Wildlife up close and (a little too) personal
I’m starting to get used to the fact that I’m really in India, but I still sometimes wake up in the morning and think that I’m still back in good old Canada. This morning was one of those times, the fact that I was sleeping in my sleeping bag (oh so nice and warm, and now that I”m staying in Landour, I need that warmth at night) was a little odd, but not completely indicative of another country. My room is nice, and while it is noticeably Indian, if you just quickly glance around while waking up, you can fool yourself. I was late for breakfast so I quickly threw some clothes on, but as I was reaching for my sweater, I suddenly noticed that there was a little scorpion sitting on the pile of shirts that I had just taken the top one off of. That sealed it, I was suddenly wide awake and fully conscious of the fact that I’m in India. Even still, I wouldn’t have expected a scorpion to be running around in Landour at this time of the year – it nearly freezes at night, so it’s a bit of a mystery as to where it came from, but regardless, it was there in front of me. One slightly disturbing possibility is that it crawled into the shirts in Dehradun (I had given them to Rupi to send for washing, and had just taken the folded stack of shirts when they returned two days later and dumped the pile in my suitcase, so the scorpion may have been traveling around with me for the last while in which case I think I’m super lucky not to have surprised it before now…). Thankfully I had the box from my mobile phone and so I managed to scoop up the scorpion in that and throw it outside, but from now on I will carefully shake out my clothes before putting them on, and will be a little more cautious when reaching into my suitcase… Just one more example of the multitude of crazy things that can happen in this country.
I registered at the Language school today, and had my first class which went really well. Looks like I’ve got a lot of work in front of me, but I think it’s totally manageable as long as I put in the practice time (something I have a bad history with unfortunately). Speaking of which, I should go start that now… Cheers!
This is the online home of one Shane Warner, my place to attempt to tell some of my stories, as well as just spout off whatever comes to mind.
I know the feeling. That happened to me all the time in Taiwan. I would wake up and it would feel like this room I was in, though familiar, was somehow a dream. However, the scorpion was often replaced by a cockroach.
Please keep writing. Your blog (and life for that matter) is much more interesting than life here in Storrs Connecticut.
Cheers,
mark
Hey Shane,
I came back to your website again, hoping for another entry. Keep us posted. Until then,
Main bahut kusi hu qui sub kuch aacha lugta hai!
Sounds like you had better watch your clothing. A word from a Mom…..Check the shoes!