Day 3: Autos, Church and a shopping trip.

---

Last night was really difficult for me, after what seemed like a very long day, I couldn't find anything to eat in the cupboard, and hadn't thought to actually buy anything sensible when we visited the shops. I had bought a big bag of crisps though 😉
Anyway, I attempted to cook some noodles, but with only Soy sauce to accompany them, and as they were a while past their sell-by date, I ended up ditching that idea and eating toast and marmite! This filled me up but I felt a bit depressed at the lack of sensible cooking, and felt a bit homesick, and tired! I went to bed after finishing my book, and settled down about half 9. Despite almost falling asleep on the sofa, I really struggled to actually get to sleep in bed, thanks to my body clock's confusion, and the noise of the AC!

This morning, I went to church with Anjuli. I haven't had a chance to buy any Indian clothes yet, and didn't think to bring anything "nice" to wear, so thought I would pretend to look presentable, and iron my clothes! (Yes mum, I actually ironed them myself!)
My first auto-rickshaw ride was fun, although a bit warm after half an hour, and I'm still not used to the crazy road rules (or lack of rules possibly!).
The church Anjuli goes to is in an upstairs room, in a normal looking building. It's a multi-lingual church, and was set up about 10 years ago by a man named Sanjeev, and his wife. There is a mix of English and Hindi speaking Indians, and a few white people. It was nice to feel not quite so out of place! There was also some visiting Americans there. We all sat on sofas, or on cushions on the floor. This was quite uncomfortable after an hour, and I just about managed to stay awake, despite the heat! On the way back from church, the driver stopped outside a water station, and we were offered a cup of cloudy water- Anjuli assured me this was okay to drink, so I drank. I drank it all because I didn't want to seem rude, but it was very sweet and strong flavoured, apparently it was jsut boiled water with sugar in! When we stopped on our road, we went to the green grocer and dairy shops, and I found a nice selection of veg. I bought corn on the cob, mango, carrots, tomatoes and cucumber(!) all for under 200 rupees.
That's about £2! I also bought a loaf of bread for 20 rupees (27p) 😊 bit different from home!
I actually had proper lunch today, cooked some rice and vegetables and had some salad 😊

Things I have learnt so far:
- Traffic lights are negotiable, as is the price of an auto- despite what the meter may say!
-Always try to pay in change, shop keepers will always ask for more change (maybe I should try this in the bakery!)
-The 3 second rule doesn't apply here!
-Chances are, the water will be warm
-People stare, it's not considered rude.

My blogs will get shorter as I have more things to do, so I will probably stop writing in so much detail soon!
Also, I am still using my UK Sim card, but have very few numbers saved, and texts cost 50p a time, chances are I won't reply. Email or facebook is the best way to communicate for me 😊
Thanks everyone for your support and prayers, they mean a lot 😊

---

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

Ginger
As a long term member of Travel blog I can assure you that people want you to write longer blogs and provide more of your impressions as you did at the end of your blog. You should add some photos as everyone wants to see what you are seeing.

[Maxi]

The wonders of google.
Wow. Google is pretty good, you tell me you are writing a blog, I type in Ruth Skitrell blog onto google and up comes a number choices, woohoo! To help with the home sickness, I'll send you some cute and funny puppy/miscellaneous photos to cheer you up =) Speak to you soon x Now I know why you texted me with "Who are you?!" hehe. All the best, spread the love, my fellow cucumber loving friend.

[GingerRuthie]

Thanks for the advice
Thank you for the advice about the blogs, I am adding photos as I go along now :)