I'm back in the States for three weeks, so it's time for a recap. What's the best and worst of India so far?
Next -- the food. I've come to appreciate spice! LOTS of spice. Lots of "heat". Indians take their food very seriously -- and it shows.
With those two things in place, all the minor inconveniences (inconsistent power and water chief among them) are tolerable!
Number one, by an overwhelming margin, is the lack of a "weekend". The standard business week here is 6 days, 48 hours. But for salaried workers, it's more like 60 hours (6 10-hour days). Even school runs 6 days a week. Indians work hard! Lon takes Sundays off, but I miss having a two-day weekend. Even more so that we don't have a driver on Sunday, so we're limited to walking. There's a lot within about 25 km of Vapi, but 5 or 6 km (one way) is pretty much our limit.
The second thing I miss is a full-size oven. Yes, our microwave is also a convection oven, but I'm limited to what can fit on a 12-inch diameter plate. It's really not feasible to bake dozens of cookies or a turkey. (As if I could find a turkey in India!) Even a cake has to be baked one layer at a time.
First, the climate. For a non-summer person like me, 24/7/365 heat is challenging. The three seasons are wet & warm (monsoon), hot ("winter"), and scorching ("summer").
And secondly, the dirtiness: both trash-wise and pollution-wise. The mind-set of tossing everything on the ground or out the car window is difficult to understand.
All in all, if that's my complaints, life is really pretty good!
The Bests
Without a doubt, the best thing about India is the people. Indians are welcoming, generous, tolerant, and patient. We have been welcomed without reservation by neighbors and strangers alike.Next -- the food. I've come to appreciate spice! LOTS of spice. Lots of "heat". Indians take their food very seriously -- and it shows.
With those two things in place, all the minor inconveniences (inconsistent power and water chief among them) are tolerable!
The "Wish I Had …"s
What do I miss the most? No, it's not peanut butter or beef.Number one, by an overwhelming margin, is the lack of a "weekend". The standard business week here is 6 days, 48 hours. But for salaried workers, it's more like 60 hours (6 10-hour days). Even school runs 6 days a week. Indians work hard! Lon takes Sundays off, but I miss having a two-day weekend. Even more so that we don't have a driver on Sunday, so we're limited to walking. There's a lot within about 25 km of Vapi, but 5 or 6 km (one way) is pretty much our limit.
The second thing I miss is a full-size oven. Yes, our microwave is also a convection oven, but I'm limited to what can fit on a 12-inch diameter plate. It's really not feasible to bake dozens of cookies or a turkey. (As if I could find a turkey in India!) Even a cake has to be baked one layer at a time.
The Worsts
What's the worst about India?First, the climate. For a non-summer person like me, 24/7/365 heat is challenging. The three seasons are wet & warm (monsoon), hot ("winter"), and scorching ("summer").
And secondly, the dirtiness: both trash-wise and pollution-wise. The mind-set of tossing everything on the ground or out the car window is difficult to understand.
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| Burning leaves and trash on the roadsides adds to the poor air quality in India. |
All in all, if that's my complaints, life is really pretty good!
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