We smear spices on a stranger's face and question our professional future - Week 5

Week 5: February 2-8

Monday, February 2:

This week we spent the first day at the old school because there was a parliamentary session scheduled, which was of course re-enacted and staged by the children. The theme was Artificial Intelligence, and although the students were only 9-10 years old, they truly impressed with their performance. They had thought out their arguments beforehand and were allowed to glance at notes, but still had to deliver them convincingly and emphatically, which each child managed well. Afterwards, we visited some first grade classes and watched a bit of dance, math, EVS (general studies), and English before lunch. Later, we waited for the family and read our books in the meantime. I only had a few pages left and was eager to finish my book before we were supposed to go on an excursion starting Wednesday. I succeeded and even managed to take a short nap afterward. Then the time finally came, and I got to go to the gym as well. However, while everyone else was focused on strength training, my weakness decided to just do cardio (treadmill and such). As a reward, we had pizza and pasta for dinner, which made me very happy because both are my favorite foods, and I was born to devour pasta. Of course, it wasn't quite like home, but it was still incredibly delicious. In the evening, I started a new book.🏫

Tuesday, February 3:

Nava Raipur awaited us with a delicious breakfast, but first we went with our carpool to the gas station. Due to the many workers in the country, someone is even employed there to fill up the car. After breakfast, we were separated again, so on one hand, I watched a math lesson by the principal, and afterwards saw a lot of computer classes, both theoretical and practical. The last hour before lunch I spent in the computer lab, working on my remaining research for the various states and their conditions for the teaching practice. After lunch, we took the bus home, where we had to pack our things for the coming days. Otherwise, the evening went quite uneventfully, and while I showered, the others bought a sari as a gift for the bride of the wedding we were attending. Then it was off to bed.🖥️

Wednesday, February 4:

In the morning, the car was packed, and then we drove to the old DPS so that Raghunath and Yashoda could attend to a few important matters. Around noon, we set off towards Jabalpur, which is also the center of India, as it lies in the country’s central state. With a bit of music in our ears, the long drive (7 hours) was quite bearable. During the trip, we crossed a mountainous landscape, saw Indian langurs and a lizard (see photos), and enjoyed a delicious lunch snack. The drive itself was a bit turbulent, though, as the roads are not as standardized as they are in Germany. When we arrived at Raghunath’s older brother's place, we were warmly welcomed by a little dog named 'Cookie,' which I thought was great because it was simply 'Cookie the II' for me. After some petting, we settled into our room and had some treats along with chai before getting ready to head to the wedding venue. However, this place was only for the groom's family, so it included Raghunath's family members. Generally, at an Indian wedding, there are at least 500-1000 guests. We greeted everyone, made small talk, and had dinner. Afterwards, we got henna applied, which looked really cool and must have taken a lot of effort, and enjoyed some karaoke. However, we were all very tired since we had gotten up early and traveled quite a distance, so we left for home around 12:30 AM, got ready for bed, and went to sleep.🐶

Thursday, February 5:

You must know that German punctuality cannot be equated with Indian punctuality, as it is rather rare here. We were woken up around quarter to ten (which was very nice, as I really wanted to sleep in) and then we started the morning very relaxed. We left the house around noon and drove to the groom's location. There, we watched a ritual where the man is smeared with turmeric, which is antiseptic and is supposed to have a skin-purifying effect. We also joined in the fun and smeared spice paste on a stranger's face, while somewhat awkwardly saying 'Sorry!' and 'Hello!'. Some people danced, including Tina. Shortly afterward, we had lunch before heading home to rest a bit. However, we had to accomplish different side missions before we arrived home, including selecting bed linens and carpets at a tailor's and checking out an Indian bookstore (my fault, but I am interested in bookstores in different countries). Once home, we relaxed and sipped chai. Then we changed and styled ourselves for the wedding ceremony (one of many) and off we went. The evening began with us joining the other family members of the groom in a street procession. He himself rode a white horse and followed us. During this ritual, loud music is played, celebrations take place, and fireworks light up the sky. The bridegroom is essentially brought to the wedding venue where the bride's family waits. All guests are allowed to take something to eat from a huge selection of dishes. Then the bride arrived. She was brought by her brothers on a flower bed and was picked up halfway by her groom. There were fireworks and a shower of soap bubbles as well. The bride looked beautiful. Shortly thereafter, we found even more food, even though we were already quite full, but there was pizza, so the last spot in my stomach was dedicated to that. Afterwards, Tina danced a bit more with the others, and then we said goodbye to everyone as it was quite late, and the ceremony would go on until 4 AM, attended only by the immediate family members. On the way back, we learned to count in Hindi and then quickly disappeared into bed.👩🏽‍❤️‍👨🏽

