Respect

Outward signs of respect are very important here. Some examples:

• Muslim, Hindu, and some Christian women cover their heads when the pray.
• A quick motion of the hand from the forehead to the chest and then from the chin to the chest is done by Hindus passing a temple or by someone who has accidentally touched another person's feet.
• Elderly people's feet are touched as a sign of respect.
• A bride's head is covered during her wedding.
• Sticking your arm straight out if you pass between people in conversation.
• The language has two forms of the pronoun "you." One form is used for people older than you to show respect, and the other is used for those younger than you or good friends.
  

You've Gained Weight

People here freely speak what's on their mind about some things. It's not considered rude here, it's just people speaking their mind the way they please. The following comments have been casually made to me and between my local friends many times:
"You've gained weight. You're looking fat."
"You're looking sick. Have you lost weight?"
"You were so white and pretty before. Now you're dark."
"You were so dark before, I didn't like it. Now you're white and pretty."
"Julianne/Betsy can speak the language so much prettier than you can."
"What are all those spots on your face?"
"Your hair was so long and pretty. I don't like it short."

Comments I've heard others make in referral to someone else who is usually sitting right there.
"He's stupid. He failed the 3rd grade and is taking it again. So stupid."
"This is my friend I showed you in the picture, the fat one."

Q’s (lines)

Lines in this country are more similar to a mob. It’s never really a line of people, but a cluster at the counter pushing forward into the counter. I learned at the phone office to wedge my way to the window and stick my arm in the hole in the window before anyone else could. Your arm in the hole makes you the next person in line. And in most places, if you don’t cut in line with force, you’ll never make it to the front. You have to learn to be aggressive. I’ve caught myself on vacation in other places a few times cutting in line, forgetting that this country is not like the rest of the world.

As a woman I have an advantage. Because women are less common in public, women and senior citizens have their own line at the electricity bill office (if the employee for that line shows up), and at the phone bill office it’s “One women after every four men,” which means I get to count to the 4^th man from the front and wedge my way in the line there, hoping they will abide by the signs. Just because the signs are there doesn’t mean you’re not pushing your way into the line.

I am now way more appreciative of the organized lines in America!

Gold

Gold is so much more than a precious metal. It is a significant status symbol coveted by this country and flaunted whenever possible. You will not find gold less than 18 carats in this country, but only 18 carats or more! (If you’re a lover of silver jewelry, you won’t find any here!) Since they don’t add many other metals to their gold, to the American eye it looks like fake jewelry. It’s a bright gold color instead of the duller gold color we’re used to. But it’s the real thing.

Weddings are probably the biggest event one’s gold is displayed for all to see. The groom’s family presents the bride with gold earrings, a necklace, and bangles. The earrings and necklace are by American standards too big and gaudy, but the price tag is usually not under $2000, and sometimes way over that! Women attending the wedding sometimes wear the set they received for their marriage, and if not they wear another set they acquired. Anytime I wear gold, fake or real, someone notices, and asks me if it is real gold.

Thank You

I never realized how much we use the words “Thank You” in the states until I moved here. I have offended a few of my friends several times because I told them “thank you” for something. If you are friends in this culture, you never say thank you. It is assumed the other person is grateful because you are friends already! It makes sense, but it’s still so hard not to say “thank you!”

Unhappy? Protest!

Protests and strikes are so common that they appear daily in the local newspaper in at least two or three articles. It's also common to see groups chanting and marching down the middle of the roads in town, blocking the already traffic jammed roads. Common issues for protests or strikes:

• Rise in prices of essential commodities
• Political issues such as the Indo-US nuclear deal
• Water-logging in the city during monsoon season
• Killing/poaching of one-horned rhinos found in our state
• Demanding sealing of Indo-Bangladesh border and an inner line permit for the state
• Child trafficking
• The state to become a country independent of india
• Train employees receiving insufficient pay

Salwars, Mekhelasadors, and Lungis: What are they?

One of the things I like most about this country is the clothes they wear.
Women
The most important rule of clothing for the women is to cover your legs completely, and to cover the chest with 2 layers of clothing. It doesn't matter if the stomach shows. Women in our area usually wear one of 3 things: a sari , a salwar kameez, or a mekhelasador.
Sari: a long piece of cloth (about 9 yards) wrapped around the legs, chest, and then drapes off the left shoulder. Under the sari women wear a petticoat (a long cloth skirt) and tuck the folds of the sari in it so the sari doesn't fall. They also wear a blouse underneath, which is a tightfitting top covering the chest.
Salwar Kameez: If you've seen any of my pictures, this is what I'm usually wearing. The pants are the salwar, the kameez is the shirt, and the churney is the part that drapes over my chest and hangs over my shoulders. The pants are very baggy and have a drawstring, so they never fit your waist, but hang off like pajama pants that are several sizes too big. The shirts usually go down to or past our knees, and the bottom part is useful in the kitchen as a kitchen towel and table rag. The churney is always getting in the way but can come in handy to breath through when going through sooty and smokey traffic.
Mekhelasador: This is traditional dress of the state we live in. Similar to a sari, but two pieces. One piece is the skirt, and they top piece tucks into the skirt and wraps around the chest like a sari. The bottom piece is called the mekhela, and the top piece is called the sador. Traditional sadors have small tassel-type things on the ends for decoration and have a specific gold and red design (see the picture on the top right of my blog!)
Men
Western: Men wearing western clothes almost always have on slacks and a collared, button up shirt, even if they're wearing a lungi. Grown men tend not to wear shorts or t-shirts; they see those items as kid clothes. Some men wear t-shirts, but usually for style.
Lungi: A lot of men still wear lungi, usually a plaid-designed piece of cloth they wrap around their waist like a skirt, lengths varying from mid-calf to really short!