My Wedding Ring

So after being in India four months I have learned first hand about the reputation that preceds foreign women. Not only have I heard stories and read them in the news about incidents when foreign women acted in a most unrespectable manner, but I have seen volunteers wearing provocative clothing even around children. This reputation extends to me and it is something I am battling against along with the stereotype that all foreigners are super rich. In this fight to the finish I have made one purchase that has changed my individual status and if it were true and I returned to the US I would get some tax breaks. I bought a wedding ring. Ok, so it is a seriously cheap imposter costing 70 rupees or $1.40. Now it is becoming tarnished... must be the water. The backside has been scratched through to expose its copper color, and sometimes it turns my finger green, but the stories I tell and the jokes between my local friends are quite entertaining. Men will be quite provocative in shops and especially on buses. The only prompt for them is my white skin. Not even my western clothing is an excuse for this forward behavior because all the modern girls wear jeans. So now I am a married woman. I usually say I have been married for a year and have no children because then I would have to stay in my country because I would miss them too much. Last week my husband was an architect and this week he is a banking manager. The best joke is that last week I had a son, really no morning sickness or stretch marks. My husband is supposed to come visit in June, but we talk every couple days and the situation is really difficult. Sometimes I just laugh to myself and try to imagine marrying a bank manager. What kind of life would I lead then? Fortunately this tends to ward off the more strange behavior, but the intentions won't change. People are no different, having extramarital affairs and prostuting themselves. If someone is trying to touch you inappropriately they will manage to do it. Really this is an experience to understand how the women are thought of in society. Their sex is not given respect, but they will be exploited for sex with no consequence. Who knows what my husband will be doing next week or if i'll have quintuplets, but in the mean time I am having some interesting unavoidable life experiences.