The Beach, Swine Flu and more....

Since the past few blog postings have been a bit heavy and on the serious side, I think it is due time to write a more, fun, lighthearted post.

Two weekends ago we went to a little beach town about four hours away from the village I am living in. The drive there was so peaceful and lush and we went through a hill station called Lonavla that is famous for its waterfalls and beautiful green scenery. Though, I had been there before to see all the major tourist sites (ancient caves, dams and waterfalls) this time I saw monkeys (I was so excited) and ate freshly BBQed corn on the cob for the first time since being in India!!!

The beach town we went to was called Alibaug and it was so great to see a different part of India. The beach was really calm and nice (not tropical, but nice nonetheless) filled with many Indians on holiday walking down the mile long stretch of beach. Although initially the beach town appeared to be like many others I have visited around the world, there were some striking differences. Here, NO ONE wears bathing suits even to the beach and women will go into the sea with their saris or shalwar kameez on. Coming from the west where we are accustomed to seeing people half dressed at the beach, it was quite odd to see people swimming while fully clothed. As many of you can imagine, it was hard for me to be at the ocean side and not be in a bathing suit but it was all part of the experience as it forced me to enjoy it in a different way than I usually do. With this said, I was daring enough to sit on the sand in a tank top and my pants slightly rolled up and even with this I got many weird stares and comments especially from the young kids both because of my exposed skin and my desire to darken my skin; Indians AVOID the sun and being tan or having dark skin is not at all desired. Again, a contrasting experience for me, the girl who loves to tan and have a golden bronze glow. All in all, the people of Alibaug thought I was completely insane.

While in Alibaug, myself and a few other interns from London ran into a huge issue when we first arrived and none of the hotels would accept us. Each place that we inquired with we were told, “Sorry, we are sold out.” We soon enough figured out that the hotels were not in fact sold out, but were frightened to let foreigners stay because they feared we would spread swine flu and contaminate the hotel. I am not sure how many of you have heard about the swine flu outbreak in Pune, but the Indian media has really exaggerated the epidemic and people are really frightened and walk around with their faces fully covered. There is the perception that the disease has been spread from the west and many people that see me, particularly when I am with other westerners, immediately cover their mouths or say “Hi, swine flu.” It was such a shock to go from everyone coming up to me and wanting to talk and touch me to being stigmatized as diseased.

In the end, myself and my co-worker (who is Indian) went into a hotel and the other interns who look more obviously western stayed in the car and we got a room right away. Although we were all very frustrated after hours of searching for a room and being turned away, it was also a very enlightening experience. Since I have been in India, for the most part, I have felt very privileged and catered to and usually have found that with money, most things can be accommodated. This was the first time that money or being an American actually did not work to my advantage; in short, the loss of privilege was challenging but at the same time allowed me to experience a very different part of India which is extremely valuable to my understanding of the complexity of this country. Also, it made me empathize more with those, particularly immigrants, that we stigmatize when we hear through the media that a disease is being spread from that country (ex. Mexico and swine flu) and I personally realized how isolating this can feel. Thank god the swine flu drama has all subsided a bit now and people are beginning to resume their normal lives.

While we were in the middle of the fiasco of finding a vacant room, we found a Radisson hotel and figured that they at least have to let us eat at their restaurant. Although it was a bit on the pricey side (and this in India means $10/plate), we decided to utilize our privilege and treat ourselves and ordered cocktails for one of the first times since we have arrived in India. I was the first one to order and was swiftly denied by the waiter who refused to serve me alcohol. When I asked wh, he said since it is Indian independence day, only tourists can have drinks, as he pointed to the others at the table (on Indian independence day, alcohol is not served by public establishments). I stated that I am also a tourist yet he did not believe me until I gave him documentation of my foreign passport to prove I am not Indian. It seems that the longer I have been here the more and more I have transformed to look like an Indian. People come up to me several times a day saying, “You are from America? But you look just like an Indian girl.” Experiencing the different dynamics that this shift in my identity has brought about has also helped me to see an aspect of India that would be impossible otherwise.

Once we got the glitches figured out, our weekend ended well and we soon enough returned to rural life in Rajgurunagar which although is still really great, definitely has its moments which are needless to say, anything but glamorous. Last week, in one night I got about 40 mosquito bites. Somehow I got stuck with a little guest in my room that decided to feast on my blood all night long. As I was scratching some of my bites, I discovered a little bug that had implanted itself in my leg and I had to squeeze it out. To add to my encounters with creatures, the other day I was walking home and a huge rat jumped out of one of the trees and almost landed on my head. I know this is all quite grotesque, but part of the realities of rural living. Also, we continue to have storms here and for the past few days we have gone for long periods without water or electricity. It is interesting how accustomed you become to living without things that if it was to go missing for even one day in the U.S… it would be a tragedy.

In light of all these undesirable encounters, I started to think…if I could have one comfort right now what would it be? Although a million things came to my mind, there was nothing that I felt that I really wanted or missed enough (other than friends and family of course) that I was willing to give up my life here in India for. It was then that I realized how much I have adjusted and must truly love every aspect of being here.