Day 1

The next morning we got a brief tour of the village shops (like where to buy fruits/veg, medicines, etc.) We came back and cleaned with a vengeance, both our room and the bathroom – no more cobwebs/dusty floors for us!! It was fun in a weird way, sort of like claiming the area as our own. We are trying to show our self-sufficiency – I talked Rajesh into getting us milk for the next day so we don’t have to wait for them to come and make tea. He was surprised that we knew how to – how insulting!!
Ok, so I know this is long but just a really funny anecdote – the guys are all very nervous in our presence. One of them never stays more than a minute alone with us. To call us from our room they have to either call from outside (we have no bell) or from outside our room. They always timidly yell… “Neha!”, even Pankaj who speaks English…its always Neha!! … very awkwardly. Haha, yes we are looking forward to meeting a female here…
After spending the whole afternoon lounging we finally decided to venture out to buy some hand soap and some cold drinks (we got a HUGE bottle of Limca, a fizzy lemon drink, which turned hot in about five minutes). After coming back, once again there was a timid knock on the front door and a yelling on “Neha!”. I came down to find Pankaj asking where we wanted to eat dinner, since the aunty who made food wasn’t going to come that night. Other people had suggested trying a Dhaba, a truck drivers stopping place where everyone eats on a cot with a plank in the middle where the plates are kept. I had said no the day before due to questionable hygiene but finally gave in.
This time though P kept asking whether he should bring the food back, to which we said no because we hadn’t gone out all day. Although we didn’t know this at the time (and I wish people would just be clear about it) but apparently girls don’t frequent dhabas…AND we only had one bike on which we could go there (with three people). Either way, after about 20 min of small talk, when we realized we’re all the same age and had similar likes (music – he owned an iPOD, he wants to save the world, etc), we decided to head out. So keep in mind that it is uncomfortable riding on a motorcycle, but its even more with three people. It was about 10 min away on very windy, dark, small roads. It was a beautiful ride.
Once we got there though, there were lots more stares. We made ourselves comfortable on the cot and by we I mean Tanvi and I since P was not. We got food served by these two boys who sat next to us just to stare at us… I mean so uncomfortable.
I took one bite of the food to find it was mainly made of chilis. O wow, SO SPICY. Now usually I try to keep a straight face, especially when people have taken trouble to get us there. But half way through I hear: “you don’t like it?” and P looks sad. I feel bad but with my red nose, dripping and deep breaths, he knows I’m dying. My fav part of the evening was when we offered to pay, P was like no no the org will pay for all of it. But then he stopped and was awkwardly like, but sometimes let us please pay for you personally as well… hahahahahaha, so awkward.
Later we found out that he knew we were uncomfortable there since apparently there was alcohol being consumed…but once again, if he knew how weird the situation was going to be here…why didn’t he just tell us…
Hoping to report back with some of the work we’ll be doing…