Chilling in Chennai
My night in the dormitory was interesting. Obviously the local expectations for privacy and being quiet at night are different than what I would expect. People kept answer or making cell calls all night and they seemed to be yelling into the phones as if they had a bad connection. I also had quite a few people walk by my "cubicle" and then come back and stare at me. I even had one guy take the book I was reading out of my hands with out asking, look it over and then hand it back after losing my page...lol..!
It is kind of weird how Indian woman have to cover up and be very discrete about showing any skin, but Indian guys run around half naked all the time. In the dorm bathroom guys would be doing all their business and just ignore the female cleaning staff.
At first I was a bit concerned I would offend them running around in just my sarong, but I got over it.
People here don't seem to have any embarrassment about farting, burping, picking noses or picking their teeth in public.
Heck as my train left Banaglore yesterday to Mysore I watch as guys here squatting and pooing right next to the tracks. They just ignore the train and did their thing.
Two things you don't have much of in India is relaxation or privacy. The only times I really can relax is in my room, but then again a lot of the time it is too hot or their are too many mozzies to do even that. I think this is why India is described as intense by many travelers as you don't get much down time unless your eyes are closed.
Similarly there isn't much privacy either. Not only are there so many people that it is hard to find a place where you would be alone to begin with. And when there are people around they will not feel shy about staring at you if they find something that interests them (ahem....ladies' chests for example) and for the most part Indians find western tourists very interesting and will stare at you until you leave their field of vision. This doesn't bug me very much, but I have met people for whom this is very irritating.
I have been having some serious cravings for Mexican food...lol...last year in Baja it was Indian food/Swiss Chalet...now that I am in India I want tacos!
It is kind of weird how Indian woman have to cover up and be very discrete about showing any skin, but Indian guys run around half naked all the time. In the dorm bathroom guys would be doing all their business and just ignore the female cleaning staff.
At first I was a bit concerned I would offend them running around in just my sarong, but I got over it.
People here don't seem to have any embarrassment about farting, burping, picking noses or picking their teeth in public.
Heck as my train left Banaglore yesterday to Mysore I watch as guys here squatting and pooing right next to the tracks. They just ignore the train and did their thing.
Two things you don't have much of in India is relaxation or privacy. The only times I really can relax is in my room, but then again a lot of the time it is too hot or their are too many mozzies to do even that. I think this is why India is described as intense by many travelers as you don't get much down time unless your eyes are closed.
Similarly there isn't much privacy either. Not only are there so many people that it is hard to find a place where you would be alone to begin with. And when there are people around they will not feel shy about staring at you if they find something that interests them (ahem....ladies' chests for example) and for the most part Indians find western tourists very interesting and will stare at you until you leave their field of vision. This doesn't bug me very much, but I have met people for whom this is very irritating.
I have been having some serious cravings for Mexican food...lol...last year in Baja it was Indian food/Swiss Chalet...now that I am in India I want tacos!
posted by Vik at 7:03 PM
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