choti khushiyan

As per Tolu's request, a list (in no particular order) of some of the little pleasures in my life here. I'll continue to add to the list in future posts.

1. Being able to step literally right outside the front gate and buy fruits and vegetables any day any time.
2. Service. No matter where you go, it's someone's job to make sure you're comfortable.
3. Scraping the fruit off the mango skin with my teeth.
4. Not having to worry whether the mango I'm buying will actually have any taste.
5. Walking down the street in a sari and not being the only one (although at work, no one else does..it seems girls here aren't used to wearing them. Now who's Indian??)
6. Going out for a run wearing my shorts and being the only one wearing shorts. And the only one running.
7. Trying to practice Hindi by reading the store signs and painfully recognizing the characters and sounding out the words, and thinking that I don't know what they mean (what is kahlar?) only to realize that it says something like "Color Printing."
8. The ridiculous spellings of English words in Hindi.
9. That every banana is an explosion of flavor. Imagine a banana. Now multiply by ten. That is a real banana.
10. Everyone is 'yaar' (short for 'friend') or 'ji' or 'sir' or 'madam.'
11. The cool, licorice-like scent that fills my breath after chewing fennel after a meal.
12. Sitting under the fan in the living room on a really sticky day.
13. There is a season called the "rainy season."
14. Hearing "I Kissed A Girl" by Katie Perry on the radio yesterday.
15. Banana chips.
16. Watching everyone come and go from the living room window. Also handing things to people through the window grate.
17. Handing the guy clothes for ironing when he comes to drop off freshly ironed ones.
18. Actually ironing my own clothes before I wear them. (I think I've ironed my clothes twice in all my time at WashU.)
19. How cutting people off on the road is not only not considered rude, it is a necessary maneuver and a sign of skillful driving.