There was that day...

There was that day (i.e. today) that I finally sat down to update my friends and family what has been going on over the past little while. So here you go! Be warned... this will take a while. :)

There was that day that Anna and I ate an entire watermelon between us one lunchtime.

There was that day that Anna had a large pile of dishes screaming her name.

There was that day that I bought over-the-counter antibiotics for a chest and sinus infection.

There was that day when there were too many pigeons for one bit of sky.

There was that day when the colours looked beautiful on the buildings I could see from our living room.

There was that legendary day that Anna cooked donuts, while watching Vampire Diaries, and burnt her finger in the oil.

There was that day when the monsoon rain left it's beauty behind for a little longer.

There was that day that I watched a man watching another person. Inception of stalkers.

There was that day that for dinner I made roti's from scratch, and served quesadillas for the last meal Kay was with us. 

There was that day when we were a large family around a small table.

There was that day that Judy bought over a Korean film, and we cried with laughter after soon learning that one of the words constantly said was a bad word.

There was that day that Judy invited us all over for a Korean dinner, gave us cute little charms for our phones, and sent us home happy and content.

There was that epic day that Gabe's came back to India (finally), and she was a darling and bought me these back!

There was that day when the thunder rattled our building, and so logically I had to prance around in the monsoon rains that flooded the streets.

There was that day that Gabe's turned 19, and I embroidered a piece of paper for her.

There was that day when the (small) bruise finally came through from a fall in the night; I had woken up needing to pee, and didn't realise half of my thigh was numb, and as soon as I was standing I had crumpled back onto the ground on my hands and knees, and half crawled/half stumbled my way to the bathroom.

There was that day that Anna serenaded Luke on his farewell, with her 150 rupee string instrument.

There was that day that Nate looked like this...

... and the boys collectively looked like this.

There was that day when we managed to count 9 nationalities between us: Ukrainian, Korean, American, Kiwi, Brazilian, South African, Irish, Australian, and Indian.

There was that day that I had weird shoulder-pads (and an expression to match).

There was that day that we went to Mocambo's for lunch, and we were served our drinks in giant mugs, and our food on a hot, sizzling stone.

There was that day that I ate my first true store-bought donuts.

There was that day that I bought this nose-stud, lost it down the drain, realised it had actually just fallen into my hair 15 minutes later after sulking for a while, and eventually got it in!

There was that day that I was waiting for a friend at the metro, and this man requested that I take his photo.

There was that day that I got to meet Christina (centre), who I have been in touch with via our blogs!

There was that day when the monsoon was light and delicate, and it left pretty rings in the water.

There was that day when my view looked like this.

There was that day that I took photos of the beautiful, and crumbling, buildings surrounding our flat. It is amazing how old some of these buildings are.

There was that day when I remembered just how beautiful textures are.

There was that day that the sky was deep blue.

There was that memorable day that Anna found some New Zealand kiwi-fruit at a store!

There was that day that I embroidered some fabric, cut some paper and hard-card up, stitched the paper together, made my own glue, and bound my own book.

There was that day where things were just beautiful.

There was that yummmmmmy day when I tried a very sweet lychee drink.

There was that day when I saw a girl wandering on her roof in her night-gown.

There was that day when I gave a photo some embroidered pants.

There was that day when our friends bought us some fresh beans from the States, and we took turns to smell them.

There was that day when it was the 4th of July, and the boys finally organised themselves to spell this out.,,

...and that I captured this pretty awesome photo of Nate.

Now, this Saturday, Anna and I will be boarding a 28 hour train to Chennai, and will fly out on the Monday to SRI LANKA!! We will spend a couple of nights in Colombo, one up in the mountains where we will climb Adam's Peak, then we will travel to the east to Trincomalee for 3 nights on the Uppuvelli beach, before spending our final night (and Anna's birthday) in a nice hotel back in Colombo. We will return slightly different shades of skin colour when we return I am sure (me red, Anna tan), and relaxed and refreshed. At least that is the aim of this trip! It will also be marking the half-way point of my stay here in India.

See you all later!

xx

My Neighbourhood.

A collection of images from the neighbourhood I live in, capturing the textures, the shapes, and colours that so often are overlooked:

Hello all!

I write as I sit perched on the window sill, looking down upon evening activities of the average Kolkata resident: one trying to park his car into a space smaller than his vehicle; the neighbours lounging in their living room, with their pet pug-dog sprawled on the floor next to them; our gate-keeper strolling up and down the alley... being able to look down through our neighbour's windows draws a fine line between a curiosity, and being creepy on our part. But it is a luxury I chose to embrace - when else in my life will I be able to see the normal goings-on of this culture, which is so different to our normal.

Every day we walk past Indian citizens, often occupying their attention for a moment with our pale skin and attempting-to-look-ethnic clothing, and sometimes I wonder, what is their story? What was it like to grow up in this city? Do they think about the same things that I do? Back home in New Zealand, we have some way of being able to assume that the person you pass in the street is not too dissimilar to you, but here I can never assume. To assume would be to constrain, to categorize, or to pretend I have a grasp on the culture and the way this society works.

Sure, we are all human, and we do the same things. We wash our clothes, we eat, we strive to earn a livable income, and we interact with our friends, family, and peers. But the way I might wash my clothes, or the way I will embrace someone close to me can be completely different, and 100% defined by the way I have been bought up.

I don't often think into these things too much, but if I really want to become friends with the women I work alongside, I have to observe, listen, and learn about their culture.

So yes, in India I am a stalker, perched on a windowsill, looking in on the comings and goings of the people we live 10m away from, and I am proud of it. In a city where staring does not seem to be rude, and personal issues are laid bare, I observe and take it all in. I roll around the way someone reacted to a certain situation in my head, the way you might suck on a piece of candy - you savour the experience, and allow your mind to store away the memory, ready to pull it out when you are confronted by the same experience in the future, so you know how to act. In the case of candy, you see it, and your mind tells you, eat it! because you know it tasted good. If I saw a situation play out in front of me that I had come across in the past, I would know what I should do in that circumstance.

Hello, my name is Alanna, and I am a stalker.

x