The Life of Local Celebrities

Being one of the few foreigners in a small Indian hill station can be a little daunting, but at times it leads to hilarious encounters. Today, Shaelagh and I couldn't help but make new friends wherever we went. We dubbed ourselves local celebrities based on our newfound popularity. It all started when we walked down the street to buy some sugar. On our way back home from the grocery stall, two Indian boys riding a motorcycle pulled over to say hello. This is pretty common. Curious locals, especially kids, are always waving at us and saying hi as we pass by. 

Kids waving hello from their house on the hillside as we walked by below.

However, this was the first time someone had really struck up a conversation with us. After introducing himself and asking where we were from, he asked us how many trips we had made to India. After telling him it was our first trip, we received a warm welcome to India. After several more questions about why we are here, if we like the food, etc., he asked us for a picture. Once people start asking for your picture you're obviously a celebrity, right? After posing for a few pictures with the boys, we headed home as we laughed about the encounter.

But it doesn't stop there... Since it was Friday afternoon and there wasn't much going on in the clinic, Shaelagh and I decided to head out for a run (third run this week might I add). After changing into Indian-style running clothes (that means pants...) we were on our way. There is a huge hill right up the road from the house where we go running that we usually walk. I made the bold decision to run up it on Thursday and my chest felt like it was going to explode for the rest of the run. As we were walking up the hill, we noticed a woman shouting hello behind us. Eventually we turned around realizing she was trying to get our attention. She was pointing towards some men standing outside a new hotel that had just been built who were waving at us to come talk to them. At first I was confused and a little skeptical, but they were not giving up on their cause so we decided to see what they wanted. They said they wanted us to come see their hotel and directed us into the lobby. We sat down and the hotel manager began asking where we were from and where we were staying. Somehow he mistook us saying, "The United States" for "Iran", but we quickly corrected him. He told us he loved foreigners and wanted us to stay in his hotel. We told him we are here volunteering and already have housing, but this didn't seem to dull his hospitality as we were then offered coffee, tea and dinner. Unfortunately we had to decline as we were supposed to be on a run. After being given numerous business cards, we were on our way with a standing offer of a campfire and dinner.

Clearly, being the town's "token white girls" can have bring about a lot of attention. Luckily, people in Kodai have all been very nice and just seem interested in knowing where we are from instead of attempting to scam us! In other news, the wifi at the volunteer house has been out since Tuesday morning, so don't worry I am still alive and well just wifi-less. I am not sure when and if the wifi will be fixed so I might be relying on occasional trips to town for wifi. It's kind of a bummer that I probably won't be able to post as much or be in contact with people from home very often, but I am almost halfway done with my time in India so I am trying to make the best of the situation!

Liz