Angry little demons

What are angry little demons? Well, it is a condition to be exact. I was told by another volunteer in Delhi that this condition can take over in the peak of summer for many reasons, the main one being the heat - and boy is it hot! You cannot sleep, think or move, going outside where you think a nice breeze will help cool you doesn’t work as it feels a little bit like you are being blasted by a hairdryer and heaven forbid the wind is good enough to pick up a little of the dust as it feels like you are being sandblasted in a hot house. That is when the angry little demons start bubbling and unfortunately they do surface and when they do – woe betide the person/people that are around you.

This condition took effect last week and I was upset about everything. The fact that the spider had dared to come into my bathroom and make me afraid of going in there, the whole of Hindi language would not magically appear in my head, I had not had feedback for something, my shoes had broken, I miss everyone… the list goes on. My mum was the poor unfortunate person who got the brunt of her tear stained babbling daughter on the end of the phone line.

I then started on the ‘I am fine’, which as most people know in a woman means the opposite, until I actually am fine and then it means exactly what I say. The problem is distinguishing the difference. I am actually fine though – I just need to let off a little steam sometimes. I know I am going to get upset occasionally and it is probably more difficult for the people on the other end of the phone line rather than me as they feel helpless but the most important thing is that I pick myself up and do what I need to do to make me feel better and this usually involves biscuits!

I have been assured that the weather over the next couple of week s is only going to get hotter unless there is rain and the temperature then drops a little – I have now taken to doing rain dances on the roof every evening, hopefully that will keep the demons at bay.

Black eyed babes

One of the observations I have made is that women tend to put eyeliner… on their babies. I asked the reason for this and I was told that it is used to ward off the evil eye; they will also put large black dots on their baby’s forehead and sometimes temples.

I find this strange to say the least to see babies being carried around that have more eyeliner on than most wags could shake a stick at. The only problem is that this is supposed to ward of any eyes (just in case you are evil too) but it has completely the opposite effect on me. I stare as I see miniature member of Kiss being paraded past me and this invites some rather hostile stares from the mothers themselves.

So I guess this post really should be an apology to all mothers who put eyeliner on their babies, I don’t mean to stare I just cannot help it.

Fear and loathing in India

I now have a clear understanding of the difference between disliking something and fearing it. Cockroaches, for example, I dislike, they are big and for some reason I have taken a great dislike to the fact that they are shiny. They are usually discovered and some expletives are shared and then I use the wondrous stuff that is ‘Hit’ and they are flushed down the toilet. Mosquitos again are something I dislike, but I think you already know that.

Spiders however I fear. One of my poor ex-boyfriends can testify how much I hate and fear spiders after one ran out of my wellington boot at Glastonbury and I cried for an hour – well I was hung-over, cold and tired but I still do not think it is much of excuse. They bring me out in a sweat and I can feel my heart beat increase rapidly. I don’t even know why I fear them so much; I live in the UK where all spiders are pretty much harmless.

Then this turned up, well to be more accurate it ran from behind my toilet up the wall:

I can honestly say this is the biggest spider I have seen in the flesh that has not been in a cage. As I was sprinting out of the bathroom I very nearly broke my neck in the process as I slipped on the floor whilst shouting “Oh Fucking Hell!”

I dragged Evelyn to view it 30 seconds after she had woken up. She is far, far braver than I am as she nearly went to touch it but we both agreed it was huge. I am sorry to have to dispose of them but that said if the thing is bigger than my hand then we can’t live together. For one thing my nerves won’t take it and having spent the morning in work shuddering at the mere thought of it and having nearly induced a panic attack I couldn’t really stand next to it when showering.

At least I have managed to confirm that I really do have a fear of spiders and that ‘Hit’ actually works on most things!

Holiday

Last week I had a wonderful week off as my friend, Pete, came to see me.

We met up in the bustling Kolkata which still remains one of my favourite places in India for reasons unknown, I just feel very comfortable there. We had a great first night and started off as we actually didn’t mean to, but just happened to continue with, a lot of food. To digress a moment my brain being the absolute wit that it is still demands on thinking about food A LOT! I didn’t think I was that food orientated until I got here and now my life pretty much revolves around it. I was ill the week before coming away and the food issue rose its ugly head once again and I couldn’t stop thinking about sausages, so in order to try and stop thinking about food I then tried to think about friends and family and my thought trail lead to the food I have previously served or would serve again in the future to my friends and family. I am not joking my subconscious has a sick sense of humour.

We then took the 8 hour train journey down to beautiful Puri where we found an amazing hotel called Z, where we stayed for the week. The beach at Puri is a beautiful long beach of rolling waves and golden sand. There is only one slight problem with it though and that is the rubbish, either on the beach or being pumped into the sea which is a shame considering how beautiful the place is and how stunning it could be.

We also went to the sun temple in Konark which is beautiful, sadly it is disintegrating because of its proximity to the sea but it was a sight to behold and some of the carvings were rather interesting. I am rather glad I was not alive back then as one of the carvings depicted this:

Apparently, or so we were told, this was one of the ways to get rid of a sexually transmitted disease, I am not convinced personally.

Pete and I were asked to have our photographs taken with a couple of people and I was approached to have mine taken with a little girl. I am sure she probably did not say this but I could just image her asking her mum if she could have her photo taken with the giant white lady with the ridiculous hair!

On Thursday we went down to Chilika lagoon which is 50km away and a 3hour bus journey if you go by public transport. We did get to see the amazing sight of Iddywaddy dolphins swimming around. Sadly my photography does not stretch to dolphins and this was my best effort:

I am considering flogging this as a faux Lock Ness Monster photo when I get back, might have to photo shop out the sun!

On getting back off the boat I realised I may have a little bit of heat stroke despite being under shade and drinking plenty of water and I stepped of the boat to the most amazing instantaneous headache. (As Pete put it ‘you look like you’re being stabbed in the head’) So we wimped out on the public transport and paid 100 rupees each to sit on the nice tourist coach on the way home!

Another one of 'those' experiences I’ve had in India was going to a bar in Puri. Drinking is frowned upon but tolerated by tourists so in search for a beer we went to the Bravery Bar – never a more appropriate name was conceived. This little bar is like walking into a very, very grubby cave; it had no windows and was probably the dirtiest place I’ve ever sat down in.  I think when you walk into a place and immediately on entering you turn to the person you’re with and say ‘I’m not sure about this’ it is probably a good sign that you should turn around and walk briskly in the other direction. However we didn’t so we ended up drinking a rather large and strong beer very quickly. I think it’s fair to say my tolerance for alcohol has reduced somewhat so I was a little tipsy that evening.

Going back to food (well you knew I would) we did manage to find the bakery in town. I was in all honesty in pizza/bread/cake heaven. I also managed to completely break my vegetarian ways almost the instant that I saw they sold bacon and sausages. I am hoping it will quell my food thoughts for another few months and I won’t be thinking about those again for a while although I am sure next time I am ill my brain will move onto the next unavailable food stuff in India.

I am back in Deoghar after Pete managed to roll me on the train following my week of gluttony. It was a week filled with good food, a few beers, sunrises and great laughs.