Julia Roberts is annoying

I can't believe I'm going to admit this but I think have a legit excuse. Last night I watched Eat Pray Love. Why? Well prior to coming over here I knew of the film and the basic plot but that was the extent. My mother was one of the many mothers that saw the movie, read the book and vowed to partake in her own journey also (you did mom). It's almost like a less provocative Sex and the City. You'd be shocked how many times that movie was interjected into the conversation when my move was mentioned. The conversations would typically go like this...

Person: "So what are you doing now?"

Me: "Working/surviving, getting ready to head to India."

Person: "OH MY GOD! Have you seen Eat Pray Love? That country looks amazing! I'd like to visit."

Now this conversation would skew depending on the demographic and sometimes Slumdog Millionaire would replace Eat Pray Love but you get the idea.

So back to my point, I watched the movie and the persona Julia Roberts depicts in that film has to be craziest person ever and exactly the reason why societal norms are so drastically shifting in the U.S.. Now I could do a deep dive psycho-analysis on why I'm saying that, but that's an entirely different topic (which Business Insider covered oh so well earlier this week). 

What I want to focus on is the attire. I try to pay particular attention to foreigners here in India because a.) I'm one of them and b.) we stick out like sore thumbs. Personally, I really enjoy it. It's an odd feeling to have everyone staring at you while walking through some of the streets or initially in the office, but I enjoy the thought of trying to figure out what they are thinking and how they are judging. Plus it's just fun being different. Throw me into slum or tough area of Bangalore at 1:00 am and my tune might change, but you get my point. I also try to prevent myself from getting into those seriously "compromising" situations.

So back to how foreigners dress. There's really two types of individuals that I've spotted here: the business as usual person and the "I'm going to be so culturally sensitive and really maximize my experience by wearing any and every piece of country specific garment and judge my fellow foreigners who don't" individual. Julia Roberts is the latter.

Now I've been here about a month to the day and while I haven't been able to get out to explore as much I had anticipated, I have been able to see this trend and trust I'm trying to capture it on film. The worst are the Americans because I swear there is some sort of guilt to being an American when here which I don't get. Again, I have no issues with a visitor wearing a sari and sporting a bindi, but you don't have to give me an evil eye as I eat my McDonald's Spicy Chicken sandwich (which is so much better here than in the US, it has actual heat to it) in my typical business casual. I'm here to work, not find myself or purpose in life Julia. They only way you will see me in the traditional dress is if my boss says I have to or for some sort of other ceremony. 


 I'm guessing this comes across as insensitive but it's really not the intention. I personally don't care which way a person dresses but "embracing" the culture or experience doesn't mean you have to dress up. This clip from Mad Men pretty much sums it up. Hare Krishna my friends...

Cheers.