Overall Impressions of India

First of all, I am becoming used to be treated as some kind of celebrity here in India. Everywhere that I go Indians like to take pictures of me. Often they will pull out their cell phone and take pictures of me without asking. I find it very funny to smile or wave at them when I see this happen because to acknowledge that I see them taking my picture. When this happens they often smile and may be a little embarrassed that they were not being more subtle. They often smile back and it is really funny. There are also many people who will come up to me and ask for "one picture" or "snaps". I really don't mind being in these pictures because I am a guest in their country and I am taking pictures of them as well.

                The driving style is another thing that stands out to me here.Everyone drives very aggressively and heavily uses their horn. Also on the streets there will be trucks, buses, cars, auto-rickshaws, motor cycles, bikes, and tons of pedestrians.  I do not understand how more accidents do not happen here on the roads because there seems to be no traffic rules. Driving in an auto-rickshaw or walking on the street it is unbelievable how close cars and bikes come to hitting each other or pedestrians on the street at high speeds without actually making contact. You learn very quickly to respond to the sound of a horn to get out of the way when walking on the street because pedestrians are not given the right of way. Crossing the street in the bigger cities is a huge challenge that I must get better at. I have yet so see any crosswalks so whenever you have to get to the other side of the street you must jay walk through crazy traffic that doesn't seem to have a break. When I watch the Indians cross the street they slowly weave their way through and find the gaps easily, while we wait for a long time before starting to cross then dash across. It is definitely a skill that you must grow up learning.

                The next thing that has stood out to me is their head bobble. Basically it is a way of acknowledging something that you have said and it neither means yes nor no. It is very confusing for us Canadians to understand and there is no way to clarify it. It literally looks like one of those bobble head toys and it is used in various situations. If I were to say thank you in a store as I left then then the store owner would do the head bobble instead of saying thank you. Also I was trying to buy an Internet stick and was asking if it would work as I travel to the north and the man responded with a head bobble. I am really trying to understand the true meaning and proper use of the head bobble.

                Finally, I have learned that Indian people so not have the same business attitude as Canadians do. When you go into a store and you want to buy something you have to almost fight to get it. I will tell them what I want and they will tell "yes we have that here". It gets complicated when I ask to have it. Also, I learned that you can not trust a sign for a store because often they do not even exist. I am getting used to the fact that things work very differently here. As an example, I am unable to attach pictures to my blog at the moment because the internet connection on my internet stick is very poor in the area that I am in and I have to use an internet caffe.  I will try my best to attach photos in the future.