Friday, September 28, 2007

Badminton as liberation

Last night, I, and the three other women I live with, went to play badminton with Pabbu from the office at the local gym. First, he took us to his parents' house where his mother fed us Indian deserts (unidentifiable fruity pastries) and mashed apples mixed with milk and water. The home was quite tall as the family is relatively well off. They're built that way so that all the hot air goes near the ceiling, making it much cooler than most homes. The gym is a large building with four badminton courts and a small gym with old but still often used equipment. Kind of spooky, like the place a school dance would be held during which all the kids are killed or scarred for life when the ghost of a former student wreaks revenge. I'd never thought of badminton as a particularly liberating (or even particularly interesting) sport but, last night, I definitely did. It was a bit of freedom in this place where all we can do is go to work and back home at night. It would be weird to go for a run here, especially for a woman. Whenever one of us is out "late" (9pm) the host family worries and will sit on the front step of their house, waiting. Despite having to wear pants and a loose T-shirt in the 85-degree building, it was still nice and fun. We were the only women there. The men didn't seem to think it too odd that we were there but I think they would have if we had been Indian. As in China, foreigners here get a sort of "by" to vaguely strange behavior. We left at 10pm to the anxious thought of "Ah, we should not be out this late!"

I've been thinking about the purpose of this trip the last few days because there's been nothing to do in the office. First, the internet was out. Now, I am lethargic, especially about work. I remember saying very vehemently before I left that my main goals were to learn and to make friends. I was reading this op-ed by Danielle Trussoni in the New York Times. She writes quite often about her trip to Vietnam, even though it was years ago. I don't have such a personal connection to any of the places I have been, or am going to, but it makes me wonder what effect the trip will have on me in the years to come, particularly because China and India are such evolving nations and both have a lot of controversy surrounding them. The subjects are endless.

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