Some things….

 

First off, welcome to my new-but-basically-the-same-as-before-blog. I have moved from Blogspot to WordPress, mainly just for the heck of it (and I just like WordPress better).

I am going to use this space to write about my adventures, to rant, and just to share my heart with you all as I venture into this next step of my life, as I dream about what I want my future to look like and what it could look like.

Some of you may (or may not) be wondering about why the address is abeverlyinindia.wordpress.com. Well. Let me explain. I basically have three names now. One is Emily as I am sure all of you are aware, another was recently given to me here and is my Bangla name, Tumpa. The third is Beverly, or Bev for short and I think only about three people call me Bev. I was christened Bev by my dear roommate and basically sister, Sarah. She started calling me Bemily (we went through a phase when we added slash substituted b at the beginning of words) and from there it transformed into Beverly and then Bev. I will respond to Bev so if you ever call me that I would most likely respond without thinking twice about it. Anyways, that is how Bev came about, so I am a Beverly in India.

This first post is just going to be some things.. random happenings slash just little tidbits..

Hurrrr we go.

• I can now eat a raw red onion basically like an apple. Now, if you know me that is probably quite shocking. I used to hate onions. Hate as in find-and-pick-out-a-piece-of-onion-the-size-of-an-ant-from-a-casserole kind of hate. Just ask my mom. I got to a point where I started to like them and would eat them if they were cooked or if there were like 2 rings in a sandwich or salad. That has now changed. I have started craving a raw red onion. I never thought I would see the day when I would think “man, a raw red onion would be so good with this daal(dal/dhal/dahl). I could really go for one right now.” Friends, the day has come. This new craving also probably does wonders for my breath.

 

• In order to stay hydrated here in the hot season, (trust me, it is hot. You don’t know the definition of hot until you come here. I came home today and my shirt looked like it had just been washed it was so wet from my own sweat) it is vital that you drink at least 4 liters, if not more water per day. I have never been so sick of drinking water in my entire life. Sometimes I realize I have only drank 2 liters of water and have to chug a whole liter in the afternoon in order to stay on top of water drinkage.

 

• I am not a huge fan of bugs. Guess what are everywhere here? You got it. Bugs. Ants and cockroaches are abundant here. I killed my first cockroach in Bangladesh and I was pretty proud of myself. They are nasty little things and man are they fast! The ants here manage to find any little bitty morsel of food anywhere.. They can even chew through plastic bags! I sometimes even wake up to find one or two crawling on me in the morning.. I remember I once had ants in my room as a kid since I lived in the basement and upon finding two in my bed I refused to sleep there until they were all gone. If only my little 12-year-old self could see me now…

 

• I can now eat mounds of rice.. I don’t anywhere near compare to my Indian friends, but give me a plateful of rice and daal and shobji (vegetables) andI can totally eat it. I don’t think I have ever eaten so much rice in my entire life. My host mom is an awesome cook and I am going to learn all her secrets so I can cook amazing Indian food when I come home.

 

• Autos here are my favorite form of transport around here. In case you don’t know what an auto is, it is this little three wheeled vehicle that you ride in for a certain route. They fit 6 people and fly in and out of cars and squeeze into tiny little spaces that you would have never thought possible to fit through. It is a real treat to ride in one at night, as oftentimes they turn on these  colored lights and blare techno hindi music. AKA party autos.

 

• There are horns honking all the time. I noticed the other day that the the horn button is placed conveniently at the driver’s thumb for easy honking. They honk to tell you they are coming, or to tell you to get out of the way, or to let you know they are next to you. I am convinced they honk just for the heck of it. Also, you would expect the size of the vehicle to correlate with the sound of the horn right? Well, that is often not the case. Today I was in a taxi and a bus coming from behind  honked his horn. I was expecting some big, booming, honk. What came out literally sounded like a goose who had lost its voice. Now, I am not entirely sure how that would sound, but I am going to guess it sounds exactly like that bus horn.

 

• Spanish Tomato Tango potato chips taste like ketchup. I am not sure what I was expecting them to taste like, but I don’t think it was ketchup.

 

• I also apparently like raisins now. They just really hit the spot now. I hate them in the states, but here is a different story. They are like the perfect sweetness and for some reason I crave sweet things all the time.

 

• I have a tendency to take wrong turns even if I have a map and have gone that way before. I am still learning my way around here and ma beginning to learn the area and have a general sense of the area, but I still take a wrong turn which then I end up taking a more roundabout way to get there. I apparently can’t follow maps. I clearly can get myself around though, I haven’t been lost yet. I probably shouldn’t tell you there are many winding alleys that would be easy to get lost in.

Aste, aste, ami shikcchi. (Slowly, slowly, I am learning). Life seems to never stop here. I am learning to take it all in, to savor it, and to be fully present and fully alive here.