Friday, February 6:

Near Jabalpur, there are marble rocks that are made of stone in five different colors (yellow, gray-blue, pink, white, black). These can be viewed by taking a boat trip on a river whose water is even drinkable (but Raghunath told us to avoid it, probably because our stomachs wouldn't be ready for such a challenge). Besides fish, there are supposedly a few crocodiles in the river, but we were only told this by the guide because we didn't see them. Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking as we kayaked along the marble rocks (not us directly, but two employees of the boat company). Additionally, it was a very peaceful place since it was wonderfully quiet and the air and atmosphere were very refreshing. Afterward, we traveled a bit higher, as there was a waterfall that is part of the river we had previously rowed on. This natural spectacle was also totally impressive. Around the afternoon, it was time to rush back to the city, as the wedding party was waiting for us. Upon arrival, as usual, we had lunch first, serving ourselves at the buffet and greeting the other (now familiar) guests (from the groom's side). It's hard to believe, but on day 3 of our presence at a stranger's wedding, we finally met the bride and groom together. We had already smeared the groom with turmeric the day before, but we only saw his bride during the evening ceremony and couldn't interact then. So we calmly introduced ourselves and thanked both of them for allowing us to attend their wedding. Later we learned that in India it’s customary to invite each other to weddings. If you break this custom, the relationship with one another would break. It seems I already know which two guests I will invite to my wedding in the future. Anyway, it was a really nice encounter. Afterwards, we left the venue and went back to Raghunath's brother's house to relax and sip chai. In the evening, we met a family friend and his wife for dinner. Tina's dad is even friends with the man. Together we went to a restaurant and ate there. The whole excursion brought a lot of delicious food with it, both at the wedding and in that restaurant. Somehow, I consumed a lot of ice cream over the three days as well. Before it was time for the night, we drove back to the wedding, listened to karaoke, and said goodbye to Raghunath's family.🚣🏾

Saturday, February 7:

The journey home was on the agenda. Accordingly, the car was packed, and off we went. First stop: buying fresh vegetables from the 'market.' Here, there are no markets in the true sense, but people have their stalls by the roadside, but you can imagine the quality of the vegetables to be similar to when one goes to a market in Germany instead of buying it in a store. We really headed off towards Raipur and only stopped once at a restaurant halfway. We saw several animals again, like cows, dogs, goats, monkeys, but also an Indian fox. Unfortunately, this one was too quick for me to take a photo. Still, it was very cool to see it. After seven hours, we finally reached our home and unloaded the car. Quote from Yashoda: 'With all this luggage, one might think we brought Jabalpur with us.' - It wasn't quite that much, but it was certainly a lot of stuff that we had to carry upstairs. Fortunately, there is an elevator. Additionally, Radhika came and greeted us joyfully. We showed her our henna and talked about the trip. Afterwards, we all watched cricket (World Championship group match against the USA, which we won, yay!), showered, and had dinner. Besides that, I read a bit of my book.🦊

Sunday, February 8:

After such an eventful week, it's appropriate to sleep in peacefully. That's exactly what we did until 10:30 AM. Afterwards, we lounged in bed until noon before having breakfast. Then it was back to applying for teaching positions, but for various reasons many states were temporarily removed from our list. Between meals, we had lunch, so we were re-energized after we gave up again after another hour of inquiries and applications. After a brief crisis meeting, we decided to let life be life and lazed around in bed. Then we watched another cricket game since it was World Championship season, between England and Nepal, which became really exciting towards the end. Also, a few pages were read before the next match began. This time it was between Ireland and Sri Lanka. Nothing else happened except that I posted this blog entry.🫠

➡️ That's it for this week, see you soon!