Please pass this out amongst yourselves as I'm getting irked by getting asked the same questions every morning.
My name is B. Yes, just B. People in the US have a hard enough time trying to figure out my real name, so I'll give you a break on it.
I am here for 7 weeks. First time in India. First time in Hyderabad. First time for everything here.
No, I don't want to give you my cell phone number.
No, I don't know anyone who needs a driver (I lie, I do, but I'm not helping you)!
No, I don't know what I'm doing this weekend.
No, I don't want to go shopping with you.
I am going to C block. Got it? C BLOCK!!! Stop talking on your phone or trying to hit me up for tips only to then have the nerve to drop me off at the wrong building. Seriously? seriously...
Sincerely,
B
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Diwali is the Festival of Lights....
Thank you Adam Sandler....
Anyway, I had the great luck of being in India while a major festival was taking place. Diwali is the Festival of Lights, and there are different stories on the historical significance of the holiday depending on which part of India you are from. Here, if you are Hindu, it's all about the goddess Lakshmi.
I started out the night before with big plan on what to do (our office was closed and I took full advantage of it) including going to some shops, working out and organizing my pictures. I ended up waking up at like 11:30, scrambling at the hotel gift shop to get an "Indian type" shirt, and not getting anything I wanted done. Again, just like being back home!
I was invited to a co-worker's home to celebrate (Rakesh), and the beginning of the trip started with a little confusion since the driver that was supposed to come and drive me never showed up. After many phone calls, I finally got a driver and we headed out to a part of town that I hadn't been in before. Rakesh lives in Secundrabad, which is almost the same distance (at least in minutes) from Chicago to Niles on a good day. I ended up at Rakesh's house a little early, and found that he was actually still out with his wife, Aditi, at some shops. So me and my driver watched some little kids play cricket, and made small talk about family and sports until Rakesh rolled up in his fancy ass Honda (seriously, this car was niiiice comparatively) and we headed out for some more shopping.
So, in terms of holidays, Diwali is a combo of Christmas and 4th of July. The 'light' theme of the holiday has people decorating their home in lights (the Christmas, and let's not forget the heavy advertising for getting Diwali gifts on TV) and tons and tons of firecrackers (the 4th of July). The first stop on our tour was to get some 'crackers' for later that night. Even though it was still daylight out, we were already hearing crackers go off, and everyone was getting jittery and excited about the forthcoming events. Then we headed to a grocery store, and Aditi and Rakesh were getting some things for their puja /offerings later that night.
So we rolled up to Rakesh's home, which is very big (I swear, property in India is the way to go) and chilled, listening to some Hindi music while Rakesh and Aditi were getting ready, which included decorating their home as such:
Again, all about the lights! After they decorated, and cooked up a couple of things, Rakesh and Aditi got ready to perform their puja/offerings to Lakshmi. First, they were rocking some really nice traditional wear (Rakesh and Aditi dress very Western) - Rakesh had a really nice red shirt/pant combo and Aditi had a really nice brown tunic/pant duo and some really nice jewelery on.
For the most part, every Hindu has a prayer corner/mini room for offerings in their home. Even Jill has a really really nice one at her home, with pretty doors leading to it. I don't really know what is involved but there was light again, incense, and cocunut offerings. Then, Rakesh had this huge ball of fire contained in a metal pot and he took the flame into all the parts of their house to offer the light in the whole home.
After the puja, we rolled out to Rakesh's mom's house, which is very close by. I met almost all of Rakesh's brother and sisters and nieces and nephews since they are all in the area. (Aditi's family is in Jaipur, up north near Delhi.) His nieces and nephew are all freaking adorable and the girls were having fun with some sparklers. Rakesh's nephew is 6 months old and really had no idea what was going on, but was smiling the whole time.
