I must go to fetch the water...

The season must have officially changed from summer to rain. It rains every day now. Some days the rain is accompanied by patches and periods of sun, but there is inevitably rain on the menu. Daily. It makes the laundry situation an interesting one. It’s also less hot. When the sun and the hours 12-3 align, it can still be uncomfortably warm (after factoring in the humidity), but it is usually quite nice. In our room, we often have the fan on, to subdue the stuffiness which comes as a result of the moisture, but we sit under blankets.

I’ve taken a few walks in the village. From what I’ve gathered, there’s not much here. The vast majority of all buildings are homes. A few little shops (selling bananas, sweets, “biscuits”—cookies—, and other small snacks) are sprinkled in. There’s also a small restaurant (I think Liann refers to it as the tea stall), and a number of temples. I also think I passed a barber’s shop (a small shack with a chair inside) at one point. But it’s difficult for me to tell what buildings are what. To my American eyes, all the buildings tend to look very much like all the others. They are large cement blocks, with small openings for windows (many of the larger windows have wooden doors). Most roofing is in some sort of ceramic or clay tiles…I can’t quite tell. Many of the sheds, outhouses, or poorer homes are thatched huts, or at least have thatched roofs. Our outhouse is cement with a thatched roof. (I just checked with Matthew, our host, and he says that the roof is clay tiles.)

Our facilitator is out of town for the weekend (for personal reasons), so the three of us inexperienced girls have been on our own. We were invited to dinner the other day. Last (and only other time) we went to dinner at a family other than our host, the family was a little more western. They had a table. This time, the family was very Indian. And we are all still very American. We had fun trying to figure out how to be polite. We kept slipping and saying thank you. In India, you don’t say “thank you” to family or friends. The family reminded us of this on multiple occasions. Finding a polite way to excuse ourselves for the evening was fun. We went through a few cycles of trying to decide if our hosts were trying to politely suggest we leave, trying to leave, and being asked to stay. Not sure that we handled ourselves in the most polite and culturally savvy way possible…but we made it through the night, and we all seem to be friends still, so I count that as a successful excursion.

Exciting news! I got to carry water today! The large cistern (the one with the fish, from which we draw water to shower) is filled every few days. I don’t understand the system of taking turns at the water tap. And from what I hear, none of the byu students have ever understood. But there’s a water spout just out on the road. It comes on occasionally, and when it does, the families in the surrounding area set out their little plastic pots to claim a spot in the water line. But not every time…I just don’t understand. Anyway! When it’s our turn, we get large plastic pots and carry them back and forth from the spout to the cistern. It’s a rather exciting ordeal. The little neighborhood girls laughed at us Americans who can’t carry our water properly. They laughed a lot. We’ll get better. I was excited to be able to sing the song from The Jungle Book (Father’s hunting in the forest/ Mother’s cooking in the home/ I must go to fetch the water…) and have it actually apply to the situation! I think I’ve been waiting my whole life for this opportunity. We actually really do enjoy carrying the water. And it will be a fun challenge to learn how to carry it like a little Indian girl, and not spill all over ourselves. (For those of you wondering, they actually do not carry the water on their heads…they hold it on their hips.)