Well I guess I am going to need to find a new word for it because one day is not a weekend and having to return to work on Monday morning seems a little more difficult. I think we are finally getting over the jet lag and Katrina and I have been joking that we are like children and our parents would be proud of us that we can finally sleep all the way through the night and not wake up at 4 or 5 or 6 in the morning like we were for the first week.
We had a phenomenal day off, despite the fact that our malaria medication is making us nauseous for the first few hours of the day. I feel as if going to India is like trying to get into a club that only wants specific members and you have to go through a series of hazing before you are allowed in. The food is fantastic but makes you slightly sick afterwards, the temperature it too hot and the air is too wet but it still feels great when you walk outside, the stray dogs and monkeys are adorable but you can't let them get too close because we all know how that can go downhill... My body still does not feel comfortable, like I am wearing someone else's skin and something just does not feel quite right but I love every second of being here and eventually I will adjust.
On Sunday morning we woke up at around 7 to start the day off early (which would be more impressive if it had been by choice instead of clockwork). Ben, Katrina and I took an auto-rickshaw, which are these funny three-wheeled vehicles that use the same form of steering as a motorcycle or a wave runner, to Nandankanan Sanctuary & Biological Park. It was about a 20 minute ride from Bhubaneswar cost us collectively 400 rupees ($8.66) for the entire day. Try getting a deal like that in D.C.
Its still a really weird feeling being a minority, especially in a place that sees very few tourists. I think more pictures were taken of us than the White Tigers or Cheetahs. I know I have been guilty before of taking pictures of people on the street that look entertaining to me but I try to do it with a certain degree of discretion (or so I think) but people will blatantly walk up and take pictures unabashedly. Pretty soon I am just going to start posing and really give them something to laugh about.
The zoo was amazing and I don't this there is any place in the US were you can get 3 feet away from a cheetah and only separated by a chain link fence. We also got to go on a tiger and lion safari where they packed us on all quite snugly onto a bus that had bars on the windows and no air conditioning. The good thing was everyone else smelled just as good as we did and you really do not have to be shy about how much you are sweating (attractive, I know). It reminded me a lot of the Jungle Book minus the cages. We got to see Baloo, Shere Khan, Kaa, King Louie, and Colonel Hathi. I will say the one thing that was a little difficult to stomach was how some of the other people our age there were trying to get the attention of the animals and throwing coins at the crocodiles. I was debating whether to use my excellent quarters skills and snapping a few rupees at the boys heads.
Later in the day we were invited over to one of our co-workers houses for visiting and dinner. Even at Thanksgiving I don't think I have even consumed that much food in my life. There was chicken, daal, biryani, and a few other items I cannot remember the name of, each as good as the next and kheer, which is like rice pudding but with cashews and cardamon, for dessert.It is very important to try and clear your plate because you don't want your host to think that you did not enjoy the food but it is extremely difficult when you are half way finished they out with more food trying to fill you up until you burst.
I think perhaps the best part of the day, or at least the icing on the cake, was when Katrina and I returned home to see Mrs. Singhdeo's mother (who lives with her husband on the the bottom floor of the house) and greeted us with 2 enormous bear hugs that knocked the wind out of us. Quite an impressive task for a woman who is about five feet tall. We both agreed that we have found our Indian grandmother and even though I have never really felt homesick before, living in the Singhdeo's house would make it even more difficult with how wonderfully they treat us, almost like we are a part of the family.
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