Nearly the end (some thoughts around life in India).

It hasn't been too many updates here lately. Mainly because nothing has happened. We're counting down the days until the studies ends and try to reminisce all the things we have experienced. I've passed both my mid-term papers and have kind of taken a break from reading while organizing all the information I've stock piled in my memory for the past 9 weeks. I'll soon travel to Kerala where I hope new experiences will make it into new blog posts and extraordinary pictures. So, to make this a blog post that isn't just rubbish, I'll try to paint a picture of what impressions I now have of this "small" Indian town.

'Parklife' has a totally different meaning here. Basically because people actually live in the park.

Most Indians have this mentality that 'what goes up must come down', or more like 'what's inside must come out'. It's not unusual to have Indians spitting right in front of you in the street. While eating at restaurants, or being on planes or buses, your fellow companion in the seat next to you may burp out loud. When going shopping, being a bit larger than the average Indian, you may hear that your size doesn't exist in India. Or if you're slightly overweight they will confront you with the fact that you're actually fat.

Patience is a virtue. There is nothing called efficiency. If you wait for a coffee which you'll get after about half an hour, you'll be surprised by how hard working they actually are at that place.

Never order continental. Or, you may, but it's faster, and far better, with Indian food.

Read newspapers with a six year old's mind. I quote yesterdays paper: "During the weekend 580 people were arrested in Chennai to prevent riots during the election, including 15 anti socials (??)...", or maybe even better "A man, on monday, complained to the police about being harrassed by his wife, which have two kids, for bad housing.".

Don't go reversed bungee jumping. An Indian student's safety belt buckle broke and resulted in a 60 feet launch and likewise a 60 feet fall to his death... Obviously...

What comes around, goes around. Don't become a criminal. A guy in Pondicherry got stabbed to death by 11 members of a rival gang last week just meters away from the bar we hung out at. He had tried to kill one of them the day before, but the "victim" escaped. What you should learn from this? If you need to kill someone: succeed in doing so!

Choose your rickshaw driver with wisdom. If it says "Speed King" on the side along with a drawing of a dragon, then it's a safe bet. It's fast and fun.

Stay away from tuna that doesn't taste like tuna. It is most likely not tuna and will make your intestines wish for a new resting ground.

Get yourself mosquito repellant. Anything will do. You'll get sucked dry anyways, but over a longer period of time.

Get used to bedbugs. Consider them your pets. It's always nicer sleeping with someone, or something, than spending the night alone.

Be prepared for any situation. There may suddenly be a beach party somewhere or a collision involving a couple of motorcycles. Prepare yourself for either surfing or saving lives.

Learn falling techniques. Just in case you want to avoid being a subject of life saving after a motorcycle accident.

Use fans. Fans works just as well as air condition except for the fact that air conditioning gets you sick. If you're sick, deal with it! Indian doctors seems hard to cope with and has very different ways of treating your illness than what you're used to. If your ear hurts it is probably your throat and if you have stomach pain they may have many different options on what it could be. It's a bit like "Are you smarter than a 5th grader?".

Do the finger dance. When the finger dance comes into the picture you know the party has started.

Bear arms. Get yourself a BB-gun. You'll hate the crows and it's good having something in hand that prevents you from running around chasing them instead.

I think this concludes it all, but there is probably more that I have left out at the moment. I'll keep you posted. Peace!