We had dinner, and everyone was amazed that I knew what I was eating.... aloo gobi, chickpea masala, mango chutney, paneer..... I compare it to visiting my family in Poland, who always seem amazed that I can still speak Polish and that I like golabki. I blame it all on living in Chicago, and having a wealth of culture and food around me, but yes, I speak Polish, and yes, I love aloo gobi! And dosas and sambar and idly too. :)
I was nearing the time when I told my driver I would be back (actually, I was totally late) so after dinner, they drove me back, and said our goodbyes (sans crackers) and I headed back. I still got my fill of crackers along the way home since everyone and their mother was out, blowing stuff up. My fave one is something like a Sparkler volcano, which spits out tons of little fireballs and I wasn't a big fan of the ones that just made noise (M-80 type deal). One thing that amazed me is that people were out on their motorbikes, whizzing past these crackers like nothing was going one, when at one point my driver stopped to wait for one sparkler volcano to stop. SCARY! and almost no one wears helmets! but that's another blog.... peace out!
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Rock the boat
Got back from Kerala yesterday, which is a lovely resort town in Southern India and it was truly amazing. It's shocking how quickly a country can change in the course of a 90 minute flight.
We left Friday from the hotel around 10am and things were trucking along... and then this happened:
The car we were driving in (Michael's, who is a super cool long-term expat here) decided to poop out on us about 6KM away from the airport. It was interesting sitting on the side of the road with people staring, honking and randomly offering assistance. It seems that the fan cut a hole in the radiator, and the air conditioning was making it worse, so Michael and his driver worked their manly magic and got it going long enough to sputter to the airport to drop us off. Even with the delay we managed to get through check in and security in less than 15 minutes. The airport here is brand new, and I find it interesting that men and woman have to be searched separately. Men just walk through a metal detector, but women have to go into a curtained room and get searched with one of those wand things.
The flight to Kerala was a little rough. It's less than 90 minutes really, but my rampant motion sickness plus a great dislike for airplanes still made the flight long... our descent looked something like this:
I'm not sure what happened there in the middle, but I was fairly certain that I wasn't going to be able to make it... but alas, we did, and when we entered the airport in Kochin (near Kerala), I really felt like I was on set at the Darjeeling Limited movie. The terminal is old and quaint. There are only two boarding gates and the times for departure and arrivals are manually changed.... I wish I could have taken pictures!! We walked on the tarmac from the plane to the tiny arrival area (that had Western toilets - thank you Portugal!) and set off to the houseboat.
The houseboat freaking ROCKED.
I think the boat was bigger than all of our apartments back at home - 3 bed, 3 bath, kitchen, dining and rec room. :P The scenery was just amazing, and pictures do not do the area justice. Palm trees, calm water, the breeze and on/off rain storms were simply perfect. We spent the weekend reading, napping, gazing lazily at the surroundings, drinking, doing sing-a-longs with various iPods worth of music and pretty much did a good job of entertaining ourselves. I think the most fun part of the trip was heading out in canoes into some smaller tributaries around the area and checking out the local homes and inhabitants.
Sunday we docked and toured Kochin a bit. Our driver seemed hell bent on taking us to handicraft shops when all we wanted were spices, so he got docked points on that. When we asked to go to a shop that is government regulated, we were told that is was closed. After several phone calls, we found the shop and it was magically open! Who'd a think it.... After more heckling, and lunch breather, we finally found a delightful spice shop on "Jew Street" (for reals). We toured around a bit more, and ended up at the airport 3 HOURS early. Hmph. Well, at least I was able to get into one of my books so that was good. We had a decent flight back and ended the night with room service and passing out at my first attempt at writing this entry. ;)
This week: Diwali, shopping and hopefully some local sightseeing.
We left Friday from the hotel around 10am and things were trucking along... and then this happened:
The car we were driving in (Michael's, who is a super cool long-term expat here) decided to poop out on us about 6KM away from the airport. It was interesting sitting on the side of the road with people staring, honking and randomly offering assistance. It seems that the fan cut a hole in the radiator, and the air conditioning was making it worse, so Michael and his driver worked their manly magic and got it going long enough to sputter to the airport to drop us off. Even with the delay we managed to get through check in and security in less than 15 minutes. The airport here is brand new, and I find it interesting that men and woman have to be searched separately. Men just walk through a metal detector, but women have to go into a curtained room and get searched with one of those wand things.
