This one took me by surprise, because most of "my places" used to be in Western Europe. But as the NW winters wear on, and because I already feel like I live in Ireland, minus the castles and sweet accent, I yearn to saturate myself in a place of rich color, hot sun, and vivid culture, exotic spices, warm skin tones, satisfying food, meditative music, and dancing hands.
Also, someone to pay for every Indian adventure you could possibly dream of.
Facts about India:
-7th largest country, area wise; 2nd highest in population.
-Official language is Hindi. Tiger is the national animal.
-There are four seasons which are recognized by the India Meteorological department. They are - cold weather, hot weather, rainy season and the season of the retreating south-west monsoon. Upon consideration, I would choose the retreating monsoon season?
-Agriculture is the dominant occupation. It is the largest milk-producer in the world.
-Many Indians find toilet paper repellent and consider it cleaner to splash water with the left hand in the appropriate direction. Consequently, the left hand is considered unclean and is never used for eating.
-India is the birthplace of chess.
-Take care with the hair: In India, the fold and color of clothing are viewed as important markers of social classification. Additionally, women will be viewed as either a prostitute or a holy person depending on the manner in which she parts her hair. (Avoid the zig-zag part, I guess.)
-In recent years, Indian authors have made a mark on the world with such novels as Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988), Vikram Seth’s Suitable Boy (1993), and Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things (1997). I can't say these are great books because I have never read them, but it might be worth a try. I, for one am going to read Staying On by Paul Scott. It is about India.
Ach-cha, Kelsey Louise
1 comment:
I feel the same way about traveling. I've only been to Mexico and I don't think you can really count that as leaving the US. I want to travel through Europe and my heart aches for Italy. I know that now is just not my time. I can't be away from my kids long enough to fully enjoy what these places have to share, and I doubt I'd enjoy them with little ones in tow. So I too push those dreams aside hoping that when David and I are done raising our children we will have time (and money) to travel together and really enjoy what the world has to offer.
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