My First Friend
I’ve made my first real friend! Her name is Shahaz. Her husband owns the shop near our house on the main street, across from where we wait for the bus most mornings. Brad has chatted with him several times, and he invited us to come over for tea, so we did. Their shop is small and somewhat shabby-looking, but their house, behind it, is surprisingly large and well-furnished, with a lovely garden. Shahaz seemed delighted to see us and gave us a warm welcome. She made us comfortable with cushions on the rug and sent her daughter-in-law to the kitchen to make chai (tea).
When the chai arrived, it was accompanied by 6 plates of sweets and snacks—I have a few things to learn about hospitality! Shahaz speaks some English, and she was as curious about my family as I was about hers. She has four grown children, two of whom are married with kids, and they all live nearby. She has a daughter who teaches elementary school, and she was thrilled to find that I do also—something we have in common. I had worn my new Easter outfit, which has a long matching headscarf. Shahaz admired my outfit, but I confessed that I didn’t know how to manage the scarf. 
I took it off, moved closer to her, and asked her to wrap it for me like she had hers. She did, and her hands felt gentle around my head as her fingers smoothed my hair back under the scarf. With three daughters looking on in amusement, we all started laughing! She finished off by planting a kiss on my forehead, and then we all got our phones out and took photos together!
As we said good-bye, Shahaz took my hand tightly and taught me the local word for “friend.” She made me repeat it back several times, and told me to come again soon. One of the principles of language learning is that we remember best the words and expressions that we learn in the context of memorable experiences. Thanks to Shahaz, “friend” is a word that I won’t forget.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged friend by Lisa
Toilet Talk
One of the many things we’ve been learning about recently: bathrooms. A recent language lesson featured kitchen and bathroom nouns. It turned out to be harder than we thought to nail down the local word for “toilet” because it’s considered a shameful thing to talk about. Our language helper offered “WC” and “latrine,” but couldn’t come up with a native language word because it would be something they would never say!
The “Anglo-Indian…”
Meanwhile, work has been continuing on our own bathroom; since we arrived we’ve been using our landlord’s bathroom downstairs. He has the type of toilet we fondly refer to as a “squatty potty.” This type of fixture is familiar to us, but we now find that our aging knees make the squats difficult. When Brad went with our landlord to purchase fixtures for our bathroom, they came home with something we’d never seen before- a hybrid toilet, which they call an “Anglo-Indian.” It looks like an American toilet, but when the seat is lifted up there are footpads for those who like to squat!
… a hybrid toilet!
So we’ll be able to preserve our knee joints while offering bathroom hospitality to our local guests. The “Anglo-Indian” is one of many examples of creative connection between cultures here and there!
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged hybrid toilet by Lisa
My New Clothes
I finally have my new clothes! On Thursday I picked up my new outfits from the tailor’s shop. (The tailor’s name is Raj and his shop is called “Supersonic Sewing”!) My teammate had taken me to shop for fabric, and helped me pick out pieces that were already embroidered with bright flowers in the local style. Everything was so beautiful that it was hard to choose! Then she took me to Raj’s place and he measured me. I’m guessing he probably hasn’t made women’s pants that long before! But the clothes fit perfectly; he’s really an expert. I feel much better now that I can go out dressed in the local style—baggy pants, long tunic-top, and matching headscarf—rather than my American-style jeans and shirt.
The tailor, sitting cross-legged behind me, works at a sewing machine on a low bench in front of him.
New clothes are only the most visible way in which I am putting on a new identity here in my adopted home. We don’t often think about all those details that make up “who we are,” the person we know ourselves to be and assume others know as well. When I meet someone for the first time, he asks me, “Where are you from?” and I answer, “California,” but that doesn’t begin to describe my globe-trotting background. “What do you do here?” is the second question, to which I answer, “I am learning your language… my husband is an agro-forestry consultant…” and that says almost nothing at all about my past experience, all my training, or what really brings me to this place. Underneath my new clothes, I still have a strong sense of who I am and Whose I am, but as yet my neighbors don’t know me at all. Still, I hope this new plum-colored outfit with the bright embroidery communicates a little more about who I am: I am a person who is not afraid to let go of my American-ness; I am a person who values this culture and wants to fit in; I am a person who loves beauty and finds it right here around me.
Posted in Uncategorized and tagged new clothes by Lisa