The flight to Kerala was a little rough. It's less than 90 minutes really, but my rampant motion sickness plus a great dislike for airplanes still made the flight long... our descent looked something like this:
I'm not sure what happened there in the middle, but I was fairly certain that I wasn't going to be able to make it... but alas, we did, and when we entered the airport in Kochin (near Kerala), I really felt like I was on set at the Darjeeling Limited movie. The terminal is old and quaint. There are only two boarding gates and the times for departure and arrivals are manually changed.... I wish I could have taken pictures!! We walked on the tarmac from the plane to the tiny arrival area (that had Western toilets - thank you Portugal!) and set off to the houseboat.
The houseboat freaking ROCKED.
I think the boat was bigger than all of our apartments back at home - 3 bed, 3 bath, kitchen, dining and rec room. :P The scenery was just amazing, and pictures do not do the area justice. Palm trees, calm water, the breeze and on/off rain storms were simply perfect. We spent the weekend reading, napping, gazing lazily at the surroundings, drinking, doing sing-a-longs with various iPods worth of music and pretty much did a good job of entertaining ourselves. I think the most fun part of the trip was heading out in canoes into some smaller tributaries around the area and checking out the local homes and inhabitants.
Sunday we docked and toured Kochin a bit. Our driver seemed hell bent on taking us to handicraft shops when all we wanted were spices, so he got docked points on that. When we asked to go to a shop that is government regulated, we were told that is was closed. After several phone calls, we found the shop and it was magically open! Who'd a think it.... After more heckling, and lunch breather, we finally found a delightful spice shop on "Jew Street" (for reals). We toured around a bit more, and ended up at the airport 3 HOURS early. Hmph. Well, at least I was able to get into one of my books so that was good. We had a decent flight back and ended the night with room service and passing out at my first attempt at writing this entry. ;)
This week: Diwali, shopping and hopefully some local sightseeing.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Rush rush rush
Sorry I haven't been keeping up with the blogging. I had a schedule of blog day and exercise day that got a little messed up thanks to Hotel Bar night....
Anyway, India rocks and I am so excited to be here. Everyone is really super supportive and my first week has really flown by.
Weekdays pretty much consist of waking up, eating breakfast and strolling into work for 11+ hour shifts. There really isn't much else to do except work (at least during the weekdays), so really not a big deal (and not unlike my schedule in Chicago!).
Heading off to Kerala today, so trying to grab a quick breakfast and go get some houseboat action. :)
Pics on Sunday!!
Anyway, India rocks and I am so excited to be here. Everyone is really super supportive and my first week has really flown by.
Weekdays pretty much consist of waking up, eating breakfast and strolling into work for 11+ hour shifts. There really isn't much else to do except work (at least during the weekdays), so really not a big deal (and not unlike my schedule in Chicago!).
Heading off to Kerala today, so trying to grab a quick breakfast and go get some houseboat action. :)
Pics on Sunday!!
Monday, October 20, 2008
Getting into the groove of things....
So, the last two days were sort of a blur, but let's recreate the happenings:
SUNDAY
Sunday started with a group of us heading to church (St. Alphonsus), and it was a little slice of home in India. The Mass was surprisingly close to the pattern of Mass in the US (i <3 standardization), but with a few splashes of Indian culture here and there.... like this:
I need to get a clearer shot, but that's right, that's neon lighting around the cross. That's so.... I dunno! But it's neat. There is also a statue of Mary dressed in a sari that I have to snap for my mom, but there were tons of people around it, and I didn't want to seem tooooo touristy.
After churching, we chilled at Jill's house again for breakfast, and had some tasty iddly (rice flour cakes, really doughy and savory and super delish) and dosa (India's answer to a crepe), with some coconut chutney and tomato based soupy sauce type dish. And fresh squeezed juice, which was also tasty. We chatted a bit, and then Jill drove us back to the hotel.
Now, if you don't know, driving in India is, well, let's just say, a tad bit scary. For one, they drive on the opposite side of the road from the US, and I am still getting used to that. Two, it is very aggressive - there are markers on the road, but they are more suggestions than rules. Three, you are sharing the road with people walking, little motorbikes and electric rickshaws, and near accidents are a constant occurrence. Four, almost all the cars are manual, and at least I know that I would totally burn the motor or gears or whatever you burn when you can't shift correctly.
