Day 4
After an 8 hour drive that was actually only a distance of about 200 miles I have reached my dad's old house by Ishwaramangala. We're talking really rural here. The house is surrounded by forestry which is great. Life is nice and slow paced but not boring. I just spent an hour watching a kitten play with a piece of cardboard. Also I'm pretty occupied with swatting mosquitoes. All of you frequent readers probably know my views of mosquito bites by now but let me tell you there are no mosquitoes like rural Indian mosquitoes. Except those West Nile ones. Those are bad.
Well to combat the mosquitoes it's best to wear long sleeves and pants but it's easily 35-40 degrees all the time so if it's not the mosquitoes tormenting you it is the heat. So far I've voted on heat and limited my bites to only 5. These bites aren't too bad but one of them is just a pain. It's an inner ear one which is almost as annoying as an eyelid bite. But it's whatever. Regardless of the downfalls I always make it a point to come out here every time I come to India. Pretty much all my cousins live here, the food is great, and the air is so exceedingly fresh it makes up for the hella pollution in Bangalore.
You might be thinking, "yo, Nik just went and left Bangalore to avoid going to the gym." Fear not. There are other ways to find gains on a farmland. I was moving a bag of coconuts earlier and managed to sneak in a couple of squats so that was good.
Day 5
The thing about India is that every single time I come I am so out of the loop. This is especially so when I visit my dad's house. Him being one of 10 children means that his side of the family is full of people who I need to know by name and honorific. Put into effect their limited English and my limited Kannada and there is a lot of confusion. For example there was this kid who I had no idea who she was but she knew me by name. Turns out she was born after my last visit. That's just not fair. It's OK though. I've just been not talking and all and doing a lot of smiling and waving. It works. The second thing about India is that it's hot and humid. Easily 30 degrees all the time. Compared to here, Hotlanta is a winter wonderland. Furthermore, all the long sleeve sweaters I brought don't help.
There is a third thing about India and it has to do with food. There is so much food to eat but half the time I have no idea what I'm doing/what it is/how to eat it. A game some of my cousins and I play is we point to things and teach each other the corresponding word. Most vegetables they point at I didn't know existed before I cam here. I certainly didn't know how to call them in English. So when it comes to a meal I sit quietly and let myself be served everything and hope for the best. Half the time it turns out to be bananas and I hat bananas but I eat it anyway. As a banana hater I should have rejected the banana but sometimes they are just so camouflaged that you mistake them for something else. So I've eaten maybe 2 bananas this trip.
After an 8 hour drive that was actually only a distance of about 200 miles I have reached my dad's old house by Ishwaramangala. We're talking really rural here. The house is surrounded by forestry which is great. Life is nice and slow paced but not boring. I just spent an hour watching a kitten play with a piece of cardboard. Also I'm pretty occupied with swatting mosquitoes. All of you frequent readers probably know my views of mosquito bites by now but let me tell you there are no mosquitoes like rural Indian mosquitoes. Except those West Nile ones. Those are bad.
Well to combat the mosquitoes it's best to wear long sleeves and pants but it's easily 35-40 degrees all the time so if it's not the mosquitoes tormenting you it is the heat. So far I've voted on heat and limited my bites to only 5. These bites aren't too bad but one of them is just a pain. It's an inner ear one which is almost as annoying as an eyelid bite. But it's whatever. Regardless of the downfalls I always make it a point to come out here every time I come to India. Pretty much all my cousins live here, the food is great, and the air is so exceedingly fresh it makes up for the hella pollution in Bangalore.
You might be thinking, "yo, Nik just went and left Bangalore to avoid going to the gym." Fear not. There are other ways to find gains on a farmland. I was moving a bag of coconuts earlier and managed to sneak in a couple of squats so that was good.
Day 5
The thing about India is that every single time I come I am so out of the loop. This is especially so when I visit my dad's house. Him being one of 10 children means that his side of the family is full of people who I need to know by name and honorific. Put into effect their limited English and my limited Kannada and there is a lot of confusion. For example there was this kid who I had no idea who she was but she knew me by name. Turns out she was born after my last visit. That's just not fair. It's OK though. I've just been not talking and all and doing a lot of smiling and waving. It works. The second thing about India is that it's hot and humid. Easily 30 degrees all the time. Compared to here, Hotlanta is a winter wonderland. Furthermore, all the long sleeve sweaters I brought don't help.
There is a third thing about India and it has to do with food. There is so much food to eat but half the time I have no idea what I'm doing/what it is/how to eat it. A game some of my cousins and I play is we point to things and teach each other the corresponding word. Most vegetables they point at I didn't know existed before I cam here. I certainly didn't know how to call them in English. So when it comes to a meal I sit quietly and let myself be served everything and hope for the best. Half the time it turns out to be bananas and I hat bananas but I eat it anyway. As a banana hater I should have rejected the banana but sometimes they are just so camouflaged that you mistake them for something else. So I've eaten maybe 2 bananas this trip.
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