The Curry Pits Blues

This post will serve as an open letter to all those first generation Indian children in America:

Dear Middle School Indian American,
I know sometimes going through this change in your life can be difficult. Your voice is changing, hair is appearing where it's never been, and mom and dad seem to be getting more and more annoying. There are probably two experiences you are having right now. 1) You're going through an experience in your life where your physical body and your emotional mind are changing. For the next few years you will probably resent your parents at times, and that's okay, you'll get through this. Mom and dad are good people and they understand this change, they went through it too (even though it may not seem like it).

And 2) You're a bi-cultural adolescent. This is hard to conceptualize, maybe hard for you to understand, and most definitely difficult for your parents to comprehend. Yes, you have body oder (we call that BO in the US). And yes I know you use deodorant, your friends were nice enough to get you a stick, but buddy, it's not your fault you still smell. It just so happens that the food you eat goes in and decides to come out through your pores. Don't lament, and don't think a viable option is to stop eating mom's food. That will hurt her feelings, and put a dent in your practically already empty pockets. Your best bet is to weather the storm until you get to college and you can choose your own diet. Apply deodorant twice a day and try to mask the curry smell with some cologne. You'll get through this. Don't heed much to those other kids' teasing, you'll be their boss one day. Plus you know more languages than them, and dude, that's hot!

In closing, see this time in your life as an experience you can only have once. Make mistakes, try different deodorants (who knows one could really work- if so, let me know what the name is), and no matter how many times you feel different from everyone else remember that every kid your age feels that way- it's a right of passage.
Cheers,

-A sympathetic International Student

My shirts tell me each day that the curry pits have set in. No matter how much deodorant I use, it wont go away. But... I'm starting to get used to it.

In other news, Andy leaves tonight- I will miss him dearly. Soon the Germans students will be arriving and I will have new international student friends.

(BTW check out my newest pictures)

Eyes turned against me

So I had food poisoning yesterday. And no it's not fun. It was my first time. I woke up in the middle of the night 4 times and I had to run to the bathroom- which is down one flight of stairs and up another (our main bathroom is being worked on so I have to use a different one). I woke up in the morning exhausted and feeling really weak. I planned on simply laying in bed all day, but of course my Indian friends wouldn't let that happen. They came in my room and saw that I was sick- and ran to get Father Prassant (the hostel warden). After a few minutes of talking with FaPra he went and got Biju, the guy in charge of the international students. Biju took me to a doctor near by the campus and I was given several medications. Long story short I played video games and watched a movie yesterday- and now I feel 95% better.

When I ran into the vice principal, Dr. Mary Joseph, she told me that I was probably sick because as an old Indian proverb says "do something well and others will turn their eyes against you" which will make you sick. She of course was referring to the Cultural program that the Americans presented on Tuesday. She said that I did a wonderful job singing. Wait did I not mention that before? Well, I sang solo the National Anthem in front of some 300 students. It was my first time singing by myself in front of a large group. Andy of course took a video of the "performance" and put it on You Tube. I was really nervous but I think I did the National Anthem justice. Without further ado Jeremy's rendition of the US National Anthem:

Mumbai

I just got back from a really fun weekend in Mumbai. I went with Andy, Shachi, Ashika, and Jessica. The first day we did some shopping and Andy and I went to Juhu beach. Yes it is a beach but as you can see form my photos it's rather dirty. While Andy and I were on the beach many street children tried to tap us for money. One kid has a monkey on a chain "want to see monkey dance- Michael Jackson monkey dance." I told this kid that "I don't speak English." That night we went out to dinner with a friend of Ashika (Anand). We went club and bar hopping, as you will see from my pictures. It was crazy how similar the bars and clubs were to American bars and clubs. This one bar we went to made me feel like I was back in College Park.

The next day we did sight seeing. We saw so many cool buildings and I got offered pot about 7 time: "postcards! maps of Mumbai! *whisper* you want marijuana?" My mom would be happy to know that I said "no thank you."

Mumbai was a nice relaxing weekend, but very expensive compared to Kochi. I was ready to come back home to Rajagiri.

It's funny you mention that Scott

As I've gotten to know the men of the hostel, I've come to enjoy their company very much. We often hang out and make fun of each other. I even attended a fun event that the Masters of Computer Administration students put on for all their classmates (called C-STAR). When I entered the auditorium the emcee announced that a "special guest has just arrived- Jerome!" Yes, I go by Jerome here. The three syllable "Jer-ra-mee" becomes a hassle when I meet new people, so one of my new friends suggested I just go by Jerome (a common name here).
At C-STAR my friends thought it would be funny for me to tell a 4 minute impromptu story about a picture. I got a lame picture of a firetruck... For 4 minutes there were barely crickets chirping in the audience. Then later, at the conclusion, of the event they invited me up say some Malayalam and thank them for inviting me.

But back to the title of the post. Scott commented in my last post that I look "skinny" and that I shouldn't act surprised that he mentioned it. Well I WAS, for one very specific reason. Apparently it's totally ok to tell someone they're fat here. In the past two weeks I've been told I'm fat by different people at least once a day. Once, immediately after I was called the "F word" in reference to them offering me a bigger chair, I asked my friends what they meant when they said it. I explained that in America calling someone the "F word" is an insult. They were taken back by this and said "no, no, no, that's not what we mean when we say that." In India fat can mean the American understanding of fat or it can just mean big. My hostel friends explained that they mean that I'm big. To which Depack explained that he wants "to be fat too!" I can only hope that the rest of India was using the second meaning with me...

Here's to being fat