Short Update

So I'm not alone in my apartment anymore. I've been joined by 3 more Americans, so now every bedroom in my apartment is filled. To make things really fun for me, I have been joined by 2 directors and a VP. That means I am basically living with my boss' boss' boss. So not at all strange for me. I do plan on trying to work this into a big huge raise... but we'll see what happens.

I do have more pictures to share, but I haven't had a chance to really sit and go through and type up explanations for everything. But let me whet your appetite with one little tidbit... I have pictures of DRUNK WILD MONKEYS!!! I swear! How crazy is that? I also fed bananas to an elephant outside a Hindu temple. So in theory I was feeding bananas to a god. In all my years going to church I never got to feed bananas to God in the parking lot... this country is so cool!

So I'm guessing that everyone is just as shocked as I was with India's loss to Bangladesh in the first match of the World Cup? There is nothing in the US to compare to the insanity that surrounds cricket here. The captain of the cricket team is having a new house built, and crazed crowds went and TORE HIS HOUSE DOWN! For losing one game. They aren't even out of the World Cup. They did win the second match with the highest point total ever in a World Cup match. So as long as they win Friday night against Sri Lanka they will get into the Super Eight and still have a chance to win the World Cup.

Pakistan though is a whole other story... they lost 2 games so they are completely out of it. It was a huge shock because they were supposed to have a good chance to win. So the next morning their coach was found dead in his hotel room. Dead. It was a big question mark at first but now they have announced that it does appear to be homicide. So the lesson here is you don't want to be the coach of a World Cup Cricket team in this part of the world. In case you were thinking about that as a potential job option... forget it.

I've tried to figure out the whole cricket thing just because it is so popular here. I watched part of the game on Monday night with a webpage listing all the rules of cricket in front of me, but I still didn't have much idea what was going on. The only thing I got was that if they hit what looks like a home run it gets 6 points. Also, those games are REALLY LONG! Eight hours per match. And people are glued to the TV the whole time. I watched an hour of it. More than long enough for me!

I know I haven't updated as much as I would have hoped, but I end up working a lot and then being really tired so I haven't. Sorry. It does mean that I don't have as much interesting to tell... work is work no matter where you are in the world. In some ways things seem pretty normal, and then I see a cow.

At long last I have some pictures to share! I am going to start with pictures of my apartment. Later I'll post some pictures of my day yesterday when I went to a friend's house and saw what life is like for a typical Indian family.




Here is my bedroom. You can see my bathroom off to the side. The air conditioner doesn't give much choice between ice cold and off. I end up opting for ice cold and sleeping under lots of covers.







This is the dining room, pretty much the view when you walk in the front door. My bedroom is through the door straight ahead and you can see a bit of the kitchen under the stairs. Upstairs is a sitting area and another bedroom.









This is the kitchen. I've got a microwave, and you can see my big jar of peanut butter I brought from home. I don't really cook here, but I like having snacks around.











Here is the living room. You can see the TV which is always a good thing to have, and the couch where I am usually sitting with my laptop. There is a balcony behind the curtains, but I usually keep the doors closed to keep the noise and bugs out.








This is a view from the balcony off the living room. These men were taking a bunch of branches to a building project across the street. I'm not sure exactly what they did with them, but it looked neat to have so much piled on to one bike. You can also see someone coming by on one of the motorcycles that are everywhere here.









This is the house across the street from me. I was told that the owner is a well known architect in this city. the whole top floor is an open area, it really is a beautiful house. This is known as one of the most posh areas in Bangalore, I am even lucky enough to have a famous ex-cricket player living next door!

I'm still here!

So I haven't posted much because I hate the fact that I can't show any pictures. Its so hard to describe everything here... I really want to be able to show it to everyone! A friend at work did let me borrow a camera, but he doesn't have the cord to load the pictures onto my computer, so I do have a few pictures now, but I can't show them to you. I am told every day that I should be getting my camera soon out of customs. A word to anyone who ever wants to send something to India... don't put a high value on it. If they think it is valuable, they will make you wait forever for it... Unfortunately I didn't learn that little hint until it was too late.

