I got a surprise phone call today from Cheryl, my friend who's in India for a year with her husband. It was great to be able to talk to her firsthand and hear about what her daily life is like. It's not constant fun, I'm sad to say. Apparently, being Caucasian and a female draws a lot of stares and she's missing her privacy. She is enjoying the times she gets to travel and sightsee, but that isn't as often as she'd like. We also talked about my trip to go visit them in May. Hopefully I'll be able to. How long she stays there is dependent on how well she does in school and she's not sure she's managing that standard. There are a lot of cultural differences that she didn't expect.
She joked and laughed a good deal, but it seemed to me that she was feeling tired and adrift. She misses her cats, her garden, her architecture job, her house, and her friends. She sent hugs and hellos to the Girls Night In gals.
The funny thing is, a week ago, I sent a care package to her, filled with food that I don't think she has access to. When I first heard her voice on the line, I thought that she was calling to thank me. She didn't mention it at all, so she must not have gotten it yet. SO, that surprise is yet to come. Muahahahaha!
4 comments:
I'm so glad she called. Hearing from Brett has been good, but I was concerned about Cheryl. Hopefully, she'll get the package soon.
I'm sorry to hear Cheryl's feeling a little adrift - of course, I'm sure she is having a great time, but it can be a strain and when you are immersed in it, there is no relief.
I got more ass-grabbed in India than in any other "brown" country I've ever spent time in.
Yeah, Cheryl said she got a lot of uncomfortable male attention too. I don't know if it extended to physical intrusion, but I know it made her very uncomfortable. When they (she or her husband) mentioned it to others, she was asked what she was doing to draw such attention. The message was that it was her fault, which really pissed me off.
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