Yesterday, sitting outside at college (definitely not skipping physics), I sat with my friend Rani and another girl. I will share how this went yesterday.
Rani, sitting beside me on a stone in the shade suddenly leaned over to me, with a real serious look on her face. It was the type of face I saw on Radha’s face when I told her what burgers in the U.S are made of. She leans close and says, “Kelsey, you know I want to tell you something.” She said this in a mixture of strange Indian accent and some Hindi/Marathi.
“Oh yeah?” I said, interested because by her look I knew it had to be good. “Kya?”
“You know Nupoor?” She asked. I did because Nupoor was the very bubbly, would-be-preppy if she lived in the U.S kind of girl who called me over just to say hi all the time. So I nodded. Actually, I didn’t nod. I did the typical Indian sideways bobbley head wobble nod thing that takes much practice.
Then she cupped her hands around my ear and whispered (rather too loudly so I squinted) “She did the kissing.”
I tried my hardest not to smile and burst out laughing, so I raised my eyebrows and said “Bopre!”
Rani went on, glad I shared her shock and disbelief. “Yeah, yeah. And you know (she says ‘you know’ a lot) I think she’s engaged. To Nathan.” I couldn’t help but laugh at this point. She gets frustrated when I laugh because this was serious business.
“Why do you think that?” I asked.
“Well, you know (there it is again), they’re always walking together outside of school and laughing. And she calls him a lot, and talks on Orkut. (Indian facebook). It’s unhealthy. It’s not good.” She shook her head, disapprovingly.
So we continued our little gossiping and then went and ate samosas.
But my, that Nupoor is really a slut. :)
Chemistry Class:
“V.N Patil.”
“Yes, Ma’am.” Responded a girl shyly while standing.
I wasn’t really paying attention. There were a hundred students and my name was either on the bottom of the list or not there at all.
Going through the people she says at one point: “Gandhi.”
“Present.” Said a boy standing, then sat.
I thought that was extremely entertaining and still do in every class.
Office:
It is strange to encounter and old man on the street who speaks perfect English. I was walking into my host father’s office when a man says perfect and politely, “Excuse me, ma’am.”
I turned to see a very old man standing there. He asked my host aunt where the cooking class was because it apparently wasn’t in the office we were headed into. Then he went through the basics like everyone else, asking where I’m from. Once he had learned I was studying at Biyani Science College and I was an exchange student he was smiling and before leaving said, “I hope you bring honor to your family name.”
I don’t know why but that stuck with me. Never would someone say that in the U.S.
Hm, there was another but I can't remember...
Just some tidbits from people I encountered.
