1.) A woman living on her own here is not common at all. In my search for my own space, ESAF has been helping me, specifically a couple of women at the office, one of whom is my room mate. As I said before, people at the company feel a bit sorry for me, which has its advantages:) Having the company be what you would call "my collateral" makes a HUGE difference in communicating with landlords, especially as a foreign woman wanting to live on her own. So again, I am thankful to have people looking out for me. I've got a couple of good options now though so we'll see how it transpires.
2.) Malayali soap operas are very dramatic, especially with the filming. My room mates love to watch soap operas. There's a lot of camera zooming in and out on someone's face with really dramatic music :)
3.) If you're in a meeting with someone, it's not rude to answer your phone nor is it rude to walk-in and ask someone a question. Of course this depends on the nature of the meeting, but in general this is what I've observed. I think maybe even in some ways, not answering your phone while you're in a meeting is seen as rude.
4.) Rice or grain is served with every meal. Plain rice is actually the main dish while the other accompanying items are side dishes. I miss a fresh green salad :) I've actually had to tone down on the rice because my body is going into shock with all the grains. My room mates think I'm starving myself. I haven't gotten sick yet though (knock on wood).
5.) The mosquitoes still can't get enough of me! They love me and I hate them.
6.) Women can tell what part of India other women are from just from the way they wear their saris. Interesting don't you think? I guess you can also say that you can tell someone is from the Pacific Northwest from the way they wear their sandals....PNWers love their calf-high socks :)
7.) Power outages are common and pretty often.
8.) Honking is actually a friendly thing here, letting people and other cars know that someone is behind them, beside them or about to pass them. It doesn't have the middle finger feel like it does in the US. All the backs of big trucks say "Sound Horn". One truck I saw said "Safety first. Sound Horn. Speed Next". I can't imagine that flying very well in the US.
9.) "Hotel" means "Hotel" and it also means "Restaurant", but "Restaurant" means "Restaurant" and a "Hotel" may only mean "Restaurant".
10.) Note to self, don't leave your computer out because little ants will crawl all over and inside it. I discovered this this morning when I woke up to all these little ants crawling in and on my computer when I opened it up. Gross!
Oh and POINT #11 - women do not drink alcohol here. Maybe some do at some private event and her husband or someone has given it to her, but in general it is quite uncommon for women to drink here despite the big drinking culture here in Kerala among men. Actually Kerala is considered one of the heaviest drinking states in India. It's especially crazy during festivals is what I hear.
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