MY HOME, MY CLOTHES

This post will serve to inform you of my living situation and (for some of my curious readers) my new wardrobe. I mentioned that I have been trying to move to campus to be closer to the international students. Every evening it is challenging to leave my new friends and trek back to me lonely little Indian “cottage.” I don’t mind the conditions I live in; it is the solitude that I am struggling to accept. Last night I wrote the housing director, and I knew she would respond to me today. This morning I prayed that whatever the answer was, I would have a peace about it. I dearly wanted to be brought closer to the international students; instead, the international students were brought to me. Rumor has it my hotel is now full of international students. I have only met seven of them, and they have expressed interest in getting to know me. The feeling is mutual.

I heard from one of the Norwegians, who was registering today, that the college is currently at max capacity for international students (40). Some of those students are being housed at my hotel. Tonight is a “mixer” of sorts for international students, and I look forward to meeting them.

Eventually I will move to campus (March 1^st), but for now I will stay where I am. And this is where I am. I am in room number 4 of Ananda Bhavan Hotel. It is a small little room painted a lovely Pepto-Bismol pink color. A small lockable closet (where Gentry lives) sits off in the corner. There are two small, rather firm, beds and two “bedside” tables.

My room!

The closet in my room. 

The bathroom is through a tall narrow door (that doesn't really open all the way) to the left as you walk into the room. For American standards, the bathroom is not really very clean. There is a small sink as you walk in, with a “shower” to the right. My shower is actually a combination of three faucets. I have a shower head that delivers water from the corner of the bathroom at a normal shower height. There is a faucet below that with a bucket to catch the water. Both of these water sources are cold. Just in front of my sink is a blue faucet at hip-height that delivers really hot water. My showers consist of me turning on both hip-height faucets and letting the buckets below fill with water. I then take the small plastic pitcher and mix them to create a pleasant water temperature, and then pouring it over myself with the same pitcher. It works like a charm!

There is not much more to my place than that. There is laundry service for 5 rupees/piece if I leave my clothes in a bag outside my door with my name on it. The room is cleaned every four days (or at least once a week) at my discretion; I just leave my room key with the night guard. There is a night guard that comes at 5:00pm and leaves at 7:30am. Like many Indian residences, the door locks from the outside with a large bolt and padlock. From the inside, it locks with two sliding bolts. It serves its purpose. The nice thing about my place is that one light and the fan will continue to work during an outage. Many places are not like that.

As far as clothing, I did not pack properly. I was misinformed. Traditional Indian attire is best. My advice, come a day early and buy clothes once you are here. Pack REALLY light. Long, loose tops are preferred. Scrub pants are tolerated. That is the best advice I have for clothing for females. Males, slacks and button up shirts are the standard.

 I must run off to the “mixer” now. My love to all, and thank you for the thoughts, comments, and prayers.