Mary in India

First of all, it's not like the guys can be there to fix problems in your apartment when you're not there. You can't leave anyone alone in your place, unlike in the U.S. where you can leave the cable guy alone to install your cable while your gone, here...you have to babysit them.

So you have be present. That always sucks. Having like 5 Indian dudes in your house staring at you is weird. On top of that they almost always smell to high heavens. I don't know why this is, but they just always do. Remi came home once after they'd been gone for nearly an hour and the apartment still stunk. We had to open all the windows (with scorching heat outside) just to flush the air out.

They don't care about your stuff whatsoever. They'll step barefoot on your leather couch, drill into your wall letting dust fly all over your couch, tv, etc. Step on your counter-tops barefoot, BAREFOOT, and leave a smell that requires mass amounts of scrubbing to get out. On top of that they've completely cracked all the paint where they've drilled and left smudge prints all over the walls they were working on.

They never quite fix anything. Everything is either a temporary fix which falls apart later or they break something else in the process of fixing what you called them for. Like for example we had a guy come to fix a tile in the kitchen that the AC installer had broke when he was installing the AC. But the tile guy not only does THE worst job glueing the tile back but he also cracks the tile next to the one he was fixing (see picture above). So now it looks even worse!

This is typical India though, Remi and I try so hard to laugh it off but it gets to a point where you literally expect shit to go wrong. Remi calls it the lottery, you never know if you'll win or lose. If something here actually goes right, as in according to plan, on time, at the cost promised, etc...you're AMAZED beyond WORDS.

I'm not trying to be rude here either, as I've mentioned before I have a love/hate relationship with India and Indian culture in general. These are one of the things I do not not like. The total lack of respect, diligence, or pride in ones job. And of course they aren't all like this, I am making a big generalization. However, my experience compiled with the same horror stories from other fellow expats had lead me to believe this is a normal thing around India.

I wonder how I will feel transitioning back into the U.S. How I much patience I will have earned through countless frustrations endured here. I am absolutely positive India has made me a better person, in its own weird freakish way.