Wrapping up with more ramblings...

So, a few weeks ago I was dying to come home. Mainly, I was craving pesto, friends and family, and tank tops. But as the end quickly approaches (a week from now I will be in transit), I have regained some of my initial fascination and appreciation of all things Indian. And here are a few more curiosities I've encountered in the past few days:

-If you grow up in India, you have some type of magical power that allows you to swallow without closing your mouth. Okay, so I'm not really sure to explain this, but in India, nobody touches their lips to water bottles or communal cups when they drink. Instead, they tilt their head far back, open their mouth wide, and pour the liquid in. I found that a bit strange at first (and it's something that I've not successful adapted to--I prefer being laughed at by confused onlookers rather than spill water all over myself). But what's even more curious is that in the past week I've noticed that as people pour water into their mouth they never close their mouth to swallow. You can see their throat working as the water goes in. Since noticing this, I've tried doing it in private and absolutely cannot without choking.

-The only deodorant sold here seems to be marketed to children. Given that it has consistently been over 100 degrees lately, the two sticks of deodorant I brought with me have both melted. It stank (no pun intended) and while I was willing to use baby powder for my last week or so here ("When in Rome," right?), I did curiously wander into a department-type store in search of some trustable brand. Instead, however, I found the following:
People here use a lot talcum powder
The only deodorant sold was some type of aerosol Disney deodorant (with Ariel, Cinderella, and Mickey on the can)
And American cosmetic companies disgustingly sell skin whitening cream here

While the first two revelations weren't too shocking (though it was entertaining to see a Disney character market what I believe to be an adult product), the third made me pretty nauseous. I've encountered so-called whitening creams throughout the world (I remember them in Thailand and Ghana, and in South Africa, especially, they had a fascinating history). But I had not yet seen an American or European brand of whitening cream. Here, the shelves are lined with whitening creams made by Ponds, Garnier, and other US/European brands. It's actually almost impossible to buy moisturizer that doesn't advertise that it will lighten your skin.

-And finally, the interviewer has become the interviewee. In the past week, I've done a number of interviews for my BA thesis. But what has been more fruitful in some ways have been the post-interview chats where I give the women free reign to ask questions to me. The first time I did this, it all began because they were extremely shocked that a young, unmarried woman would know how to ask questions about sex, men, marriage etc. The result was a fascinating discussion about Indian versus Western conceptions of love, as well as, I'm sure, a shocking lesson for them about the ways in which Americans often choose their husbands and about the relative openness of sexual dialogue in the United States. For these women, many of whom were married as young as thirteen, they knew nothing about sex until they were having it themselves. Their mothers never "warned" them or advised them.
The dialogue that resulted by asking them to interview me was definitely a two-way learning experience and brought up some really interesting things that will be extremely useful in my B.A.