The days are going by so quickly here, so sorry that my posts are so few and far between. Let me catch you up on a couple of "interesting" tidbits.
Last week I decided to try out a salon in my part of town (usually I go into the city). After a nice shampoo and wash, my stylists starts speaking...."I'm sorry madam am I "paining" you? Me: huh? Hair stylist: Madam am I paining you? Are you paining? Me: thinking to myself, "what the heck?" as the hair stylist starts using facial expressions and pointing to the round brush and my head that she is using to give me "Bollywood hair"...."are you being pained?" Oh.....I get it. Is she hurting me with the brush, and am I in pain? Answer to that was yes and no. Yes I was in sort of pain.....no not pain, more like discomfort...her body odor was REALLY BAD and I was having trouble not making faces, but as to how she was wielding the hairbrush and giving me lovely, long Bollywood curls, no that wasn't painful at all.
Paining. Hmmmmmm what a neat word to chew on. I decided to think about all the things that are "paining" me since I've been in Bangalore. Here are some things that are currently "paining" me but in no significant order.
Last week I decided to try out a salon in my part of town (usually I go into the city). After a nice shampoo and wash, my stylists starts speaking...."I'm sorry madam am I "paining" you? Me: huh? Hair stylist: Madam am I paining you? Are you paining? Me: thinking to myself, "what the heck?" as the hair stylist starts using facial expressions and pointing to the round brush and my head that she is using to give me "Bollywood hair"...."are you being pained?" Oh.....I get it. Is she hurting me with the brush, and am I in pain? Answer to that was yes and no. Yes I was in sort of pain.....no not pain, more like discomfort...her body odor was REALLY BAD and I was having trouble not making faces, but as to how she was wielding the hairbrush and giving me lovely, long Bollywood curls, no that wasn't painful at all.
Paining. Hmmmmmm what a neat word to chew on. I decided to think about all the things that are "paining" me since I've been in Bangalore. Here are some things that are currently "paining" me but in no significant order.
This one I called "sweetie" cuz she was so nice.
Well...when we drop Bruce off at school each morning, there has been a litter of small puppies that I had been feeding. It had been "paining" me to see them hungry and abandoned and so cute and playful. I tried feeding them left overs every chance I got and was working on a plan on getting them "fixed" when they were big enough and hopefully finding homes for them. Well this week I show up as usual and was not greeted by the four little stray pups...they were just gone. On one hand I was happy not to see them, cuz they tug at my heart every time, but isn't it good that they are gone? Maybe someone else was "paining" to see them everyday and took them and found them homes? I really hope so. No fear another group of young pups just a mile up the road gave me another bout of paining just a few minutes later...
Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes pain me everyday. I am "paining" every time I look at my body. Every day I look like I have a small case of chicken pox. Red bumps on my feet, my arms, my neck my back, my butt. Not always all at the same time, sometimes only one. But I can no longer remember the last time I didn't have a red bump somewhere on my body. I am paining with mosquito bites.
The tent cities. Words cannot describe how pitiful those "homes" are and how seeing how some people live here can really make you count your blessings and make you realize that all the things we bitch and moan about seem so irrelevant compared to how bad these people have it in these tent cities. Yes, we do attempt at helping but sometimes knowing that whatever help you give will not in the long run mean a thing, can really give me some "paining". One day feeling really helpless and small about these tent cities, three young smiling school girls passed me up along the road....there I was feeling sad and helpless and then these three beautiful young ladies, arm in arm, dirty, ragged and shoeless yet smiling and laughing, skipping, having a laugh while walking to school pass me up and smile and wave. Heck, what do I know? A few minutes earlier I was thinking to myself how sad this is and I will always think living conditions like that are sad, but those three happy young girls made me realize that maybe what I think it takes to make me happy is not necessarily what it takes to make them happy. My "paining" stopped for the moment and I was able to view those young ladies as "whole" and not broken or pitiful...their smiles and laughter made me smile and laugh too. I'm grateful to have seen that.
And no...still no pics of those tent homes and areas....still feel like it's an invasion of some sort....I'm sure I'll resolve those issues and take pics eventually.
What else has me "paining". Haha....the Holi celebration of last week! I have a tint of pink still in my hair, a red line of paint still in my scalp that won't come out no matter how much I wash and green in an area that I didn't see until I was in the shower and could not scrub off regardless of how many times I tried cleaning. I think Captain Kirk would find me attractive if he saw me in all my green glory!
