This past Sunday myself and 3 other volunteers decided to go to the nearest city Hosur for the day. Hosur is about 1 1/2 hrs away and cost 1500 rupees($30) roundtrip for a car to take us there. Our journey began at 9am with the driver picking us up at the Shanti Bhavan gates. As I mentioned before, driving in India is always a bit scary. No traffic laws, swerving in and out of lanes, passing cars, and avoiding cows, dogs, chickens, goats, and people...combined with no seatbelts and a driver who is going about 80 mph means I was saying a lot of rosaries in the backseat. In addition, highways in India are nothing more than a dirt road. I am always a little concerned because we literally are driving in the middle of nowhere and then all of sudden we come upon a village. I have no idea how the driver knows where he is going because to me it is a dirt back road. We must have passed at least 25 villages on the way there. They all look the same and consist of one room houses(many I may add with satellite on their roofs), cows and chickens everywhere, a group of men sitting and talking, and then a group of women talking down the road. The children are often playing in the fields outside the village and I saw many kids out in the tall grass alone. I was just a passing visitor in car, but I have a feeling many of these people in the villages won't forget me. Judging from the stares I got, I was probably the first Caucasian many of the people had seen and they were probably wondering why I was traveling along the road to Hosur. I got a couple waves and smiles and a lot of uncomfortable stares along the way.
When we reached Hosur we were supposed to meet Auntie Annie(the school nurse) at the bus station. Auntie Annie travels to Hosur every weekend for church on Sunday. Here we were in the middle of a crazy Indian bus station...me, a 5 foot red haired Irish girl, a German girl, and a 6'5" Belgium man. Ya we looked pretty out of place and lost. We couldn't find Auntie Annie and thus had no idea what to do. We didn't know where to go, where to eat, etc. in a place where no one spoke much English and where there were 100s of people around us staring. Hosur isn't really a tourist destination so we were foreigners there. At the bus station we had some beggars come up to us. A child, an old woman, and a woman with bloody teeth holding a tiny baby(only weeks old). I felt for them but we were specifically told no to give any money because then 100 more beggars will surround you and grab your purse and money. After waiting for 45 minutes we decided to try to venture into the city ourselves and started walking away(in the complete wrong direction btw). Suddenly I heard my name and Auntie Annie was running told us! Her bus got in late and I guess she asked someone what direction the white people were going and somehow found us! I have never been so happy! haha I ran to her and hugged her for at least a minute while people on the streets were smiling and pointing. Not everyday do you see an Indian women hugging a white girl in the middle of a crowded Indian street! Auntie Annie is a very affectionate woman and always holds your hand or puts her arm around you as you are talking to her. She thinks the things I say are especially cute so she always pinches my cheeks and grabs my chin when I am talking. Thus, with my hand holding Auntie Annie's we ventured into the main shopping area of the city. I am overwhelmed by Hosur. People everywhere, the smell of the streets, the shops, the dashing into the dirt road hoping to not get hit by a car, bus, or scooter. Needless to say I'm glad we found Auntie Annie because I wouldn't have known what to do without her. She took us to a "grocery" store, a shop to buy some bindism, and then to a fabric shop to get a saris. I picked out a beautiful turquoise fabric with flowers all over it and she was able to haggle the price from 1500 rupees to 1000 rupees. She then took us a tailor to get our saris custom made(all the tops here have to be made by a tailor). Auntie Annie is sometimes hard to understand so it took a while for me to actually understand what was going on. We then went to lunch at one of the best restaurants of Hosur. I ordered butter naan and chicken masala...I think I really need to stay away from all meat here because it is a little questionable looking(aka they use all parts of the chicken). During the middle of lunch, one of the other volunteers started to look a little green and next thing we knew she was throwing up and Auntie Annnie was chasing after her. Thankfully I did not get sick! I don't know why this is but Auntie Annie always has people asking her medical advice, etc. It's like she has a sign that says she's a nurse. During lunch a young waiter came up to her and they started talking, apparently she's been counseling him for months because he fell in love and the girl left him...so he drank acid. Auntie Annie has become his personal counselor during her weekend trips to Hosur.
After lunch we got back in the car and traveled back to Shanti Bhavan. This time we took an even more rural way back and found ourselves driving through shallow water a couple of times. I was glad to be back at Shanti Bhavan...it is quite a different place than the rest of India. It lives true to the meaning of it's name, "Haven of Peace."
