Lesson One: Take Off Your Shoes

Coming from a background of dorm living, where I’ve trained myself to never be barefoot, this was a really hard adjustment for the first day in a new (third world) country. In India, feet are considered repulsively dirty. As with many countries in this part of the world, the ground is dusty and dry which in turn makes shoes absolutely filthy. When entering a home, temple, or various other places that deserve reverence, it is Indian custom to remove your shoes. Furthermore, the bottom of the foot is considered dirty by association and shouldn’t be pointed at other people. That means no propping your feet up on the coffee table and that even crossing your legs isn’t a totally nonchalant position like it is at home. It is weird that in America, which is on the whole a much more cleanly place than India, I spend all of my time with at least flip flops on to keep my feet safe from germs and yet while I’ve been here I’ve spent an astounding amount of time in public places barefoot. It is reassuring to know that Indians take great pride in keeping a clean home and sweep sometimes several times a day. All I can say is that I hope I don’t get ringworm.