That being said, Jill gathered enough courage to take out her Scorpio (SUV type vehicle) and brave the road. And can I say, she did an EXCELLENT job. All along the way, people stopped and gawked when they saw a white woman behind the wheel, cranking it down the road, whipping past their rickshaws. It was freaking amazing.
So after the joy ride home, I did a good job of not napping - did some reading, worked out, toyed with the idea of chilling by the pool (but was deterred by the inflatable mini-bouncy house the hotel put up for the kids) and then headed down to dinner.
As I stepped out of the elevator, I was met by 8 woman dressed in uberfancy, sparkly saris. I looked down to my DePaul shirt and jeans and thought "ah, fuck, dresscode?!" Evidently, a Tollywood actor (like Bollywood, but in the local language of Telugu) was having his engagement ceremony at the hotel. Word on the streets is that our hotel is a local favorite for these types of shindigs since we are just outside the city, surrounded by security and not many local people stay here. The lobby was packed with fancy looking people, lots of flashy photography, and me, scuttling away, trying to not be noticed.
After that hoopla, a group of us met at the hotel bar, said our goodbyes to Elena who was leaving, and chilled the rest of the night.
MONDAY
*note - lots of names here, so I won't explain. Deloitter's know, the rest, well.. play along. :)
So Monday was Day 1 at work, and it went by pretty quickly. It was a blur of chocolate, names and faces. I sit by Rebecca, who is actually doing a rotation in Chicago next year, Naresh who works mainly for the Milwaukee office, and Murtuza who works mainly for Minneapolis. Everyone is super nice and I got invited to Rakesh's house next Tuesday for Diwali, a local festival, so I'm super excited.
I'm also found out that I am going to Kerela this weekend - nothing like trips on the fly! Evidently we are going to chill on a houseboat, so I am down for that!
I made it to 11pm, and we left right when everyone else was, so that was good. Thankfully, I can follow my nightly routine of watching 'Sex and the City' before going to bed (last night's episode was Charlotte's engagement party to Trey, so still have a couple seasons to go through), so I should be good until December. All right!
SUNDAY
Sunday started with a group of us heading to church (St. Alphonsus), and it was a little slice of home in India. The Mass was surprisingly close to the pattern of Mass in the US (i <3 standardization), but with a few splashes of Indian culture here and there.... like this:
I need to get a clearer shot, but that's right, that's neon lighting around the cross. That's so.... I dunno! But it's neat. There is also a statue of Mary dressed in a sari that I have to snap for my mom, but there were tons of people around it, and I didn't want to seem tooooo touristy.
After churching, we chilled at Jill's house again for breakfast, and had some tasty iddly (rice flour cakes, really doughy and savory and super delish) and dosa (India's answer to a crepe), with some coconut chutney and tomato based soupy sauce type dish. And fresh squeezed juice, which was also tasty. We chatted a bit, and then Jill drove us back to the hotel.
Now, if you don't know, driving in India is, well, let's just say, a tad bit scary. For one, they drive on the opposite side of the road from the US, and I am still getting used to that. Two, it is very aggressive - there are markers on the road, but they are more suggestions than rules. Three, you are sharing the road with people walking, little motorbikes and electric rickshaws, and near accidents are a constant occurrence. Four, almost all the cars are manual, and at least I know that I would totally burn the motor or gears or whatever you burn when you can't shift correctly.
That being said, Jill gathered enough courage to take out her Scorpio (SUV type vehicle) and brave the road. And can I say, she did an EXCELLENT job. All along the way, people stopped and gawked when they saw a white woman behind the wheel, cranking it down the road, whipping past their rickshaws. It was freaking amazing.
So after the joy ride home, I did a good job of not napping - did some reading, worked out, toyed with the idea of chilling by the pool (but was deterred by the inflatable mini-bouncy house the hotel put up for the kids) and then headed down to dinner.
As I stepped out of the elevator, I was met by 8 woman dressed in uberfancy, sparkly saris. I looked down to my DePaul shirt and jeans and thought "ah, fuck, dresscode?!" Evidently, a Tollywood actor (like Bollywood, but in the local language of Telugu) was having his engagement ceremony at the hotel. Word on the streets is that our hotel is a local favorite for these types of shindigs since we are just outside the city, surrounded by security and not many local people stay here. The lobby was packed with fancy looking people, lots of flashy photography, and me, scuttling away, trying to not be noticed.
