You might be in India if…
You step onto a cement slab to bucket shower late at night and are greeted by a giant poisonous spider
Your only name to the locals is either madam, auntie, or sister
You’re sipping a chai tea in 100 degrees
You’re on a street with stray dogs, pigs, cows, and goats surrounded by litter and 1000 other people
Your bus driver hits 2 people on a motorcycle but realizes no one is injured so he keeps driving
You fear for your life every time you drive somewhere because you realize that there are no enforced traffic rules
You get to your destination after an hour long bumpy van ride and go throw up with a friend from car sickness.
You have a love/hate relationship with the amount of delicious rice and curry you eat each day #worldrace15
You’re stopped on the street by locals because they want to take a picture of/with a white person
You scare little kids because they’ve never seen a white person
You’re always sweating…even after you just finish showering. It’s just always unbelievably hot.
You can’t turn around without being surrounded by bright beautiful colors
Your hand washed laundry takes about 3 hours tops to completely dry…because the heat, remember?
You’re surrounded by the most selfless and giving people you could ever imagine
You name lizards that crawl on your tent because hey, they eat the bugs and you miss your pets back hoe
You assume the saying “when it rains, it pours” was created by an Indian during monsoon season
You witness the most beautiful forms of worship that you have ever seen
You rarely come across a person who is rude or ignorant
You create a whole new definition of what spicy food really is
You can’t go more than a minute without hearing a honking horn, prayer call, music playing, or child’s laughter
Your ministry host’s son hasn’t eaten chicken in over four years because his doctor said he couldn’t have it after he was bit by a dog
You don’t even like soda but find a Thums Up to be refreshing
You eat dinner on the floor of a pitch black room by the light of a single birthday candle after the power goes out for the fourth time that day
You’ve grown accustomed to doing everything with your right hand (your left hand is your wiping hand)
You’ve mastered the art of piling people in a tuk tuk
You bob your head side to side to say yes
You have yet to meet a curry you don’t like. In fact, you probably haven’t had the same curry twice
You pass “do not urinate” signs on the street. When you do see someone relieving themselves along the road it doesn’t even phase you
You pound back mango juice like nobody’s business
You’ve toned up your thighs by using a squatty potty
You’re always rocking a skirt because squatty potties
You blow your nose and turn your Kleenex black from all of the dirt and pollution you’ve been inhaling
A piece of you dies a little each tie you throw trash outside (there are no trashcans)
You don’t have shoes on. Ever.
You play connect the dots with your mosquito and ant bites
Showing your ankles is considered as taboo as showing your chest
You tell your host that you’re full as they’re scooping a heaping 5th serving onto your plate
You’ve never felt such love from people you’ve just met
You have one legged crows pecking at your dishes by the well
You nod off on the bus and wake up to Indian men pointing and laughing at you
Your well runs low on water so you don’t bucket shower for three days but it’s fine because you’ve got febreeze, baby wipes, and some jasmine flowers that you can tie in your hair
You’ve eaten more guava in the past month than you have in your entire life
Your host mom gives you food she knows you won’t like just to watch your face as you eat it
You’d sell your left leg for a cup of coffee
You come close to having a heat stroke each time you work out
You watch chickens climb trees
You’ve gained a rice belly (which your host mom is quick to point out)
You have come to equate the comfort of wearing a scarf around your head to that of a hoodie
You have people ask you for your autograph just because you’re white
You’ve been impacted by the most extraordinary people and have lost a piece of your heart to this amazing country
