A Balanced View

I apologise. I know it's been a while since I last posted, over a month in fact! It's been a strange month, difficult in many ways but also eye-opening and satisfying. I decided to finally write on my blog now because today marks the half way point of my time in India. It feels unbelievable that so much time has passed already, but it also still feels like a long time until I will be reunited with my friends and family. Saying that, if I break down the remaining time into section it doesn't seem very long at all, and I have no doubts that it'll pass quickly, maybe too quickly. We have two months working at the project before taking a seven week holiday, and then returning to work for another two months. I feel like I have reached a turning point in my year and after a lot of difficult, challenging times over the last few months, I am feeling very positive about the months to come!

In my previous blog posts I have talked about the amazingly beautiful experiences I have had in India so far. I stand by everything I have written, but I also realise that I never mention the difficult things, and I don't want to give the impression that every day is the greatest day of my life, and everything just falls into place perfectly. Because that's definitely not the case. So in order to create a balanced view, here is a list of things that have challenged me and annoyed me:

• Homesickness. It's hard, it's disruptive, it's consuming and its very distracting. Luckily I haven't had an awful time with this but, like every volunteer, I have had my days when I would do anything to be able to pop home and see my family and friends.
• Indian time. Why is it socially acceptable for everyone here to be late for everything? 
• Getting work organised. It has been immensely frustrating at times when we have to repeatedly ask for work and still get no response.
• Cars honking. Seriously, I can just about understand when you are overtaking and need to make sure other vehicles see you, but when you are in traffic and nobody is moving at all, WHAT IS THE POINT?!
• The traffic in general. 
• Spitting. Indian men are constantly spitting everywhere, and its disgusting! If the women don't feel the need to do it, why do the men?
• Urinating. Again, Indian men are in the habit of peeing on the side of the road, and therefore most places smell like urine. Again, if the women can manage to be discreet, why can't the men? 
• Indicators. Do you know what they are for? Good. Use them.
• The food. I don't want to pick chillies out of my breakfast anymore! It's just wrong. 
• Teaching is hard. It's so difficult to plan a lesson that will benefit everyone in a class when they all have different English levels! Don't get me wrong, I am really enjoying the teaching, but I think I will be glad to go back to being the student next year. Which brings me onto my next point..
• I still haven't heard back from universities. I just want to know what I will be doing next year, whether it's studying or working. 
• Power cuts. As it gets gradually hotter, we are more regularly being plunged into darkness in the evenings. 
• Budgeting. I think I realised too late that even though things are cheap, if you buy a lot, you will still spend a lot! 

I can't think of anything else right now, but I'm sure there is more. Aside from all of that, I can't even begin to express how glad I am that I decided to embark on this crazy journey. India no longer feels like an unknown, strange country. It now feels like home. All of the things that amazed, shocked and scared me before, are now just a part of day to day life. Maybe that is why I haven't had anything to write on my blog in a while; everything that would have been exciting to write about before, has now become normality. I think this has allowed me to focus less attention on the general craziness of India, and more on the personal relationships I now have with the people around me. I am constantly learning new things about the people and the culture, and it all still fascinates me. So although Indian life is now relatively normal, in no way has it become boring! 

I am sitting writing this on the roof of a seven floor hospital, looking out over the city that has become my home over the last five months, and I'm stuck by the realisation that more people are living here, in this city, than there are in the whole of Scotland! That is huge on a scale I can't even imagine. And that makes me realise that sometimes I don't fully appreciate how incredible this place, and this whole experience has been. It has been so difficult at times, but I wouldn't change any of it because I have learnt so much in the last few months. And I am certain that because I now feel settled, comfortable, and confident in my surroundings, the next few months will be even better!

So I will end this post by wishing you all Happy Valentine's Day! And share with you the rather amusing message I just received from Airtel, my Indian mobile network..

"When love is not madness, it is not love. Love is being stupid together."

P.s. I had a VERY uncomfortable moment in one of my lessons with a class of all male students when one of them asked me to explain the plot of the film 'Friends With Benefits'..