My “official” internship has started and I have been placed at a store called “My Earth.” They offer organic products made by local villages and distributed by NGOs (non-governmental organizations). They have organic peanut butter so I’m content. I’ve been helping them by creating information inserts to put into packages of essential oils. Pretty soon I will be assisting, I guess, in the construction of their website. I know little about this other than the good ol’ blog but I think I may be able to convey the opposite impression.
One of my favorite things about this change is the amazing bus ride I take to get to the store. The store is located 7 kms short of Dharmshala from Palampur (the state is Himachal Pradesh). The total distance is around 35 kms; it takes about 50-60 minutes on the bus. My legs of course don’t fit in the rows so they are usually obstructing the column aisles. When I stand on some buses I’m taller than the ceiling; hanging on to both hand rails and still being capable of elbowing somebody in the face is something I don’t think most Indians are used to seeing. My Hindi has also improved during this experience. Not all of the buses from Dharamshala head for Palampur, so I have to try and read the cities in the front window while flagging down the bus (sometimes if you don’t try hard enough they won’t bother to stop) as it is coming to a screeching halt. So far I haven’t had any close calls with running and having to jump on a moving bus, which is the result of sticking out like a honky thumb.
The downside to all of this is that I no longer go to Dhared everyday but I’m okay with a change of scenery and I still know the way to. My opportunity to speak Hindi with people outside the village seems like a better way to learn since most people can speak some English, but can’t understand you because you don’t sound British or Indian-English-speaking so they tend to assume you might be an American. And when they find out you actually know a little Hindi and that despite my limited language skills am capable of relaying basic concepts the conversations become much clearer. I walked home today from the bus stand and this kid started following/leading me down the road. We spoke 2 words of English (Hello, Hello) and the rest of the conversation was in Hindi. I like to throw the Hindi form of “hello” back at kids sometimes. I also occasionally answer my phone “ha-ji” (literally yes sir in English but doesn’t come across like that in Hindi) if I don’t recognize the number calling. Usually there’s silence because they instantly know I’m not Indian but aren’t sure if they should respond in English.
Price Conversions now before I go. I bought a USB memory stick (2 GBs) for…
a) $3.42
b) $7.95
c) $11.57
Hint: my continental breakfast + 2 cups of black tea + multiple hours on wifi cost $1.59.
(Pictures of the store on “Post-Waterfall Minali” slideshow link on the right side of the page.)
$7.95
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