Changes

After one and a half years on this (now really beloved) blog I needed a change...and maybe a new start. So Outofpeonies wont get any updates anymore. My blog moved!
You'll find me here from now on. I hope to see you over there :)

 *www.theaveragemess.blogspot.com *

And than...

As much as I enjoyed all the experiences I made in India (Hey I got to teach!! How awesome is that!? And I faced so many fears that I feel like there won't be any left...I'm already proven wrong but I still faced all of them!) and as much I grew with it, I didn't stay for the two and a half month I had planned on staying.
(Ugh, other fear faced. Here we go with truth)

There are a lot of personal reasons involved which I'm not going to share on my blog. India taught me the lesson that there are differences between going through with things and accepting that everyone has certain limits. It also showed me that there is no point in running away from things.
Anyway, I found my personal limit for now.
I'm sure that this whole topic is not closed and finished for all time but more like for now. There are other things that need to be focused on and for which I'll need some time.

I appreciate those weeks for showing me my own fears, for letting me face really difficult situations and for getting to know myself so much more. There were awesome moments and really hard ones. I'm thankful for all of them.

And what it taught me most than everything else is: To appreciate all the things I have, the people who surround me and the possibilities I'm facing. Because even if I knew I had it good, India took my understanding of it to a totally new level.

And thank you for your comments and for reading all the things I wrote. Getting your feedback meant a lot to me and I'm happy that I was able to share everything with you!

One big random photo post

So, lots and lots of blogs later I still find myself looking through so many pictures I wanted to share but (here comes the shocker!) too lazy to figure out a topic for each group of them. They are the random tidbits I shot in between things happening but I still love them. And they've got atmosphere...so here we go with a real photo overload from India...without a concept ;)

One of the fruit stands in Shantiniketan...the only time I came without someone he totally made me pay double double...I didn't go there again

Fruits ♥

We went to Bolpur one day, stayed there for like half an hour and flew. It was just noisy, loud, dirty, full and everything else.

Not enough feet posts this time ;) so here we go...

He was making tea in front of our house...

At night (well evening but it gets dark super early)

More feet...the point is: Can you see all those mosquito bites?! I hate them. The rest of me looked like that as well *bigbigbigsight*...and is it just me or are they biting in patterns? Weird. Oh and yeah: My feet are dirty! They were. All the time.

Gymnastic during the afternoon....they are pretty good!!

Early and beautiful sunset...

And breakfast in front of the house. We did that a couple of times

In case you're missing all the normal stuff you'd put on a toast: Use honey and granola!

Shantiniketan's streets from above

He and his wife cook every day at the RSV. They are awesome!!! We went to their place for dinner one evening and it was so so so tasty! We couldn't stop to thank them

That's how you cook!

Love all about it....

Curry

My hands got painted more than once...I loved this one the most

And the artist...my hand is kinda awkward in this one...I'm wondering how this position is even possible...haha weird.

I also got paintings for my diary. She was so concentrated...

I handed my camera over...again....a lot of random shots of what happened:

I actually really like this one! I also tried to explain the zoom but it just scared them. It was fun to see them interact with the camera though

After our Bolpur trip back in Shantiniketan again. I only noticed afterwards that I also had captured the fish...aehm...shop. Can you see it? Left side behind the tree! There were flies everywhere..and a lot more but that's pretty much what every fish "shop" looked like

 Greetings to all of you :)

All those daily things {And a second part which guys are not supposed to read...you'll only shake you head in disbelieve}

So I guess I warned everyone? Did I? Good!

But seriously. There are just those things that...anyway.
So here comes the post I was originally most excited about but than, it somehow took me the longest to write. All those daily things...

How does a shower work, when you don't habe one!? And brushing your teeth, and washing your clothes and and and...
So where do I start? I showed a picture earlier on what it looks like where we live (Here). So if you leave our little porch you're facing this:

Our "bathroom" On the left is our water pump which can be used by anyone in the village (it works like this for pretty much all of the water pumps) and on the right is the toilet. It's quite blurry but you can see that they have a "western" toilet. Right behind is the normal "indian" one.

 

 

That would be here. Behind the small wall. And that's also our "real" bathroom. Don't let is fool you, it's actually quite homy...a bit. Well it serves its purpose ;) 

 

 

Ok sarcasm off. It really wasn't that bad. And it's way better than bathing in your clothes!!