I've eaten all kinds of foods that I never thought I would like since I've been here, and I was really impressed with the fact that I had somehow managed to not fall victim to "Delhi Belly", but yesterday it hit me. I ate lunch at KFC, got a little American food back in me, and immediately regretted it. I think it was the fountain drink, it was the first time I drank something that wasn't out of a bottle. I felt better last night, but this morning was not pleasant. Luckily my doctor had given me an antibiotic to take in case of such a situation, and that did help. So I slept quite a bit today and didn't get much work done...

I know I've neglected to tell about a lot of things that I want to because I thought pictures would make it so much better, but let me go ahead and tell you the thing that has been hardest for me to get used to. (OK, one of the things.. I don't think I could pick just one thing.) One of the most popular forms of transportation is the motorcycle, because on a bike you can easily zip around all the cars and buses and autorickshaws that are taking up all of the road. Helmets are now required for those who are driving motorcycles, but not for anyone else on the bike. It is totally normal now for me to see a man driving his bike, a 3 year old sitting in front of him holding on to the handlebars as well, with his wife sitting sidesaddle on the back holding a baby. I'm glad that if they were to crash the dad would have his head protected as the family goes flying...

I feel I do have to admit now that I have ridden on the back of a bike now, and I did not have a helmet on. I figure when in Rome... I'm told that statistically it is the safest mode of transportation in this city. I don't know about that, but it is faster. I actually enjoyed it! Not that I want to buy a Harley when I get back to the States...

I went out to a nightclub this weekend, and it was very different than clubs back home. Would you believe that they stop serving alcohol at 11pm? Back home that is about the time people start going out! Everyone there was very nice, I did meet someone who works at a call center for Dell Financial and he kept telling me how nice it was to meet an American who wasn't irate. I assured him that most of us aren't that way...

One of the things I was curious about and have asked several people about is the whole arranged marriage thing. That is still very much alive and well here, but as the population becomes more educated and there are more and more young people getting jobs it is starting to sometimes change. In the office most of the people who are married were arranged marriages, but there are a couple who chose their own spouse. People ask me about getting married in America, and ask if parents ever "do the needful" to get their child a spouse. So, Mom and Dad, if you had just done the needful you would already be grandparents by now! I'm going to blame it all on you...

One new friend was telling me about the village where his grandparents live. To get there involves a 3 day train journey, and then a few hours in a 4x4. The village has no road, no phones, no running water, and no electricity. It boggles my mind to think that such places still exist! This country is such an amazing mixture of past and present and future.

Those of you that are part of the Bell family will be amused to know that the most popular local beer here is called Kingfisher! (That is the name of the small town in Oklahoma where my great-grandparents had a farm). It is very good stuff. The guy who started that brewery did so well with the beer that he also started Kingfisher airlines, one of the most popular low cost carriers here in India.

Its funny how normal being here is starting to seem. I am now used to having a private driver, a houseboy, and a 4 bedroom apartment all to myself! The first first couple of weeks I was pretty depressed and miserable, but now I am really starting to love it here. Not that I would want to live here forever, but I wouldn't mind visiting more often!

I know this has been kind of a random post, but I just had a lot of random things on my mind after sleeping most of the day. Tomorrow its back to the office... I hope everyone is doing well, I can't believe I'll be home in just under a month!

Welcome Carter Pierson Norton!

I still don't have my camera, but I am assured it will be through customs clearance soon. I guess I should have learned a little more about bribing public officials before I got here! I'll update more later about my India travels (and I have gotten out a little more lately), but I wanted to take this chance to welcome my brand new cousin to the world! Carter Pierson Norton was born at 4:03 pm on Thursday weighing in at 7lbs. I haven't seen pictures yet, but I am sure he is the most handsome baby boy ever born!

Carter, I'm sorry I won't get to meet you until you are already a month old, but I know that you will have plenty of attention from your parents, grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles until I get there! I know you will have a wonderful life, and with such a distinguished name I am sure you will someday be President! Not that I want to pressure you too much on that... you have 35 years before you are even eligible to run... take your time and enjoy eating, sleeping, and getting your diaper changed in the meantime!

