Aaj Beh-he-ter Hai (“Today is better.”)

In Hindi the word for “better” is pronounced something like “beh-he-ter.” I’m pleased whenever there are English cognates (and there are some, though not many). So, today (aaj) is beh-he-ter.

I slept in my new room and cranked the AC (I’m paying for electricity anyway) and I WOKE UP SHIVERING. How awesome is that? COMPLETELY AWESOME. Plus, now I walk to school, and it’s a pleasant walk with some friends, and I don’t have to negotiate with the crazy rickshaw-wallahs and I don’t have to have small change on me all the time and do you know what the best part is? I had the best-tasting yogurt I’ve had in my whole life with aloo paratha for breakfast this morning. Usually I hate plain yogurt but this stuff was homemade and it was incredible. Our Aunti-ji is a great cook. Or she hires great cooks, I’m not sure which. The maid came to clean my room this morning and it was a bit strange, but at least it was over quick. I’m still not used to it, I don’t know if I ever will be, but it’s becoming easier to accept.

I now live with four other American students. We had a small impromptu party in my room last night and I felt like this big weight had been lifted. I still miss everything and everyone in Madison (and some people in PA and TX, too!). But I don’t feel like crying all the time today.

The word for “fiance” in Hindi sounds something like “alligator” except it’s actually something like “mun-GEH-tar.” My new host family has two young women my age who are making a lot of fun of me for talking to Matthew so much. Last night they asked what his proposal was like, and I told them, and they sort of swooned. One has already had an arranged marriage, one probably will have one. I wanted to ask them what’s it’s like, marrying someone you don’t really know, but there wasn’t time. Still, it seems a big question to me. What is it like to sit there and promise your whole life to someone you’ve never met?

Moving out of my old house was painful. I had the school call a trustworthy rickshaw-wallah to take me to my old home, wait for me to finish packing (after yesterday morning’s fervent unpacking),  load up my stuff, and bring me back. I tipped him 50% of the fee because he was so patient and helpful. I think I made his day. Packing up was awkward, and I told my host mother that I had found another house and was going to move. She did that Indian head-tilt thing (anyone who’s been here knows what I mean) and said, “As you wish.” I asked about the rent and offered to pay for two weeks worth (even though I was only there for one week), figuring I was being generous and if they needed money they could find someone else to rent the room in July. She did this weird thing where she said, “Oh no, I’m not asking you for this, we are not in this for the money, you do not have to pay this.” (pause.) “But all Indian room rentals operate on monthly contracts, you know. You won’t find rooms for less than one month.” (pause.) “But you pay whatever you think, you don’t have to pay this, we don’t need this money.”

Okay, cultural issue here. What on earth does this woman want? At this point I had no idea.

So I gave her half a month’s rent, figuring (in my American way) that if having a whole month’s rent was important to her she’d ask for it (hah, lesson learned). And then she said that it would be 500 rupees more for the dhobi. 500! That’s like $12! He only washed my clothes ONCE! She said it was no matter, he charged by the month, and he’s 500 a month. This was when I figured out she was mad at me, because no dhobi in Jaipur will charge that much. That’s ridiculous. I think she just wanted to squeeze more money out of me.

And THEN she insisted that the dhobi had not brought my clothes back, so I’d have to return to her house the next day for them. I said no, I’m sure he brought them, he took them Saturday morning and they must be done by now. She insisted I was wrong and that he didn’t take them until today (though she was out of town on Saturday, so how would she know?) and she said the clothes weren’t there. I held my ground and insisted they were, and eventually she “found” them, but at this point it was clear she was angry and upset and I just wanted to get out of there. So I hurriedly packed the remaining stuff in my room and headed out. I felt awful. I’m sure that could have been handled better. But done is done, and I’m much happier. The new room is pricey, but the AC and friends are totally worth it. Plus the awesome food, and the cute Indian baby to play with!

My next project is to see if I can buy myself a cheap and/or used and/or small and/or Asus EEE laptop (with preference on the Asus) to use while I’m here. There’s a cafe with wireless right by the school (though it took us until yesterday to find it) so if I had a laptop I could be uploading beautiful photos for you all. Thank you all for your comments. WordPress makes the formatting awkward to reply to each of them, but your words of support mean a lot to me and I look forward to the time every day when I can log in and hear from you. I am taking your advice and trying to be gentle with myself (I think the new room and the AC counts) and I do have my mp3 player, so maybe I’ll listen to some bluegrass or country for a taste of home.