Family Life
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!