INDIA

A friend of mine and her family have gone to India for a year to study language, so they can be missionaries to this people group. Despite the fact that I lost my neighbor/walking partner, I am getting over it. I phoned her last night and found out some things about their life there; I find it so interesting how other cultures and countries live:

* She has a 14 year old girl that comes every morning for a half hour and sweeps and washes all her floors. She gets paid $7 a month. I want this girl!!
* Every morning a bell rings in the complex and people come out and buy their milk and flat bread for the day. The milk only lasts a day- yes it's pasteurized- but that is a little weird, or maybe ours is weird that is lasts so long. No one has ovens, so obviously the flat bread. They don't bake anything- no cookies, no cakes, no croissants, no buns! The kids eat tonnes of candy and all their teeth are all rotting.
* All washing machines must be on the deck or porch.
* The men go down to the corner barber shop every morning and get a shave.
* The teachers hit the kids there (not theirs), they also give them a lot of candy every day, she has had to go to the school and tell the teacher to stop giving them so much candy
* Her son in grade 2 is learning 3 digit subtraction, in kindergarten the kids learn cursive writing. None of them can read yet though (it's an English school- they can read Punjabi I suppose). Calculators are illegal in school! They can do a lot of math in their heads!
* Women must wear BIG earrings- get out my 80's dangle!
* They take an auto rickshaw everywhere, I'd like to see one of those!
* Diwali is coming up- their big festival!
* She saw a 4 inch bug yesterday.
* Everything takes longer there- everything! Makes you thankful in some ways for our easy life at home!