We are just the worst representation of white people in India.
Monday morning began with us waking up and packing up. It was moving day. At 10am, a driver came to pick us up, along with all of our stuff. We headed into Lingarajpuram, 6km and a good 30minutes away to our new home. The house belongs to the youth pastor's parents, who offered us their first floor for a fair price. Looking forward to having our own space, and finally unpacking some of our clothes, we dragged in our luggage and attempted to settle in. No such luck. It took 10 minutes, and a strong effort to hold back tears to quickly realize that this place was not going to be our Indian home. There was a lack of storage space, we weren't able to unpack a thing. The bathroom had just been redone, but there was no hot water available. The setup was very awkward, as we were meant to live with another girl, and we had to travel through her bedroom to get anywhere in the house. Other factors made the space uncomfortable for us snobbish white privileged girls, and with that we called daddy. He was quick to make alternate arrangements, and we awkwardly left that night. We couldn't exactly blame cultural difference for our discomfort, as there was a white British couple staying there for a couple nights.
In the end, everyone was very understanding and so kind to us. We even went to a movie with the youth pastor and the guys from TFT that same night. It was a Bollywood film. It was not in English, and there were no subtitles. But that's ok, because in an Indian theatre, you can talk as loud as you want. Need to make a phone call, don't go anywhere, it's no problem to do it from your seat. Are you excited about something that happened in the movie, you should probably whistle, clap and cheer! Sam and I each had one of the guys interpreting the movie for us, but our lack of understanding had a lot to do with the on screen rooster fights and the romantic gestures of stalking and suicide. Three hours later (now we know why they have intermissions), we exited the film with apologies from Raj, as the film was quite violent. It was definitely an entertaining first glimpse of Indian cinema.
The night ended with a short motorcycle ride home, some apologies to dad for causing him stress earlier in the day, and a good night sleep in a comfortable king sized bed. Talk about spoiled rotten white privilege.
As for today, we have spent some time doing some research for TFT, and preparing documents for their Drop-in centre.
Monday morning began with us waking up and packing up. It was moving day. At 10am, a driver came to pick us up, along with all of our stuff. We headed into Lingarajpuram, 6km and a good 30minutes away to our new home. The house belongs to the youth pastor's parents, who offered us their first floor for a fair price. Looking forward to having our own space, and finally unpacking some of our clothes, we dragged in our luggage and attempted to settle in. No such luck. It took 10 minutes, and a strong effort to hold back tears to quickly realize that this place was not going to be our Indian home. There was a lack of storage space, we weren't able to unpack a thing. The bathroom had just been redone, but there was no hot water available. The setup was very awkward, as we were meant to live with another girl, and we had to travel through her bedroom to get anywhere in the house. Other factors made the space uncomfortable for us snobbish white privileged girls, and with that we called daddy. He was quick to make alternate arrangements, and we awkwardly left that night. We couldn't exactly blame cultural difference for our discomfort, as there was a white British couple staying there for a couple nights.
In the end, everyone was very understanding and so kind to us. We even went to a movie with the youth pastor and the guys from TFT that same night. It was a Bollywood film. It was not in English, and there were no subtitles. But that's ok, because in an Indian theatre, you can talk as loud as you want. Need to make a phone call, don't go anywhere, it's no problem to do it from your seat. Are you excited about something that happened in the movie, you should probably whistle, clap and cheer! Sam and I each had one of the guys interpreting the movie for us, but our lack of understanding had a lot to do with the on screen rooster fights and the romantic gestures of stalking and suicide. Three hours later (now we know why they have intermissions), we exited the film with apologies from Raj, as the film was quite violent. It was definitely an entertaining first glimpse of Indian cinema.
The night ended with a short motorcycle ride home, some apologies to dad for causing him stress earlier in the day, and a good night sleep in a comfortable king sized bed. Talk about spoiled rotten white privilege.
As for today, we have spent some time doing some research for TFT, and preparing documents for their Drop-in centre.
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