It's the little things

Recently I have been mumbling a lot to myself about how much I miss America--  its pee-free sidewalks and food that isn't covered in hot spices and black pepper. I miss riding my bike (although since it's winter I'm not sure if I would have had that luxury anyway) and I miss salads. Unfortunately, this grumbly attitude didn't actually get me access to any of those things, it just made me unhappy.

But the thing is, I am in India. I doubt I will ever get to come to India again and I definitely wont have another opportunity like this. So I decided instead to make a list of things I like about India. Things that I will probably miss when I get back to my comfy life in the US and things that are just hard to come by.

• Women carrying things on their heads
• Snacks: cheap and delicious lassi (25 cents), cardamom flavored cookies, etc
• Guards at the grocery stores who will check your backpacks for you
• Metal detectors at most stores or large buildings. Almost all are either broken or that it doesn't really matter if you have metal on you because the guard is just going to wave you through anyway.
• The large number of technology institutions

Awesome teachers who invite you to their wedding

Hindi temples on every block

Adorable babies-- especially the girls with the ankle bangles

Good friends and entertaining conversations

Pedestrian crossings encouraging you to run across traffic

VEGGIE dino bites

Bicycles and scooters used for everything

Yes, everything

These ladies in saris who clean the streets

Public health notices on cigarette packages

Look close, it's a window cleaner

Pictures like this on EVERYTHING

Signs like this being necessary (and the ones on the sidewalks that say "please do not pass urine"