After that hoopla, a group of us met at the hotel bar, said our goodbyes to Elena who was leaving, and chilled the rest of the night.
MONDAY
*note - lots of names here, so I won't explain. Deloitter's know, the rest, well.. play along. :)
So Monday was Day 1 at work, and it went by pretty quickly. It was a blur of chocolate, names and faces. I sit by Rebecca, who is actually doing a rotation in Chicago next year, Naresh who works mainly for the Milwaukee office, and Murtuza who works mainly for Minneapolis. Everyone is super nice and I got invited to Rakesh's house next Tuesday for Diwali, a local festival, so I'm super excited.
I'm also found out that I am going to Kerela this weekend - nothing like trips on the fly! Evidently we are going to chill on a houseboat, so I am down for that!
I made it to 11pm, and we left right when everyone else was, so that was good. Thankfully, I can follow my nightly routine of watching 'Sex and the City' before going to bed (last night's episode was Charlotte's engagement party to Trey, so still have a couple seasons to go through), so I should be good until December. All right!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Day 1
So, Day 1 went by much better than I expected. It's just about 8:30 pm here now, and I am not overly tired or even in the mood for a nap. I don't want to jinx it, and it's probably just that my body hasn't caught up yet, but I was feeling much more tired on Day 1 of Spain than I am right now, so I'll just go with.
I spent much of the morning trying to unpack and decide on how to organize things. The hotel we are put up in is VERY nice - the bed is nice and big, the bathroom is very modern, and I even have a comfy armchair and ottoman to catch up on my reading. The closet space, however, leaves something to be desired. I really want to feel like I am living here, and not just temporarily on assignment, so I took everything out of my suitcases and stored them away. My bathroom looks like an end cap display at a Walgreens with all the body products and medicine i brought, but at least i feel like this is my space now. I even set up a mini book display (in front of the TV no less), so i think I've done a good job of marking my territory.
Then, I ate breakfast with one of the other 'expats', Brian. The food is decent and they have juice, so i'm all good. I will miss milk ( I could eat cereal breakfast, lunch and dinner) but they have good carby muffins and eggs, so I will survive. After more unpacking and bobbling about on the Internet, a whole group of us went out into some markets and drove about the city. I bought two pairs of flip flops for 400 Rupee (about 8 USD) since i totally forgot to bring any here with me. They are cute and I even haggled with the guy to drop the price by 60 Rupee, which I can use to get my eyebrows threaded TWICE here at the hotel's spa. The savings are really incredible.... :P
While we were about shopping, it dawned on me that barely no women work at any of the places we visited today. Almost all the people at the hotel are male, and I found it interesting that even the housekeeping staff are all men. I also find it amusing when a tough Indian man tries to sell me a soft, light pink pashmina. I suppose it's just one of the cultural differences between here and home.
After the shops, we went to the home of a long-term expat here from Chicago (Jill) and hung out a bit. Her house is huge and super nice. She brought over two cats and was telling us the silliness of getting pets over the border, including getting them ok'd with the USDA. Who knew that kitties could be certified?
So now, I am chilling in my hotel room. My room faces the pool and outdoor eating area, and Saturday nights are BBQ nights. The music they are playing is awesome. So far, I've heard Guns 'N' Roses, Bon Jovi (I can NEVER escape that man) and right now Led Zepplin. The tables are lit with these neon lights, and it looks pretty sweet from my room, but my camera won't take a good shot. So instead, I leave you with a shot from the Shilparamam Market. Adios!
I spent much of the morning trying to unpack and decide on how to organize things. The hotel we are put up in is VERY nice - the bed is nice and big, the bathroom is very modern, and I even have a comfy armchair and ottoman to catch up on my reading. The closet space, however, leaves something to be desired. I really want to feel like I am living here, and not just temporarily on assignment, so I took everything out of my suitcases and stored them away. My bathroom looks like an end cap display at a Walgreens with all the body products and medicine i brought, but at least i feel like this is my space now. I even set up a mini book display (in front of the TV no less), so i think I've done a good job of marking my territory.
