Rainy days

The monsoon rains are finally upon us.  They started a couple days ago, which was a little later than anticipated, due to a tropical storm out in the Arabian Sea.  It's been raining non-stop now for about 16 hours as I write this.  It should end some time in September.  As much as I'm sure I am going to tire of all the rain, it hasn't been bad so far.  The first round of showers cleared up the air, and we had what I can say is probably the first "nice" day we've had since I have arrived, weather-wise.  I was able to see mountains in the distance that I hadn't seen yet, and the sky was nice and blue like I'm used to seeing at home.  It didn't last though, as the steady rains weren't far behind a couple days later.  All this came just in time for India.  It was reported in the paper that the reservoirs serving Mumbai had 60 days of water left.  That's pretty alarming to think of 20 million people that close to having no water at all.  The livelihoods and economy here are directly tied to the rains, which is unlike anything I've experienced previously.  The stock market here recently fell quite significantly on the heels of a forecast for a weak monsoon this year.  Less rain means less crops, and less spending in the economy.  Unfortunately, it's the farmers who feel it the most, as a reduction in crop yields can ruin many of those with smaller farms.  My annoyance with the humidity after the sun comes out after the rain seems insignificant by comparison.

Things have changed subtly since the rains started.  It obviously makes much of the activity we're used to seeing take place outdoors diminish somewhat.  Take these fellows, for instance:

I've been trying to catch a picture of those guys seated on the crates for some time now, and finally got this one.  Every day they were sitting out there getting a shave from some man that offers the service. No enclosure, chairs, or running water needed.  Just a guy, a bucket of water, and some crates to sit on. He had at least 2 or 3 guys out there every day I looked.  I imagine he's done for now though.

I also expected to see some differences in the plant and animal life here, but being in the city it doesn't really seem to obvious.  I did see this guy come out after a shower though:

The rains haven't changed our activities much.  Before the rain it was too hot outside to do anything but scurry to/from where you needed to go, unless it was early in the morning, so it's not like we're missing anything now.  We did go see a movie this weekend though.  The theaters here differ from home in that there are tiers of seating.  Here you see a couple of my co-workers enjoying their top-tier "gold" seats, with the big cushy recliners:

Transportation, as I've mentioned previously, is still an enormous pain in the ass.  I was asked prior to leaving if I'd be bringing my bicycle over with me, considering how much I ride when I'm home.  The traffic quickly makes such an activity extremely hazardous.  It's bad enough people are driving on a different side of the road, but when you add in the suggestive nature of the traffic control devices, pedestrians, meager attempts at traffic lanes, and the occasional cow, I'm sure I'd last a matter of minutes out there.  The locals, however, make pretty good use of their bikes.  I'd say that about 99% of them ride this mass produced steel bike here.  If I had to guess there's probably close to a million of them in the city.  They use them for transportation, of course, but they're also often used to move cargo around.  I've seen sheets of plywood being moved with them (balanced mid-point on the offside pedal, while the guy walks beside the bike), old air conditioning units, and big canisters of milk being carted about.

Check out that sweet front suspension!

It's not uncommon to see several people riding one bike at once.  The ladies almost always ride side saddle (on the motorcycles here as well), and I've yet to see anyone come close to falling off, save the two morons that were riding one yesterday, against traffic, while they both talked on their cell phones.

As an added bonus, I fell ill this week, and wound up missing a day of work after spending the previous night awake, coughing and sneezing.  I neglected to bring any cold medicine with me, so I was left to negotiate that process for the first time here.  Unlike home, you can't just go into the grocery store and head over to the medicines to pick from the 1000 different ones available. They simply don't sell any at all.  For such things you have to visit the "chemist."  There seem to be plenty of them around, and you can always spot them  by the lighted green cross sign they have out front somewhere.  The first attempt was done on the fly, walking back from lunch, when I noticed a chemist shop.  The language barrier left the poor guy behind the counter trying to make sense of the pantomimes I was doing to describe the symptoms I was experiencing.  From there he presented me with what he thought I was looking for, ranging from a nasal spray, an allergy pill, and an antibiotic.

After some research and advice from a co-worker, I learned that a lot of drugs here are just given out at the customer request, no prescription required.  I was advised that the best approach is to first have a picture of the medicine you'd buy back home to show them, and if that doesn't work, then a list of the main active ingredients.  Using this approach later in the day, I went into another chemist armed with a list of the ingredients from the cold meds I'd usually take, and wound up with something that seems to work. I think in the future I'll go into one with a list of some of the craziest shit I can think of, just to see how far they'll let someone go.  Benzodiazepine? Why not??  Hydrocodone? Sure!!

All of this leads to the feeling I have here a lot.  Simple interactions you'd take for granted at home wind up being hopelessly confusing.  I'll often enter into some transaction with a person that doesn't speak English, and while I can get through it eventually it becomes painfully obvious that there's some nuance to it that I'm totally missing which leaves the person I'm interacting with feeling every bit as confused or frustrated as I am.  For example, sometimes I go into the grocery store nearby, put my items down on the counter to check out, get everything bagged up, hand over the method of payment...and then...something.  There's some sort of expectation that is there that I'm not sure about, and we both wind up just looking at each other, before I shrug my shoulders and move on. Couple this with the confusing methodology applied to almost every simple action that takes place here, and I'm sure there's plenty of "what the hell is that guy's problem" being said in Hindi as I walk away.

Sorry again for the delay in posting. I've fallen into a bit more of a routine over here, especially during the week.  I try to wait until I've got a few new things to show you or talk about, rather than bore you with the banality of my every day life.

I'd love to hear from more of you. Drop me a message on Facebook, or send me a text message from time to time.  I miss home all the time, and I'd love to hear what things you've all been up to, even if it seems boring or uninteresting to you.

Now if only I'd thought to bring some rain boots....