, just feel like it, etc. It's almost like another language. "honk" means, "I'm behind you". "Honk" from the other car means, "I see you".
50. On the back of lorries (trucks that transport vegetables and fruits) it is always written 'please sound horn' or 'horn ok horn' or something of that nature. Their lorries are very colorful.
1. Eating with hands instead of silverware.
2. Drinking water without touching lips to the glass or bottle.
3. Men hold hands and touch (although they are not gay)
4. Men peeing and spitting on the roads.
5. Mattresses are made from coconut fiber.
6. Boiling milk before drinking it. This creates a skin on top which we have to blow away when pouring the milk. Then there are still chunks of solidified milk and skin floating around.
7. Animals in the road, just chillin. Donkeys, cows, goats, chickens, dogs, and cats are the regulars.
8. Transportation for things such as sugarcane and other loads by ox carts.
9. The best meals are the cheapest ones. (My favorite meal was my school lunch which was about 25 cents)
10. In the summer there is always a fan or the A/C on.
11. Indians love their A/C whether it's 100 degrees or 60 and raining.
12. Spicy pizza and pasta.
13. Lack of appliances such as dishwashers, dryers, ovens.
14. Very little of their food is processed. Most of it is made fresh every day by the cooks.
15. Servants and the Caste system. The motto here is basically, "why do it if you don't have to?"
16. Lack of exercise. Indians don't hardly ever work out. But many of them go on short walks around the neighborhood at night.
17. Male-female relations- for the most part non-existent.
18. Arranged marriage is the norm. I know people who get married at age 18 to a guy they've never met before even though they are in love with their boyfriend/girlfriend. (A concept my mom really likes)
19. Any couple, married or not, abstains from any form of a public display of affection.
20. Mehendi. Usually for weddings and other occasions they will put henna in traditional designs on the hands and sometimes feet. I just learned how to put it.
21. The wealthier residents of India live in "colonies" which are gated communities that provide a safe environment.
22. Dancing does not mean grinding. Indians truly know how to dance with expression and have a great time moving every part of the body and spirit.
23. All Indian music comes from the movies. There aren't independent artists or albums or concerts.
24. In one religion - Sikhism- the men don't cut their hair. Period. They fold their beards under their chins and wear turbans.
25. People are not allowed to walk in the hills without a guide because of all the dangerous animals. But when we walk the only animals we see are birds and ants.
26. They put elephants in some Hindu temples to "bless" people who give it money. The person holds out a few rupees the elephant will take it with it's trunk then touch it's trunk to your forehead. A terrifying new experience!
27. Computers are a commodity. Many schools and most offices don't have them. The Police commissioner's office didn't have a computer, instead there were three or four rooms filled with paperwork.
28. Many upper class women don't work.
29. Many lower class women are employed at construction sites. They carry rocks, bricks, sand, etc. in baskets on their heads.
30. Respect is very important here, and people who are in higher positions absolutely demand it.
31. The color of one's skin is very important. As it is considered hot to be tan in the US, it is considered beautiful to be as light as possible here. They even have a brand of skin cremes called Fair and Lovely.
32. Nose rings are considered beautiful and worn by the majority of women (especially in the North). It used to be a sign of marriage.
33. Instead of engagement and wedding rings, the women wear gold chain around their necks.
34. Indian women wear bindis and when they are married they have a mark of red powder in the center of their forehead at the hair line, or at the hollow in their throat.
35. Tupperware hardly exists. Food doesn't keep for long, so there's no point. To store things they have metal containers. The problem with these is you have to open each one to find what you're looking for.
36. Soda here is made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.
37. People are classified as Veg or Non-Veg depending on their diet.
38. It is inappropriate to show much skin, especially in the South. Modesty is very important. It will be difficult to go back home and wear even soccer shorts.
39. They don't have sweet food for breakfast.
40. There are very few baked goods. Cookies come from factories only.
41. They put eyeliner and black circles on the cheek to ward off bad spirits from babies and toddlers.
42. Men drink a lot, especially when they get together. It is a rare woman who will have a drink.
43. There is a thing called paan which is like tobacco chew and is chewed by people generally in the lower class. It turns the inside of the mouth red and rots the teeth. However, it is also eaten sometimes at the end of a meal and is considered a digestive thing.
44. Michael Jackson, Justin Beiber, and Hannah Montana are hugely loved by the Indian population.
45. Every day there is a power outage for two or three hours.
46. The roads aren't cleaned, and are generally littered with trash. Although this is getting better in some of the larger cities.
47. North Indians and South Indians are very different. In the south they are very conservative whereas in the North there are more big cities with a lot of Western influence.
48. Each state has it's own language and therefore each has it's own little Bollywood. Bollywood is actually Hindi movies. Kollywood is for movies in Tamil.
49. Cars are stick shift and are driven on the left side of the road and the right side of the car. Driving in India is mostly about honking. They honk every time they go around a corner, coming up on another car, turning, just ate lunch, are in a bad mood, just feel like it, etc. It's almost like another language. "honk" means, "I'm behind you". "Honk" from the other car means, "I see you".
50. On the back of lorries (trucks that transport vegetables and fruits) it is always written 'please sound horn' or 'horn ok horn' or something of that nature. Their lorries are very colorful.
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