Life in Jaipur so far...

Old men playing cards
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Indian trains are notorious for being dirty and overcrowded. So although I’d never been on one, I had a certain expectation that my first Indian train experience was going to make even Cityrail seem like a 5-star railway system. Little did I know that I didn’t even have to step on a train to experience the claustrophobia and frustration that is typical of Indian trains! A trip to Udaipur, the City of Lakes, has been organised for this week-end and so Bianca and I needed to book 6 train tickets for Friday night. After about ten attempts to book online were sabotaged by our crappy internet connection, we sadly realised we’d have to go to the railway station after work and book them in person. The first lady we went to at an information counter told us to go outside to the booking office. As soon as we walked into the booking office, we were greeted by 300 men crammed into the room like sardines, all shooting us creepy stares! We reluctantly lined up, and after about 30 minutes we got to the front of the line only to be told that we had lined up at the wrong office! Becoming increasingly frustrated, we went to two other counters before arriving at the correct reservation office, and having not eaten since lunch, our appetites were increasing with the number of profanities that escaped our mouths. After 2 HOURS of being pointed in the wrong direction, our tickets were finally booked! On our way home, we decided, along with Carmen who has the biggest sweet tooth ever!, that the only way to make ourselves feel better was to buy Indian sweets. And so we went to a little Indian sweet shop near our house, and bought… a lot. A kilo of this, 5 of that… We learnt that it is never a good idea to go to a sweet shop when you are a) angry and b) hungry! An unfortunate combination which leads to really high blood sugar levels later in the night!

On the street
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Because so many of you have asked me ‘How is the food there?’, I’ve decided this is a really important issue to discuss! Apart from Indian sweets, the rest of the Indian food here is DELICIOUS. The staples appear to be potato and chipati, which is a flat bread (like naan) that is made from scratch at home. Alone they can be quite bland but they are mixed with so many different vegetables and spices. The food here is quite spicy as well and many of you will know that I’m not very good with spicy food! Most of us trainees are constantly sniffing at the dinner table because of all the spices! I’ve also fallen in love with the dahl they have here (a kind of lentil soup which you can mix with rice). I’m even becoming accustomed to the all-vegetarian diet! Whilst I do (almost daily) crave meat, they use so many different spices here, all the vegetarian food is so flavourful. Paneer (a kind of cheese, which they mix with curry) is another favourite of mine, and korma as well (a creamy sauce). However, whilst the Indian food is great, the Western food really leaves a lot to be desired. At one restaurant, Martin ordered a chicken and sweet corn soup, which turned out not to be sweet, but spicy, and green! A good quality chocolate is hard to come by, (dark chocolate doesn’t seem to exist at all!) and the biscuits here don’t taste normal. At the mall the other day, we found a place that sells muffins and I got so excited!, only to be disappointed because it was dry as. Last night though, we went to Café Mocha, which serves Western-style desserts and drinks, and I tried a DIVINE chocolate cookie brownie with melted chocolate and chocolate ice-cream on top J Better than Max Brenners!

India is constantly presenting interesting, confusing, and amusing things to see and experience!

View from a roof-top restaurant
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The first week that I was here, I became accutely aware that my Western clothes made me stick out even more than usual. So this week I was determined to buy some traditional clothes. The fashion here is so different and at times, very amusing! Most older women wear the sari (I’m not sure whether this is because they are very traditional, or whether it is because most of the older women are quite large here and so saris are easier to fit :P), but even younger women tend to wear traditional clothes as well, but with a slightly more fashionable twist. Many wear an outfit which consists of a long knee-length shirt and a pair of pants. What I find really funny though is the mens’ fashion. A common sight in the streets is a guy wearing a pair of very very tight faded jeans with bejeweled bum pockets, fitted to sit very high on the waist, with a collared shirt tucked in!

At Sheesha Roof-top Restaurant
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India is said to have one of the most disproportionate male-female ratios in the world, with there being approximately 950 women for every 1000 men. However, I’ve found that the ratio appears to be closer to 200 women for every 1000 men when walking on the street. The only place that I’ve been where the ratio seems remotely equal is Bapu Bazar, a street for shopping! Because of the scores of men in the streets, I have often wished I was a guy, just to avoid the stares we girls receive! India is a very conservative society, and for most people, their entire perception of Westerners is based on Western films. And so many of the men think that Western girls are ‘easy’, and Western guys always have several girlfriends. Some of the guy trainees have told me that they’ve been asked how many girlfriends they have back home, and the attitude of Indian men towards Western girls is really evident in the way they stare; not an interested ‘oh I’ve never seen a Western/Asian person before stare’ but a creepy stare. Even rickshaw drivers and shop keepers can get creepy at times! Even after telling a rickshaw driver I had a boyfriend, he asked to be my ‘Hindustani boyfriend’, and when we were in a shop buying scarves, the guy serving us pointed to Martina and goes ‘this one is looking hot’ in his Indian accent. I must admit though, that was quite funny as his accent just made it sound hilarious! Now I’ve started to tell people I’m married, to try and ward of the creepiness but even this sometimes doesn’t work!

Whilst the men are mostly unpleasant, the children here are absolutely adorable. In the morning, you see them sitting in rickshaws, there feet just reaching the end of the seat, dressed in their uniforms, being driven to school. In the Pink City, I saw one little girl standing at the front of her father’s scooter, barely able to see over the handlebars. Sometimes when we are sitting in rickshaws, kids will wave to you from other cars and rickshaws. There are children I’ve seen, mostly girls, who have large amounts of eyeliner on. It must be a cultural tradition, which I intend on finding out more about. I’ve seen camels’ eyes painted in the same way! I love that India is constantly presenting interesting, confusing, and amusing things to see and experience! Now, I only have two more days of work and then we go to Udaipur for the wk-end! Let’s hope that our 8 hr train-ride is bearable!