Believe it or not, this is the title of a very famous (and very good) Bollywood movie. Crazily, I'm slowly becoming an avid fan of Bollywood, especially since Auntie and I watch television every evening together, and I much prefer cheesey song-and-dance movies to even cheesier comedy shows I will never understand or think are funny. Granted, the movies never have English subtitles, but the plots are so simple and predictable that I hardly even need Auntie's explanation. Today, I even bought my first Bollywood movie, called "Om Shanti Om," which I watched a part of on television and fell in love with. Unfortunately I will have to watch it on Auntie's ancient computer since we don't have a DVD player.
When I talk to my parents on the phone, they often ask details about what I do every day. So here is a basic layout of a typical day...
I work Monday through Saturday, roughly from 10am to 5pm. Our office is closed every second Saturday of the month.
If I am going to the office (as opposed to a village), I wake up at 8:20, turn on the heater for my shower, and change into shorts and a tank top. Then I go behind the house where there is a small patio enclosed by a wall where no one can see me in my scantily-clad workout clothes. My exercise routine consists of jumping rope to 80s music, then some push-ups, crunches, and lunges. Then I shower.
To go to the office I either wear a shalwaar kameez (a typical Indian suit that consists of loose cotton pants, a knee-length shirt, and a scarf), or my own black or khaki pants with a loose fitting Indian-style shirt. I've decided my Western clothes are too snug fitting to wear to my office, where I am surrounded mostly by older men or farmers from even more conservative villages.
Auntie and I sit for breakfast around 9:20 and drink our mugs of chai and watch the morning horoscope programs on TV. Breakfast varies - sometimes I eat pappadam or paratha (kinds of breads), sometimes an egg omelet on roti, sometimes a spicy rice dish, sometimes Cornflakes.
Around 10am I walk to work. When I arrive, I figure out when the electricity is going off. Rajasthan has a power outage, so they cut all the power for three hours every day. It is usually from 10-1 or from 1-4, but it always varies by 30 minutes or so. So if I need to use a computer that day, I have to plan accordingly. Amazingly, my office does have internet (on some computers), which is a nice perk. I'm not quite sure what I do at work yet, so I'll just skip over that part.
There is a chai break at work around 11:30am. I walk home for lunch at 1, and return around 2. There is another chai break around 3:30, and I leave the office again at 5pm.
On Mondays and Wednesdays I walk to Hindi class after work, which is from 5:30-6:30. On Thursdays, we sometimes have FSD meetings after work. If there are no meetings, sometimes I go run errands after work, such as a trip to an internet cafe, or to buy a snack or something I need. Sometimes I just go home and pick up my room, or wash a few clothes if I need to wear something again before our cleaning lady returns. Other days I might go out with some friends to eat dinner in the old city, which has beautiful rooftop restaurants where you can watch the sun set over the lakes and the temples.
If I am home, Auntie usually makes chai around 7:30, and we sit and talk about our day. Then she begins cooking dinner around 8, and I stand in the kitchen and help her (I have become an expert at making rotis). We eat anytime between 8:30 and 9:30. Then we watch television (sometimes I opt to read) until 10:30 or 11 when we go to bed.
On my days off, I often meet up with other interns, or accompany Auntie wherever she goes. Running errands with Auntie is fun, because I can discover many wonderful secrets about Udaipur, like the back alleys where I can find a tailor, or where to have fresh-squeezed juice and which kinds are yummy. I have yet to do many touristy things, but I am planning on touring some temples very soon. And, occassionally, there are foreigners living in apartments in Udaipur who throw "parties." Tonight I am going to one, though it will be cut short so I can be home by my 10:30ish curfew.
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