Yesterday I took my first ride in an autorickshaw to a restaurant with authentic Northern Indian food. There was pretty much nothing there I could eat, the waiter said they didn't have anything that wasn't exteremely spicy! But it was fun to watch everyone eat rice with gravy and spicy chicken stuff with their hands off of big banana leaves for plates. I ate a bowl of curd rice, and a couple bites of what was supposed to be the least spicy chicken there. It was more the experience that mattered... This weekend I should get out and about a little more so hopefully I'll have more to tell and maybe I'll finally be able to post pictures!

Just as a side note, on the way to work I saw a group of cows on the side of the road. One was apparently actually a bull as I saw it try to molest another cow as we were driving away. I'm guessing the circle of life is continuing even on the streets of Bangalore!

Second Weekend In India Is Over

I was hoping that this post would be the one where I could actually show pictures, but unfortunately my camera has still not joined me. It is in Bangalore, but FedEx still has it, they are probably taking pictures of boxes even as I write this. There is apparently something they need from me before it can clear customs, but I have no idea what it is. I'll have to call them tomorrow, hopefully I can post pictures soon!

I'd love to be able to say that I did all sorts of amazingly interesting things this weekend, but I hate to lie... This weekend was Holi, which is the festival of colors. It is a celebration of the beginning of spring and from what I could figure out it is somewhat like the madness that can go on with Mardi Gras. Basically people get drunk and start throwing different colors on each other. A couple guys from the office had planned on taking me out and about on Saturday, but we ended up just staying close the to the apartment as they were afraid of running into crazed mobs who would throw paint on us. I figured that if they wanted to stay away from the celebration, I did too. Especially after reading in the paper that often the colors people are throwing will have toxins in them...

So on Saturday Rohit and Ravi came and got me and we just went to a coffee shop and then to a jazz club type restaurant up the street from my apartment. It was at least further up the street than I had gone before, so I do at least feel like I did something this weekend... I guess it is just as well that I don't go anywhere memorable when I don't have a camera. For all of you who are scandalized that I haven't managed to go out and explore the wonders of the country I am visiting, I challenge you to come take a look at these streets and wander out into them by yourself. Its a totally different world...

The big news in Bangalore at the moment has to do with dogs. There are dogs EVERYWHERE in this city. While I've only seen 3 cows so far (2 on Saturday in the same place) I see dogs every time I open my eyes. (Not in my apartment obviously, but there are 2 living just outside the building). A couple years ago there was a big push to get rid of the dogs, but animal rights people got involved so the decision was made to capture dogs, give them a shot that would sterilize them, and then release them back to the streets. In theory, over time the population would begin to decline. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to be working. A couple days ago a 4 year old boy died after he was mauled by 15 dogs. Now the city is planning on rounding up and killing all the dogs in the next month. You can imagine the arguments this is causing. I haven't seen any agressive dogs, but I don't exactly want to meet one either...

On a lighter note, the paper also had a story today about a village of 600 people here in India that has 33 pairs of twins! The village is obviously being studied by all sorts of geneticists as in a population of that size even 2 sets of twins would be rare. As the Godmother of twins I found that story to be very interesting...

But of course I'm sure everyone back in the States is talking about the upcoming Cricket World Cup! Only 9 days to go! Here in India it is about as exciting as the Quidditch World Cup. (For any muggles out there, imagine the excitement in Europe for the Football/Soccer World Cup). India has not won in 26 years, but expectations are high that this year's team could go all the way. The matches are taking place in the West Indies, so it will all be going on between 9pm and 3am India time. There are worries that there will be power outages during this time as so many tvs are turned on at a time when there is not usually much need for power. I tried to watch a few minutes of a Cricket match the other day but I just don't get it. I can't even begin to imagine how crazy this country would go if they were to win!

Hopefully I'll have my camera tomorrow, and then I promise to post pictures of my apartment. It isn't by any means what I would call a "luxury" apartment, but its not too bad. It is kind of lonely to be in a four bedroom apartment all alone, but since there is only one TV I can't say I would really want to share it!

I hope everyone had a good weekend and has a wonderful week! Enjoy your ability to take a hot shower and brush your teeth with tap water... I'll never take either of those for granted again!