The thing I was most nervous about on the plane here was meeting my
host family. I wanted to fit in to their family life whilst also
representing myself as someone from a different culture well. When I
arrived, Vijaya was on the drive talking to a young man. I shook her
hand and introduced myself, then Rodger and Jack, the boys I'm living
with, came out and started trying to move my very heavy case. I then saw
Catrin, who I'd been emailing for a few weeks, so it was nice to see
someone who was slightly familiar even though I'd not met her before!
The other gappers and I sat on the seats in the hall with Vijaya. I
felt a bit awkward because I didn't really know what I could talk about
after I'd answered the questions about my journey etc. I then saw the
huge portrait of Queen Victoria on the wall! As that is something that
my mum doesn't have in my house, it was a bit of a surprise, and it felt
strange that an Indian family obviously felt more of a connection to a
British monarch than I did. My first meal was quite memorable as I
really struggled to remember which hands were used for serving, holding
glasses etc. It's quite difficult for me to eat with my right hand as
I'm left handed and, if I don't use cutlery, I eat with my left hand. I
was worried I would look rude or ignorant when I got it wrong. Vijaya
stood over us and corrected us which was funny but also a little bit
scary!
Now I have been here over a week I am feeling a lot more comfortable
and settled. On Sunday night we visited Hema's house and met all the
other gappers. Hearing how everyone has settled in so well and how much
they love the city was very reassuring, and shows how we can all adapt
to different circumstances. I found it quite interesting how most of the
others have had quite privileged upbringings, especially when compared
with the children who we are looking after, as it shows how far out of
their culture, or normal comfort zone, they must be, so I am confident I
will easily adapt to life in
Bangalore too.
I am getting more used to the food - when we went to a mall on Sunday I
choose to eat paneer butter masala and naan from the northern Indian
food stand instead of getting a SubWay or something western. It felt
weird not having Geetha, our cook, there. She went to visit her children
who live 80km away for the weekend, so we made our own meals. It makes
me understand in a way how people can get used to having staff and doing
fewer things for themselves, as it felt strange coming home and dinner
not being ready! It was good to have her back last night and be back to
rice and spice!