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.