The Indian Difference

Well, India is definitely different.  I still have not seen another white person, or anyone other than Indian, that I could tell.  In fact, we were at a grocery store the other day and there was a little girl, age 5 or so, staring at me like I was an alien.  I'm pretty sure she had never seen a white person before.  I got a good laugh out of it.  Many people live on the sides of the roads in little homemade tents and raise their families there.  But, the single craziest thing here has to be the driving, and it's not because they drive on the wrong side of the road (silly Brits).  Thankfully, I don't have to drive.  On the roads you will find cars, motor bikes, pedal bikes, three-wheeled auto-rickshaws (as they're called), dogs, and cattle.  Never have I seen such chaos.  On one occasion there was a herd of about 6 cattle just running down the middle of the road into oncoming traffic with cars and motor bikes just flying right by.  It was a pretty unbelievable sight.  I'm sure the monkeys occasionally roam the streets as well, but I only just saw a few for the first time today sitting on a ledge next to our residence.

Cow eating from the dumpster with an auto-rickshaw
 coming up on the left, typical morning ride to the office.

Cow running down the road along with the motor bikes.
 It's actually very odd that this guy is wearing a helmet,
not very common.







 

Someone's home, they have a lot of neighbors
to the right.





 Other than that craziness I encounter everyday, on the way to and from the office, it's a pretty mundane world here, at least in Baroda.  Baroda is the city I'm in and it's in the Indian state of Gujarat which is the only dry state in India.  But I've heard it's a lot easier to get alcohol here than it was in Saudi, but I haven't tried yet.  It gets pretty warm here in the late morning and early afternoon, close to 100F, but it is very pleasant in the morning and evening.  There really isn't much to do in Baroda other than walking around some shopping centers.  I haven't really done too much outside of work because there really isn't time.  The work schedule here is typically 9:30 to 6:30.  I am staying with the manager of our India office.  He has a very nice home with 4 bedrooms and a big living area.  So when we get home from the office we'll usually watch some TV while we wait for his cook to prepare our meal.  He only cooks vegetarian meals, so I have not eaten meat for over a week now.  This is the first time I remember going this long without eating meat.  But, it doesn't matter, the food is delicious!  It's a little spicy but not so much that I can't handle.



There is also a servant who cooks breakfast in the morning, does my laundry, irons my clothes, etc.  He is such a sincere guy and he is probably getting paid close to nothing for doing all of this.  I find that everyone here is just so happy to have any kind of job because it's the only opportunity they will ever get.  It's kind of eye-opening when you compare it to life in the US with people who do half-ass work and complain they're not getting paid enough.  I'm definitely getting spoiled over here.  I think I'm going to miss all this food and service when I go back home.

Delicious food, the main vegetable at the top of the plate

is cauliflower.

 

More delicious food.

 



 

I'm only here for another 5 days then I'll be back in the US for a week before heading right back out here until Christmas.  If I don't have anything to write before then, check back after Thanksgiving.



  

Baroda skyline, view from a balcony in the early evening at the office.















First Impressions

Let me start this by saying that I think I have already experienced more than anyone should experience in India, and I barely left the airport!  Since my second flight from Abu Dhabi was delayed for three and a half hours, I missed my connecting flight in Mumbai.  But I tried my darndest to try to make it.  That's where this adventure begins...

As we were landing in Mumbai (most people here call it Bombay, as it used to be called), I could already see all the dirt lingering in the air and the moment I stepped out of the plane the smells took over.  It's not a super pungent odor, more like a gentle scent that never goes away.  I can imagine that living here will make your clothes always smell that way, no matter how many times you wash them.  I bet it's similar to how smokers' clothes have that smoky smell all the time. 

Anyway, since the flight came in so much later, I had to rush to get my bag (which I waited over 15 minutes for) then go from the international terminal to the domestic terminal, which is 20 minutes away!  So I paid for a cab at the cab stand and was walked to the cab by a man, he wasn't the driver, just a guy who walks you to the cab which he could have easily pointed to.  Once in the cab, that man demands a tip (I probably shouldn't have told him it was my first time in India).  "I'll tip the driver, all you did was walk me to the cab, I could have done that by myself", I said.  He wasn't budging, so I gave him 10 Rupees (which is around $0.20).  Then I closed the door so the driver could finally leave.  "My flight leaves in 45 minutes and I still have to check in," I told him. 

Sure, lets take a pit stop where the driver can get out and walk 30 feet (very slowly, I might add) to have a ticket over and then walk (very slowly) back to the car thingy.  I was too rushed to even think about taking any pictures, but it was more like a covered 3-wheel motor bike with doors.  In the end, I didn't make it to the airport on time and missed the connecting flight.  So here I sit, writing this long, boring post with no pictures.  I have to wait another five and half hours until my new flight departs.

Just before I sat down to begin writing this, I brushed my teeth using a bottle of water, which was very weird.  I didn't want to risk getting any of that tap water in my mouth.  It was an odd experience.  Now, I'm drinking a Kingfisher beer out of a glass that was probably washed in the "dehli-belly" water.  I just thought about this now actually, when the beer is almost gone.  Oops, hopefully I'm OK.  I see others around me doing the same thing so I'm not too worried.

So my first impressions are about what I expected, the people are friendly, but they like to take their time.  Everything is smelly and dirty, but not to the extent that I previously thought.  It's been quite an experience so far and I've been here for just over 5 hours.

India

Well, I'm getting ready to embark on another adventure across the Atlantic.  This time it might be a bit more of a culture shock, so I'm expecting the worst.  The nice thing is that I will only be there for 2 weeks until I come back to the US for what will be an awesome time in Las Vegas.  Not sure if I will be heading back to India after that.  But, please check back to see the updates over the next couple weeks.  I will try to be more diligent in posting than I was during my last trip.  Wish me luck!