Hello everyone,
We are already well into the Advent season and it is time once again to publish a short update on the past few weeks. As expected, since my last blog post I have been able to delve even deeper into Indian culture, with its customs and way of life.
I must say that I can now personally relate to and confirm the stories told by former volunteers about a sort of adrenaline rush during the first few weeks of their voluntary service or after arriving in a foreign country. During this phase, everything is so incredibly exciting and thrilling; all the impressions and encounters keep you so occupied that you have little time for homesickness or similar feelings.
Here in India, it is above all the bustling, colourful city, which seems never to rest, that captivated me so much and completely overwhelmed me in the early days. Today, I’m still thrilled by the liveliness and the fact that there’s always something new to discover on every rickshaw ride (here: ‘car’) through the bustling streets of Madurai, but I must honestly say that I sometimes miss the closeness to nature and the peace and freedom of my home town in Germany.
That made it all the more lovely a few weeks ago to spend seven days in Kodaikanal, a small village in the mountains, with Harriet, Simon and Leander – a very touristy spot that, according to the locals, is an absolute must-see. Many people from South India love coming here because the daytime temperatures only reach around 20 degrees. Reason enough for some Indian tourists to venture outside there wearing nothing but thick jumpers, hats and gloves 🙂 We had a really good time, drank plenty of hot chocolate and enjoyed the fresh air, nature and a few viewpoints too.
Back at Capron Hall, it really struck me that this is simply the place where I live right now. The hostel, which we share with three hundred girls aged between six and sixteen, already feels so familiar, and being woken up every morning from around five o’clock by the loud voices of children getting ready for morning prayers and ‘study time’ before breakfast is now the norm for us. Showering and washing clothes with a bucket and cold water – provided it comes out of the tap – is no longer unusual for us at all, just like the spiciness of the food. It feels lovely to arrive in a place like this and realise how, despite different habits and customs, you can still gradually feel at home and judge the differences less and less.
A few weeks ago, we were invited to our first Indian wedding celebration and we were also able to attend a christening. With the countless colourful saris, eye-catching gold jewellery and flower garlands, such a banquet hall sparkles and shines in a way quite different from the celebrations I know from Germany. Another thing that is a must at any celebration here is ‘biriyani’, a special rice dish with chicken served on a banana leaf. At every celebration we’ve been to so far, there’s also a standard photo spot where, for example, the wedding couple spends most of the day to ensure they’re photographed with every single guest.
Speaking of being photographed, it’s actually not uncommon for people to stop us in the street and ask for a selfie and ask us where we’re from. The fact that we stand out so much here – mostly, of course, because of our skin colour, but certainly also because of our style of dress – still feels a bit strange at times. Even though we make a great effort to go out mainly in traditional clothing – that is, clothes that cover our shoulders and knees. We can rarely avoid being treated differently, for example when we enter a shop, but I suppose we simply have to get used to these things, even if they seem unfair.
Last week, we had the honour of being invited to a ‘Nursing College’ – a school for trainee nurses – in Madurai. There is a class there that has been learning German for several months, and we were actually able to make ourselves useful and help the students with their German studies. It’s not actually that easy to teach your own mother tongue and get to grips with its grammar, but we had a lot of fun, especially because the students there are our age and we were able to have conversations on a completely different level than with the girls at Capron Hall School. It was a really lovely experience to make so many connections in such a short time there, and we hope that we’ll be able to spend some more time at the Nursing College in the future.
But first, the Christmas season is upon us, which, as far as I can tell, certainly shouldn’t be overlooked here in India. You’ll find a more detailed report on this in January on Harriet’s blog.
Going into this festive season isn’t easy for me right now, with so many thoughts revolving around home, but it’s a unique experience to spend Christmas in a foreign country with different traditions, and I’m glad to have received – and continue to receive – so much encouragement and support from my family at home, which allows me to enjoy this time nonetheless.
Warm regards
Yours, Salome
This text was automatically translated using an AI-powered translation system.