Holi celebrates the coming of Spring. I think:). It is a very fun time where people literally throw powdered color dyes at each other and then wet each other down with water guns, etc. When you see someone with a palm full of pink, lime green, or yellow powder in their palm and coming towards you with a sly smile and a "Happy Holi" you best run or end up with a very colorful almost "war painted" face! Bruce and I were lucky, we got to attend two Holi parties. One was at a hotel and this party had a dj, open bar, lots of food. This was a more adult party (which I did not know before we got there) but there were enough kids and adults alike really having a great time with the tradition of getting colored and soaking wet. We had a fun time but I had no idea how hard it would be to get the dye off our faces and hair.
Mosquitoes. Mosquitoes pain me everyday. I am "paining" every time I look at my body. Every day I look like I have a small case of chicken pox. Red bumps on my feet, my arms, my neck my back, my butt. Not always all at the same time, sometimes only one. But I can no longer remember the last time I didn't have a red bump somewhere on my body. I am paining with mosquito bites.
The tent cities. Words cannot describe how pitiful those "homes" are and how seeing how some people live here can really make you count your blessings and make you realize that all the things we bitch and moan about seem so irrelevant compared to how bad these people have it in these tent cities. Yes, we do attempt at helping but sometimes knowing that whatever help you give will not in the long run mean a thing, can really give me some "paining". One day feeling really helpless and small about these tent cities, three young smiling school girls passed me up along the road....there I was feeling sad and helpless and then these three beautiful young ladies, arm in arm, dirty, ragged and shoeless yet smiling and laughing, skipping, having a laugh while walking to school pass me up and smile and wave. Heck, what do I know? A few minutes earlier I was thinking to myself how sad this is and I will always think living conditions like that are sad, but those three happy young girls made me realize that maybe what I think it takes to make me happy is not necessarily what it takes to make them happy. My "paining" stopped for the moment and I was able to view those young ladies as "whole" and not broken or pitiful...their smiles and laughter made me smile and laugh too. I'm grateful to have seen that.
And no...still no pics of those tent homes and areas....still feel like it's an invasion of some sort....I'm sure I'll resolve those issues and take pics eventually.
What else has me "paining". Haha....the Holi celebration of last week! I have a tint of pink still in my hair, a red line of paint still in my scalp that won't come out no matter how much I wash and green in an area that I didn't see until I was in the shower and could not scrub off regardless of how many times I tried cleaning. I think Captain Kirk would find me attractive if he saw me in all my green glory!
Holi celebrates the coming of Spring. I think:). It is a very fun time where people literally throw powdered color dyes at each other and then wet each other down with water guns, etc. When you see someone with a palm full of pink, lime green, or yellow powder in their palm and coming towards you with a sly smile and a "Happy Holi" you best run or end up with a very colorful almost "war painted" face! Bruce and I were lucky, we got to attend two Holi parties. One was at a hotel and this party had a dj, open bar, lots of food. This was a more adult party (which I did not know before we got there) but there were enough kids and adults alike really having a great time with the tradition of getting colored and soaking wet. We had a fun time but I had no idea how hard it would be to get the dye off our faces and hair.
Our next Holi party was in our neighborhood. This time I knew what to expect so I was determined to just hang back, let John and Bruce enjoy the color throwing and I would sit back and take pics. Not to be. Nooooooooo turns out, I was "too clean", I was told over and over that I must be properly introduced to "Happy Holi greetings" which included someone saying the greeting and then finding a way to smear paint all over your face. No use running, someone would always catch ya. Have to admit it felt like being a kid again. Running around being chased by adults and kids alike and then running after them and getting them with colors and water too. It was a morning of Holi festivities, a fun and crazy, messy morning. After all the powders ran out every one went home, shower and changed, rested up a bit and went back to the park area of our neighborhood for lunch. We all sat together for a yummy traditional Indian lunch. It was a lovely experience. We are only one month in in this neighborhood and so many people came up to us introduced themselves and invited us to their homes. Very neighborly and fun as we had only met the neighbors on one side of us and so it was great to meet so many more and to see how well we seem to fit right into our new community. It was also fun for me to see how well John interacted with everyone. I am always so awed and proud and turned on by his smart, sweet persona that seems to put everyone around him at ease. Gentle John.
It was a wonderful day of "Holi" but too soon after John and I had to get ready for a function that I had committed to earlier on. Long story short it was a full, FUN Saturday and my feet are still "paining" me from the festivities that followed after....ahhh but what a night it was! All in all I can honestly say that the "paining" I have experienced so far has not done me any harm.... in any of the above mentioned situations. I am experiencing India and the "paining" is welcome.
RSS Feed