There be rogues there.

I've always wanted to be popular with the boys.

Fearing for their jobs (and the subsequent dissolve of U.S. - India diplomatic relations should anything happen to us), the local office has been aggressively attentive to our safety.  Despite assuring people that President Obama has no idea of my presence in India (or general existence), any attempt at independent motion sparks a flurry of search parties and shouts of "No Miss, no! There be rogues there!" 

It is worth noting that in our walks around the town (shhhhhh) few rogues have been sighted.  Instead, as in any country, it's really the groups of school children that are the true threat to safety.  Feigning childhood innocence, they lure you in with smiles and cute school uniforms. This quickly dissolves into several actions that fall under the definition of harassment.  Their favorite is mocking.  Surprisingly, I've never really been a fan of being mocked.

The Things of Late.

There’s something about living next to a 1500 year old temple that really puts your life into perspective. So do student loans.


Moving on, here’s what I’ve been doing lately:

Sweating.
The temperature started off a palatable 80 degrees in the first week, but has now climbed into the soul-destroying range of the high 90’s. I wake up inside a furnace and go to sleep wondering if life is worth living. It’s a dramatic cycle.

Listening to a lot of Tamil.
This is known worldwide as the Most Impossible Language Ever. Taking into the account the unusual length of words, it has even received the distinction of Even More Difficult Than Mongolian.

Interviewing people endlessly.
This always begins the same way: We arrive uninvited onto someone’s property. Someone begins introductions. This takes a while and is entirely in Tamil. This wraps up with everyone looking at each other and saying, “America!” ten or twelve times while I stand there trying to look as though I am, indeed, from America. Whatever that means.

Being a celebrity.
India is more developed than Malawi. This means more cell phones. This means more cell phones with camera capabilities. This does not mean that people are less surprised to see white faces. They just take more pictures.

Traipsing around Agricultural Fields.
Primarily for the purpose of learning about bananas with a close second being watershed projects. My mother can die happy because I now know everything there is to know about drip irrigation systems. I could probably install one. This alarms me.