What else you'll need:

A towel, a bucket, a smaller one and your shower stuff! Easy peasy.

 

So when we wanted to take a shower in the morning, we'd grab our bucket, fill it with water and have some private time in the Indian-toilet-bathroom. After the first, a little bit awkward one, you'd get used to it pretty quick. We also learned what we would wear while getting our water (there wasn't anywhere you could put your stuff and you'd flood the floor, but we figured it out) and every morning, all man (as it seems to us) would gather at the rice field behind the toilet and therefore watch us. Every. Single. Morning. (The toilet room had little windows (without any cover) sooo... well we don't know if they could see anything but it was rather...a unique experience. Let's put it like this.
Any as weird as it all might sound: It really wasn't. You get used to everything!

Brushing our teeth looked like this....while everyone else was just as busy at the water pump as we were

Washing meant (again): fill your bucket with water, put soap in it. Wash. Let it dry. We watched all the woman from the village, who'd put there Saris on the fields to dry. They would just lie on the earth...

Oh and we got to watch everyone taking there bath (well only man) in the afternoon break right at the water pump. A towel around the hips and that's it. We got used to that as well but it was...unique again. Figure.

And as for the second part where guys can stop reading now, I thought it might be interesting to see what I brought with me and what I actually needed.
So here is what I brought:

And that's what I needed:

More than I had expected actually. It seemed like I had worked with nothing but when I put it all together it was still quite a lot. Whatever. Most important where definitely the wet wipes and the mosquito spray. And don't ask me why but I forgot to bring sun cream. Well I didn't even forget it. I thought I wouldn't need it! Yeah....go figure. I have no idea what I was thinking....

Did I forget anything? Oh right! The western toilet wasn't able to flush, so just like with the Indian one, you would have to bring your bucket with water to flush it down. I didn't use it that often. The Indian one was somehow (and surprisingly) easier.

Uh. What topics!
And to close it a bit on a nicer note: Aren't the cups cute!?

Oh and what I was carrying around all the time:

Loved my bag ♥

Morning things {And Doshorods garden}

Uh btw before I start...Doshorod is so not how you actually write his name...that's just me making it easier for everyone else...well...and me ;) Otherwise (photo overload ahead...just as usual)

It's actually quite hard to describe breakfast since the general process is not that different. I mean you eat food. Great. But still, somehow even that is a whole lot of an experience here...
Every morning Doshorod comes and picks us up for breakfast. We have to walk through the village so we get to see quite a lot right in the morning. It's interesting. There life starts way earlier than ours does (we usually wake up at around 6 to be ready at 7. They wake up at 5). By the time we walk through the village they already swept everything with their branch-brooms, they probably started washing or cooking, looked after their animals,...we don't know what happens behind their walls. But when we walk through it,  every morning we can see women, standing at the water pump and getting water, washing, goats passing our way, people sitting together with small children in front of their house....there's always something happening on the "streets".

That's where we eat every day...well that's the place in front of the place we sit, that is. A water pump to wash your hands and every morning we get quite a few visitors. I don't know if this is because they usually use that water pump or just because they know we're having breakfast there...an unsolved mystery

That's the actual place ;) water pump would be right on the left side outside the picture

I know blurry...but I love the simplicity of everything. Just. Simple.

So now, you get an idea ;)

I've learned pretty quick how to brew there super sweet black tea. Sugar highs every morning.

And post breakfast: Tiny (empty) cups, bananas, cookies, toast and jam

Normally we just go straight back to our house, brush our teeth and go to school. This morning however, Doshorod went to show us his garden. He got the plants and seeds and than figured out how to grow them best. He is proud of it. And it really does look awesome!

From the inside of the fence. Outside is a big open place where you either find cows or women drying their clothes...or both

He showed us every plant and I asked him a lot about which plants he grows when...sometimes it was a bit hard to get the same meaning on both sides...if it doesn't work: Just smile and nod your head ;)

Love carrots ♥

And the other half within the fence

I think nature is beautiful!

Two girls in an Indian garden...

So much for the whole garden work. I couldn't really find out what he does with the things he harvests...I tried to ask him but it was one of those smiling and nodding situations. I think some of it gets sold and some of it is used in the village. At least, that would be the obvious thing. But that's my smiling-and-nodding-interpretation....

What's always great while traveling...

...a cute note-/adressbook to gather all those email adresses, phone numbers and contact information! I love mine and it's so easy to make ;)

*Click*