Culture

So I've gotten to experience a few things this past week. A group of us got to go about four hours away from the city out into a different state. It was in the middle of nowhere, but I loved it. We left around 3 last Monday and set out for the small town. The driving was absolutely crazy. In India, traffic laws are more like guidelines that don't actually have to be followed when the cops aren't looking (in cities you can see big street signs that say stuff like "Follow traffic laws," haha). The basic principle to driving in India is to fill the space. If there is room for your car to pass someone, to pull up at a red light, to run a red light, etc., then let the passing begin. It's like a race everywhere you go, but not a very exciting one because everyone has to use tiny fuel efficient motors. And then there are the horns. Oh man, the horns. People use their horns so much here that they will actually blow the horn out. My attempt to explain this in writing is futile. I'm going to take a video tomorrow of a typical ride in the back of an auto rickshaw and post it on my facebook just to let everyone know what it is like.

Anyway the scenery on the car ride to the village was like nothing I have ever seen. This area is located on a plateau about 3-4 thousand feet above sea level, but most of the land is relatively flat. The ground is covered by orange sand and dotted with rocks and some foliage. Some parts are lush, some look like desert. There are a few really unique features though, like the hills of boulders. Some of them are pretty small, but some hills are about like mountains. They are totally made up of boulders that look like they were neatly stacked up on each other by helicopters. On the top of a few of these hills I saw some boulders that were perfectly perched on an angled base and not rolling off with the wind. They look like they are defying physics. I'll have to post some pictures to show you.

The night that we got there we went to an engagement party. We were about four hours late, but that's the way they do it in India. No one even cared. So we got there and were introduced to the father of the bride. As soon as I walked in I got tons of stares. I was probably the tallest person they'd ever seen. Being a white redhead might have had something to do with it as well. They served us dinner outside on huge tables with about forty other people. My native friend got me to sit by him so that he could give me pointers. After I sat down I started to feel bugs crawling on my feet, haha. They were also having dinner. The meal was served on banana leaves. After the banana leaves were passed out, they gave everyone cups of water. My native friend said, "This is to clean your leaf!" He then started rubbing his leaf with the water. I cringed (because the water in India is full of stuff that makes foreigners sick), but mimicked him anyway. After my leaf was "cleaned," they started serving brown and white soupy stuff. My friend told me that the brown sauce was a terribly spicy mixture and the white stuff was a cold milky soup to counteract the spiciness. Next came the rice that also had whole pieces of chicken in it. After everything was on the plate, people started praying. My Indian friend said, "Okay pray, but pray for your own food, then eat." I bowed my head and prayed, "Dear Lord, thank you for this food. Please don't let me get sick... Amen." I started mixing all of the spicy stuff into the rice with my hand (in India all foods are eaten with the right hand) and then took a bite. It was delicious. I ate my fill and then we left rather nonchalantly. Later that night my stomach really started hurting. My friend said that it was the spicy food that did it.

On the last night in the village I got to witness a disturbing Hindu festival. I forgot what it was called, but the partakers of the festival attach hooks to their backs and to auto rickshaws and then haul them to a temple. I didn't actually see them haul the vehicles to the temple, but I'm sure it hurt. Some of them didn't do the hook thing, but instead put poles through their cheeks. It was weird.

I guess that's all for now. I'll post some pictures on my facebook later tonight if our internet is working.