Welcome back to This is India! I always have funny/weird stories about India to share with friends or family when I talk to them. This is just meant to be an honest portrayal about my life in India through short anecdotes. I also share here what I’ve been up to online outside Hippie in Heels.
What I was up to other than here:
- I remember seeing this list a year ago when I started my blog and knowing I wanted to get on this list somehow! This quarter, Hippie in Heels made it…. #45, I mean it’s no #1 but ummm I’ll take it ;) Top 50 Travel Blogs by the Expeditioner which is based on how many readers the blog has so THANK YOU for reading my blog!
- I shard on FB that Hippie in Heels was put on this list Top 25 Solo Female Travel Bloggers to Follow in 2015 by Flipkey as well, so it was a good week!
- Lastly, I’m headed to Sri Lanka for the weekend! Also, bugs laid eggs in me and I’m on a bunch of medicine therefore can’t drink booze in Sri Lanka. Umm, I should probably be more upset about the tiny bug eggs under my skin than the no-booze but well, I can’t help my priorities!
Now your story,
I live in a small village called Assagao. I (used to- man that was hard to edit…) love taking Huck on walks and recently thanks to eating THIS for dinner occasionally, and eating dinner out almost all the time, I’ve been running. Goa is full of pretty young thin people, so I’d like to not get fat but have absolutely ZERO self control over what I eat.
I was pretty proud of myself running to the bridge and back. Ok, jogging, to the bridge, resting, and jogging back. It’s a gorgeous view and while I was walking my dog, I’d wave at the nice locals who were walking their cows to the field. We were all buddies. I’d say in Hindi, “that rice is very green”, trying to find something to say to this Konkani speaker with my limited Hindi… and the guy would look at me like I’m an idiot and just smile. Best buddies we were. Until……..
There are some funny things Indians say that they don’t know are funny, like “Rachel, you’re looking so fat and healthy” while they smile after giving me such a compliment! Although being fat isn’t always good as some Canadians girls had a masseuse say “you and your friend… SO fat. Too fat in the legs.”
I was about to get one like this from a little old man that was always waving when I went by. And I quote,
“you are running everyday!… not very fast! not very far!”
Yeah, we’re still buddies but now I know he thinks I’m a lazy fart. I gave him a big smile and a head wobble like, yes sir, I’m so slow, great news!
This is India!
feature image photo credit (parking sign)
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Hahahah, well maybe that’s another motivational piece as well. Having someone ‘cheer’ you on to run ‘faster’
haha yes, and clearly I need it.
Once someone said spelling mistake maybe is done intentionally. :)
haha
Congratulations on hitting both of those lists!
thanks so much!
Is that photo REALLY what you eat for dinner? How often? I eat…questionable items (live off of convenience store food on occasion) in my country. Had my BMI taken at a new gym this week and about cried…”Obese”
Part two: WHAT THE HELL WITH THE BUGS?? One of my biggest fears in life… that and sharks..
finally-O-H…
LOL yes that was my dinner one night after a bad day, but I don’t eat it for dinner usually! I do eat A LOT though and snack on my american goodies I bring over every day :) The bugs are still not quite cured!!
I-O
i just wanted to tell u that i was in goa during diwali holidays.There is a club called Katzensuppe in vagator,there i met two girls from canada who told me that they decided to come goa after reading a blog i just say is it hippie in heels,they were so
astonished to know that how i came to know about this ,i told them i also read this
blog and we discussed many post on your blogs.we became good friends because
of your blogs.also they though that ur boyfriend is indian which i corrected them.
Lastly they were desperate to meet u i dont know they whether they have met or not.
I did meet them in Karnataka! small world, thanks for sharing that with me.
there name were chevon and chhindall,i dont know how to spell it
i was in goa / anjuna beach 5 days ago and since i follow your blog i was thinking about you! naturally you live there, its a great place, a lot of touristic things. it felt very unlike india but i enjoyed that for a short while. now back in bangalore
What a nice break from Bangalore. You’re right it’s very unlike India in Anjuna.
Oh God I KNOW! In Pakistan I always get told (post-weight loss) that now I look “so weak”… and before I looked “so healthy”. WRONG WAY AROUND!!! hahahaha
hahahah!!!
Fab news on the lists, Rachel! Congrats. Hope we can have the same success in such a short space of time!
Haha on the story. I was called fat by a Filipino lady who was doing my nails a year or so ago. “You’re so fat now,” she said. I had probably gained about 2kg at the time…
Thanks Andrea :)
and about the fat thing, what is that about!? lol so funny and usually hear similar stories from people spending time in Asia and Africa. I actually had some people that I met in Uganda write on my FB pic “looking better, you’ve gained weight!” lol
hahaha Hilarious! I love the honesty of non-western cultures! sorry to hear about the bugs… and no drinking (thats a tough one!)
Yes, well I’m back to drinking but the bugs have left quite a nasty scab area on my tailbone!
Rachel,
I LOVE these “This is India” Stories! Best morning laugh wakeups! I do have a question that confuses me…Can you or someone else who knows, explain why the rupees are written like this in larger denominations> Rs. 5,00,000 ??? Like what does that translate to be in USD? Because you know how we write with 3 decimal places, why do do they skip and do 2 and how in the world do you use the exchange rate calculator when its like this???? Is that 5 million or 500 thousand or neither ??? Is there a trick you use? Thank you so much!
ya know, IDK why they put the comma there, but I just change it in my head .. it’s always the same zeros, so 5,00,000 is the same as 500,000 … very odd huh!
Thank you! It is super odd. lol 12 more weeks and we will be in GOA! SOoooo excited to move out of the states…
“you are running everyday!… not very fast! not very far!” -that really cracked me up. Congratulations on the lists. :)
haha thanks!!
Um, clearly the topic of your next “This is India” series needs to be about the bugs that somehow laid eggs inside you. What the hell?! Can that seriously happen? Just thinking about what kind of bug did that is freaking me out big time!
lol, I thought about posting a pic but that really wouldn’t jive with my beach views and sunets.. you know a scabby bug infested tail bone lol
Haha… I really seem to like this series of yours!
Cheers!
Rajiv