It is Sunday... late afternoon, early evening. Savannah and I ventured out into the city twice this weekend "on our own" - but not really because we had drivers from the hotel who were super nice and made sure we were well taken care of. But maybe it's OK to say we were on our own when it came to speaking with sales people, ordering lunch, etc. Because the most we have done that previous to this weekend was at the hotel, and that doesn't really count. Yesterday we went shopping around at furniture and white goods stores for prices and items we would like so we could give a list to the prospective landlord for the flat (apartment) that we we are interested in. He has been very willing to work with us (re/Dynamo) and gave us a decent budget so that we could furnish the flat since that is part of our need. We did pretty well by ourselves, I think. We only had to ask the driver once to help us translate to Tamil, but it turned out the seller wasn't speaking Tamil at all, rather Hindi, so we left and came back later when there was another employee for us to speak with. And we stopped at KFC (Savannah's request) for lunch and ordered without assistance. Pretty exciting! LOL (Sometimes it's the little things...)
Today, though, I am sad to say we were not as successful. We did not make it up early enough to attend church, which starts around 0730 at most locations. We need to look online and see what our options are and prep for next week. We woke up and ate breakfast and then came back to the room just to relax a bit. Late morning, housekeeping wanted to come service our room so I told Savannah we would take Dy for a walk around the building and then we decided to sit in the lobby because it's not a very big building and lazy Savannah did not want to go around again. So we just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while with Dy on his leash and laying around the chairs we were in. As we were seated, a girl from the restaurant who always ask about Dynamo (See previous "Where's your Dynamo" blog entry), saw us and said, "Dynamo do you want to come play?" Well, Savannah did not have a grip on the leash and BOY DID HE EVER want to go play! He raced towards Desley and she became terrified. She threw her armful of books at him (yes, AT him) and ran the other way. He was so confused. Poor thing. So of course Savannah and I raced over to get him and apologize and, really and truly, worked really hard at suppressing our laughter. I mean, this is a grown woman, throwing her very large armful of books at the 15 pound Boston Terrier who she just invited to play... It really was funny. BUT, I am very worried that this is the type of attitude everyone is going to have - fear of our sweet boy - so he will always be confined to a leash outdoors. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I am trying to impart the seriousness to Savannah. Savannah, who laughs uncontrollably when she tells me (remember, she needs friends?) the story of Dynamo and Desley. 15 times since it happened. And still cracking up every time. Sigh.
Shortly after Dynamo "attacked" (AKA wanted to play) the hotel staff, I decided we needed to get out for a while. Savannah was complaining she was hungry so I found some restaurants online and we decided to try Italian food. We went to a nice place in the city and saw lots on the menu we recognized. As we were enjoying our caprese salad, a large party of two families came to be seated at the table near us. One of the women turned around, looked us up and down, and told the other woman and the husbands something, and they took their kids and moved. Moved to another table in the restaurant. Because of Savannah and me. I was so confused. And hurt. And sad. And disgusted. And then sad again. I did not really enjoy the rest of my meal with what I thought had just happened weighing on my heart. I wanted to ask the waiter if they moved because of us, but Savannah did not want me to, so I didn't. We finished our meal. I was a little grumpy. We split tiramisu and it was delicious. I was a little less grumpy. But as we walked out, we passed that family and I got sad again.
When we left the restaurant I told the driver what happened and he said, motioning to his arm, "It is because of the skin color." That was it. He reaffirmed what I already knew. I might have been judged by a million other things in my life - my clothes, my taste in music, my friends, my hair, my accent, who knows what else? But my skin color? This is a first for me and I am having a hard time with it. And if that wasn't enough, Savannah wanted to pick up a couple snacks from the store on our way back to the hotel so we stopped nearby and we were followed through the entire store (granted it was little) by an employee. And then we were charged 435 rupees, which is around $8 for a box of pop tarts. I was flustered and upset, paid for them and left. The driver could tell I was upset and asked for my bill (receipt) and went back in the store to get it. I told him I knew we were charged too much, but it was OK and let's just go. I am not sure what he said to the store owner, but he was very sweet and I could tell he was looking out for us.
