India: 1, Sangita: 0

Indian houses have lots of character.

And by character, I mean cockroaches. (And I happen to be staying in a house that has 40 years of character. Lucky me.)

I’m not a fan of cockroaches. (Let’s be honest, I’m not a fan of creepy-crawlies at all.)And this entire city seems to be full of them. (Creepy-crawlies, not just cockroaches. Unfortunately.)

I really really hate ants – Sidenote: people make fun of me when I tell them I’m most frightened by ants. But come on! They’re like mutant bugs. And you know that if ants were any larger, they would have the strength and the numbers to take over the world. Oh my goodness, imagine if ants were the size of cockroaches. I think I’d just move to a sterilized hospital – but you can’t really escape the ants here. I’ve kinda-sorta gotten used to them. Lizards are also everywhere, but since they eat the mosquitoes, I can tolerate them. Cockroaches, on the other hand, have no purpose besides crawling around and being gross and creepy.

My very first day in India, I battled a cockroach.

I was extremely tired after my flight, so once I finally reached home, I put my bags upstairs and immediately took a nap. I woke up to the sight of a large cockroach creeping across my bright yellow handbag.

I screamed. (And after about ten minutes of sitting there in stalemate, I finally plucked up the courage to grab things around the bed and throw them at my purse until the cockroach went away.)

 I have since become braver.

Or at least smarter.

Now, before I enter a room, I turn the light on and wait for 15 seconds – the perfect amount of time to let all the bugs scuttle away, but not so long as to make people question your sanity. (Although, on more than one occasion, I have been asked why I was waiting in a doorway.)

This tactic has worked rather well, and I went almost four weeks without seeing a cockroach. Until I went to get my shoes this morning and saw a cockroach the size of my fist, sitting there next to the rows of shoes.

My illusion of this being a cockroach-free house has been completely shattered. And now I can’t decide whether or not I would actually prefer to see them. Because at least when I see the cockroach, I know exactly where it is. Otherwise, it could be hiding anywhere!

Indian homes not only have cockroaches. They have their share of water-related catastrophes as well.

I have mastered the three minute shower – because that’s how long you can guarantee there will be hot water – so I thought I was impervious to water mishaps.

But today, as I was lathering up the shampoo in my hair, the water stopped coming from the showerhead altogether. I had to stand there for about thirty minutes, holding a little mug up to the showerhead as icy water trickled down. (Rest assured, I finally got about three mugs of water and was able to at least rinse the soap and shampoo away. So I’m not still a soapy, sudsy mess.)

You win, incredibly old Indian house. You win.

T-minus 6 days until I can take a two-hour long shower without having to worry about the (hot) water supply!

-July 25th