See, the thing about being a foreigner, is that even when you've gotten the hang of things, you're still going to make stupid mistakes. All the time. Today I took the bus to my service learning site, The Loreto Day School (http://www.loretosealdah.com/). It was my first time taking the bus. I was like a nervous little school boy who doesn't speak the language and isn't actually going to school. I was determined to find my right stop, pay the correct amount at the correct time, and not do any of the many other stupid things one can do on a bus. The bus generally doesn't really stop moving when you get on it, but today it did. Phase 1, complete. Feeling good. The bus guy wanders over to me after a few minutes and I pay for my ticket. Nice. Then a group of guys get on, look me over pretty well, and ask me to get up, because there was something under the cushion, or some line of BS. I don't know, I don't speak the language. As I stood up amongst them, I almost got pickpocketed. I don't know this for sure, but at one point I felt my phone moving slowly and gently towards the opening of my pocket. I flinched really hard, lost my balance, fell a little bit, found my phone at the edge of my pocket and pushed it back in, fell a few more times, found the hand rail, and soon sat back down. All of the guys got off at the next stop, after about a one minute ride. I thought about talking some smack to them as they left, but I decided it wasn't worth it. I could have thrown down, but its tough when you are incredibly intimidated by the 7 guys you want to throw down against. I could have called up my......roommate Erik. That's what I'll do next time.
As we're getting close to the stop, I saw a sign that lead me to believe I was in the right place. Some girls got off after calling out what I thought was the right stop. I tapped the girl in front of me to ask if we were in the right place, and she nodded. So I yelled and ran to the door, and more or less hopped out while it was moving. As I almost fell over on the road for a period of 5-10 seconds, the bus guy was yelling at me, trying to tell me that the place I wanted was farther up the road. So I had to walk an extra mile or so. Cultural immersion. Its ok guys, I've been here for over a month. Totally have it all down.
In contrast to my thorough embarrassment on the bus, my service learning place is wonderful. Its a school/orphanage for girls. Many come for the education and pay tuition, many come off the streets for free, but go home at the end of the day, and many more live there, having no parents or family to take care of them. Its about 700 total, with 100-200 living there permanently. Today I mostly toured, watched a video, and had about half an hour to sit with some girls, but it was the most happy I've been since I came to India. I can't wait to go back. The only thing I'm worried about is sustaining the web of lies I've created for myself. If they find out that I don't actually work at the zoo, caring for an elephant that is also my girlfriend, I'll look so stupid in front of all of them. And I've had enough of that lately.
As we're getting close to the stop, I saw a sign that lead me to believe I was in the right place. Some girls got off after calling out what I thought was the right stop. I tapped the girl in front of me to ask if we were in the right place, and she nodded. So I yelled and ran to the door, and more or less hopped out while it was moving. As I almost fell over on the road for a period of 5-10 seconds, the bus guy was yelling at me, trying to tell me that the place I wanted was farther up the road. So I had to walk an extra mile or so. Cultural immersion. Its ok guys, I've been here for over a month. Totally have it all down.
In contrast to my thorough embarrassment on the bus, my service learning place is wonderful. Its a school/orphanage for girls. Many come for the education and pay tuition, many come off the streets for free, but go home at the end of the day, and many more live there, having no parents or family to take care of them. Its about 700 total, with 100-200 living there permanently. Today I mostly toured, watched a video, and had about half an hour to sit with some girls, but it was the most happy I've been since I came to India. I can't wait to go back. The only thing I'm worried about is sustaining the web of lies I've created for myself. If they find out that I don't actually work at the zoo, caring for an elephant that is also my girlfriend, I'll look so stupid in front of all of them. And I've had enough of that lately.
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