Time passes so quickly. As I look back over these past 3 months, I can’t help but compare our experience here to that of starting a new job. There’s always a period of adjustment and not knowing what to do, where things are, what type of schedules are already in play, and the list goes on. I walk through downtown Kodaikanal almost every day and I see the places we first visited recounting our confusion and amazement as we navigated this strange new place. The first restaurants we visited, the first walk around Kodai Lake, the first bank machine we used, the first store I shopped in (you can see how those last two things go hand in hand) and so on.

Life in India runs a a different pace than North America. They are definitely more event oriented than time oriented. Celebrations happen almost every weekend, and it always seems to be tea time. Interjection: I’ve drunk more tea in these past 3 months than I have in my entire life!  But we’ve managed to find our stride as we have settled in to make Kodaikanal our home away from home. I love the pace here. I love the weather here. I love the friendly people here. I find myself even enjoying the afternoon monsoon rains. Schedules are formed around the predictable patterns of the rain and I have learned to never leave home without an umbrella.

Each day has held different challenges from going without power to finding somewhere that I can hook up to wifi. Someone told us that if you get to the end of a  day when the weather, the wifi and the power have been steady, it’s been a good day.

So what have I been doing to fill my days? Weekly priorities are most often shopping issues. There is no store in Kodai where you will find everything you need under one roof. There are no Wal-Marts’ or Superstores. There are however hundreds of different outlets that specialize in anything that you may need. The main shopping street, Anna Salai, as a whole offers almost everything you find yourself needing and more. My personal weakness as I stroll down Anna is the clothing stores. I love the Indian fashions. They wear such beautiful fabrics and all their garments flow. But that’s a diversion from the priorities I wanted to share.

Groceries: Sunday market is the best time to purchase your grocery needs for the week. Other than doing the weekly market, we have found where to purchase fresh baked goods, meats, fruits, vegetables or hardware items. Some of the most prolific little shops have been discovered only by word of mouth.

Shopping for other stuff: My personal favourite store to hit to purchase things that I do not need nor will I ever need, is Danish Display. They sell everything from combs and brushes to giant brass elephants that serve no purpose at all but look fantastic!

We recently discovered a place to purchase television sets. Not that we are in the market for one, but simply discovering where to buy them is like finding a key to a locked door in a video game. BTW the sales people just stared at me when I asked them if they also sold X-Boxes. (I’ve been missing my little man from Minecraft and the 4 worlds that I have explored with him.)

The language: Most Indians speak some English so the language has not been too big of a barrier, but understanding street or town names as they talk is good to know.  So many times in conversation I’ve just had to stare in silence at a complete loss to know how to respond. As they emphatically repeat a word that is 100% foreign to my ears, I can only respond with “I’m sorry but I don’t know what you’re saying”. I have to confess that there have been many times when I’ve imitated their expression or emotion and just smiled in agreement hoping there would be no questions asked that would reveal that I had no idea what was just said.

For comparison, when I would service someone’s piano and give them explanations as to what issues their piano had, I would often get that blank stare that was accompanied by a vacant grin. I know that expression so well, and I know it means that I need to change my communication style to laymen’s terms. I find myself so often in their shoes now as someone will try to communicate with me in Tamil English and they lose me completely. Sometimes they will go find someone whose English is better than theirs and the communication gap gets bridged.

We have enjoyed the beauty of India so much. Words do not describe, nor do pictures communicate the experience of being here. The mountains and valleys, the ocean, the wildlife and the countryside are unique. Palm trees, monkeys, bison are only the tip of the iceberg to what we have yet to see. Personally, I cannot leave India until I have seen an elephant!  But we wake up every morning to the sight of a vast valley view that goes great with a cup of coffee and you certainly cannot complain about that!

Living Accommodations: When we first arrived here we had a hotel reservation for 4 nights. Trying to book anything on the internet will cost you much more than actually being here so we were hesitant to made any long term plans for a place to stay until we got here. After our hotel stay was finished, we enjoyed the hospitality of Kodai International School for a few weeks as they rented us one of their Alumni Cottages. It was great, but not a long term solution for us. It bought us time to make arrangements for the place we find ourselves now, Prospect House which is located right up the hill from Coaker’s Walk and Greenland Hostel. Our view of the valley from here is a treat every morning as my Facebook pictures have shown.

Transportation: We have 3 main options for getting around. 1 – A friend has loaned us the use of his scooter, 2 – Taxi, and 3 – Walking. Getting around by taxi is great as their charges are very affordable and they know where everything is. Aside from hitching a ride on the back of the scooter with Harold, I have been doing a ton of walking. We are only a 15 minute walk away from the main shopping areas in town. Everything is accessible and affordable.

A note about walking: Yes, I may have blurted out some words that my mother would not be very proud of as I have walked from point A to point B, but getting around by foot is not just a stroll in the park. Traffic with wheels trumps pedestrian traffic, so be ready to lunge for cover, or pick up your pace if you see congestion ahead. HORNS! AAAAAAH! So much unnecessary honking at me as a pedestrian!

The cows – I LOVE and HATE the cows. I love them when they saunter across the road where I need to cross, but that’s where my love ends. They can be obstacles that force pedestrians into traffic and they don’t care. They leave their calling cards randomly along the roadways and sidewalks. Open toed shoes are not the best option for footwear if you have a lot of walking to do. Just trust me on that.

Things you see on a 15 minute walk to town – Animals. You see dogs, cows, and monkeys mostly. There are many wild dogs around that walk the streets and have obviously been abused by pedestrian traffic as you will see them flinch when you pass them. So sad! The monkeys – hate the monkeys! But they usually keep their distance. Cows – aka traffic police. Enough said.

Also, a piece of advice for the new pedestrian to India – do not look for the source of running water if you hear it as you stroll through the country. Chances are that it is not a waterfall and well, some things just cannot be unseen.

Both Harold and I are enjoying our India experience so much. With his family history here, we have run into so many people who know the name Amstutz. We have met many former math students of Harold’s father, Ken. We have experienced a feeling of familiarity and home as we go through our weeks here. The Alumni department at the school has provided us with passes that allow us to come and go to the school as needed. Talk about a family history that paved the way for the next generation. We are proud of the name Amstutz and will never grow tired of life on this side of the world.