Then, I ate breakfast with one of the other 'expats', Brian. The food is decent and they have juice, so i'm all good. I will miss milk ( I could eat cereal breakfast, lunch and dinner) but they have good carby muffins and eggs, so I will survive. After more unpacking and bobbling about on the Internet, a whole group of us went out into some markets and drove about the city. I bought two pairs of flip flops for 400 Rupee (about 8 USD) since i totally forgot to bring any here with me. They are cute and I even haggled with the guy to drop the price by 60 Rupee, which I can use to get my eyebrows threaded TWICE here at the hotel's spa. The savings are really incredible.... :P
While we were about shopping, it dawned on me that barely no women work at any of the places we visited today. Almost all the people at the hotel are male, and I found it interesting that even the housekeeping staff are all men. I also find it amusing when a tough Indian man tries to sell me a soft, light pink pashmina. I suppose it's just one of the cultural differences between here and home.
After the shops, we went to the home of a long-term expat here from Chicago (Jill) and hung out a bit. Her house is huge and super nice. She brought over two cats and was telling us the silliness of getting pets over the border, including getting them ok'd with the USDA. Who knew that kitties could be certified?
So now, I am chilling in my hotel room. My room faces the pool and outdoor eating area, and Saturday nights are BBQ nights. The music they are playing is awesome. So far, I've heard Guns 'N' Roses, Bon Jovi (I can NEVER escape that man) and right now Led Zepplin. The tables are lit with these neon lights, and it looks pretty sweet from my room, but my camera won't take a good shot. So instead, I leave you with a shot from the Shilparamam Market. Adios!
Friday, October 17, 2008
Safe and sound!!!
With no concept of time right now... it's 2:30pm Chicago, 1:00am Hyderabad.. it's gonna be a long weekend adjusting! Here we go!!!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Countdown......
Well, hello there!
So, I have less than 14 days left in the States, and the realization of that hit me hard yesterday. 7 weeks is nothing in the course of a lifetime, but it seems that a lot of things are going to be happening in the specific 7 weeks I am gone. A wedding, a major U.S. holiday (the first spent away from family EVER), my birthday, other close friends birthdays, a national election that may determine whether or not I just stay in India, the start of the Christmas season, various work and volunteering events I would have liked to have been at - all sacrificed for this chance to travel halfway around the world and have my life pretty much given over to individuals I have not yet met. I'm a very independent person and I pretty much like to take care of things my way (mmm, control freak). But, I'm confident in the abilities of those taking care of things for me overseas, so I suppose this work trip will also give me a few life lessons along the way (which may secretly be why I really wanted to go anyway).
So now, I'm scrambling to get as many loose ends tied up before I leave and shop and pack and finish projects at home and still hang out and still try to SLEEP (the latter has evaded me as of late), so I'm sure I'll still be scrambling on the morning of 16th when I leave. But my heart is a'pitter-pattering with the anticipation of visiting India and really being immersed in a culture unlike my own. Here's hoping I gain something bigger out of this.....
So, I have less than 14 days left in the States, and the realization of that hit me hard yesterday. 7 weeks is nothing in the course of a lifetime, but it seems that a lot of things are going to be happening in the specific 7 weeks I am gone. A wedding, a major U.S. holiday (the first spent away from family EVER), my birthday, other close friends birthdays, a national election that may determine whether or not I just stay in India, the start of the Christmas season, various work and volunteering events I would have liked to have been at - all sacrificed for this chance to travel halfway around the world and have my life pretty much given over to individuals I have not yet met. I'm a very independent person and I pretty much like to take care of things my way (mmm, control freak). But, I'm confident in the abilities of those taking care of things for me overseas, so I suppose this work trip will also give me a few life lessons along the way (which may secretly be why I really wanted to go anyway).
So now, I'm scrambling to get as many loose ends tied up before I leave and shop and pack and finish projects at home and still hang out and still try to SLEEP (the latter has evaded me as of late), so I'm sure I'll still be scrambling on the morning of 16th when I leave. But my heart is a'pitter-pattering with the anticipation of visiting India and really being immersed in a culture unlike my own. Here's hoping I gain something bigger out of this.....
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