So, that's my recap of this weekend. I am hoping tomorrow starts out a better week and we get to move forward with the flat and start to settle down some. Savannah will start school on Tuesday so she will have a chance to make friends and not have to talk my ear off all the time. Those are two great things to look forward to :)
This white girl is sending lots of love and hugs from India to all my friends and family back home, no matter what color your skin is. Miss you all terribly!
Today, though, I am sad to say we were not as successful. We did not make it up early enough to attend church, which starts around 0730 at most locations. We need to look online and see what our options are and prep for next week. We woke up and ate breakfast and then came back to the room just to relax a bit. Late morning, housekeeping wanted to come service our room so I told Savannah we would take Dy for a walk around the building and then we decided to sit in the lobby because it's not a very big building and lazy Savannah did not want to go around again. So we just sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while with Dy on his leash and laying around the chairs we were in. As we were seated, a girl from the restaurant who always ask about Dynamo (See previous "Where's your Dynamo" blog entry), saw us and said, "Dynamo do you want to come play?" Well, Savannah did not have a grip on the leash and BOY DID HE EVER want to go play! He raced towards Desley and she became terrified. She threw her armful of books at him (yes, AT him) and ran the other way. He was so confused. Poor thing. So of course Savannah and I raced over to get him and apologize and, really and truly, worked really hard at suppressing our laughter. I mean, this is a grown woman, throwing her very large armful of books at the 15 pound Boston Terrier who she just invited to play... It really was funny. BUT, I am very worried that this is the type of attitude everyone is going to have - fear of our sweet boy - so he will always be confined to a leash outdoors. I guess it's not that big of a deal, but I am trying to impart the seriousness to Savannah. Savannah, who laughs uncontrollably when she tells me (remember, she needs friends?) the story of Dynamo and Desley. 15 times since it happened. And still cracking up every time. Sigh.
Shortly after Dynamo "attacked" (AKA wanted to play) the hotel staff, I decided we needed to get out for a while. Savannah was complaining she was hungry so I found some restaurants online and we decided to try Italian food. We went to a nice place in the city and saw lots on the menu we recognized. As we were enjoying our caprese salad, a large party of two families came to be seated at the table near us. One of the women turned around, looked us up and down, and told the other woman and the husbands something, and they took their kids and moved. Moved to another table in the restaurant. Because of Savannah and me. I was so confused. And hurt. And sad. And disgusted. And then sad again. I did not really enjoy the rest of my meal with what I thought had just happened weighing on my heart. I wanted to ask the waiter if they moved because of us, but Savannah did not want me to, so I didn't. We finished our meal. I was a little grumpy. We split tiramisu and it was delicious. I was a little less grumpy. But as we walked out, we passed that family and I got sad again.
When we left the restaurant I told the driver what happened and he said, motioning to his arm, "It is because of the skin color." That was it. He reaffirmed what I already knew. I might have been judged by a million other things in my life - my clothes, my taste in music, my friends, my hair, my accent, who knows what else? But my skin color? This is a first for me and I am having a hard time with it. And if that wasn't enough, Savannah wanted to pick up a couple snacks from the store on our way back to the hotel so we stopped nearby and we were followed through the entire store (granted it was little) by an employee. And then we were charged 435 rupees, which is around $8 for a box of pop tarts. I was flustered and upset, paid for them and left. The driver could tell I was upset and asked for my bill (receipt) and went back in the store to get it. I told him I knew we were charged too much, but it was OK and let's just go. I am not sure what he said to the store owner, but he was very sweet and I could tell he was looking out for us.
So, that's my recap of this weekend. I am hoping tomorrow starts out a better week and we get to move forward with the flat and start to settle down some. Savannah will start school on Tuesday so she will have a chance to make friends and not have to talk my ear off all the time. Those are two great things to look forward to :)
This white girl is sending lots of love and hugs from India to all my friends and family back home, no matter what color your skin is. Miss you all terribly!
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