Home...is where I want to be

But I guess I'm already there.

Today is probably the most difficult I've had here.  Emily graduates from law school today, which was an event that I sincerely wish I was there for. She's been in law school since we met, and it just feels wrong not to be there.  I knew when I agreed to come on this journey that I'd be missing some things, like birthdays, or weddings, or such things, but this one hurts.  I guess I've had it pretty good considering that I work in the aviation industry.  A lot of people have it much worse than I do.

Work continues to be somewhat frustrating.  It's a combination of high level ambiguous concepts for goals, with no clearly defined tasks (up to us to just figure it out) combined with super high expectations for success. Awesome.  The last member of our team arrived today, so hopefully we can get things moving.

The food, water, or something finally caught up to me this week as well.  Let's just say I'm staying home a lot, and leave it at that.  I guess I'm lucky it took this long to happen.  Long car rides are certainly more exciting.

Several of my friends mentioned this week that they wanted to see my place a little better, so I made this video today:

Some also asked about what I've been cooking.  As you can see in the video above, the kitchen is definitely not set up for the kind of cooking I do when I'm at home.  This is further complicated by the fact that many of the ingredients that I normally use are not available here.  We get lunch served to us at work (almost always Indian food), and the client company is picking up our Monday-Friday dinners on an expense account, so during the week there's no reason to make anything. By the time the weekend comes around the idea of making more Indian food isn't too appealing.  I'm sure I'll get into more of a groove as time goes on. Chicken is the most widely available meat, followed by lamb. India has always been mostly against eating beef, but you could still find it. Hell, there's a TGI Friday's in the mall next door.  Wouldn't you know it then that two days before I got here, this happened. Simple possession of beef is now punishable by up to one year in jail, even if you didn't get it here in India.  That seems reasonable.  There are what looks like 3 year old kids living under the highway overpass that we go under every day, which is also the busiest intersection we encounter.  They are completely without any adults present, at least from what I've seen, and in some cases they're carrying around their infant (what I assume is) sibling, caring for it.  Better make sure those cows are ok though.  Those of you that know me enough to be familiar with religion imposing its views on everyone (especially by law) probably know how much this annoys me.

Another of the challenges I've been dealing with is how different my spare time is spent.  At home I didn't have much trouble staying busy, but here things are different, which I mostly anticipated.  I've mostly been exercising and getting to know the area, but I also decided to learn to play a classical Indian drum called the Tabla.  I searched around, and finally found an instructor that would answer my messages, and had my first lesson today.  I've never played a percussion instrument before, because they always seemed a little one-dimensional to me, but this one is pretty different, with many different sounds you can create depending on how and where you hit it.  I'm taking lessons from this lady, and her assistant:

She's been playing for YEARS to get this good at it, and performs regularly, so I'm hoping to pick up as much as I can in the year that I'm here.  The thing I hadn't realized before, and you can see if you look closely in the video, is your wrist isn't really involved in the striking motion on the drum. It's all in the fingers, and it's far from a natural motion for me.  I think this will be a good challenge for me, and I'm really looking forward to it.  The lessons are only $5 USD each, so what the hell.  

Guess I must be having fun

This must be the place.  

Stranger in a strange land

Successfully negotiated the Mumbai local train system today.  Given how irrevocably jacked up most of the things around here are, the train system is actually quite efficient, and inexpensive.  There are 3 main north to south train lines in the city, of which the Western is the closest to me.  I did a BUNCH of reading about how to go about it before I tried, and I'm glad I did.  During the week the train system in the city carries on average 8 million passengers PER DAY.  So basically 8 times the population of Columbus, OH gets on that thing.  Every day.  Sometimes it's as high as 10 million.  Unbelievable.

First I had to get to the train station, which was further than I'd want to walk (especially given today's 116 degree heat index), so I had to take a rickshaw from my place to the station.  It took me a couple tries to find one that knew what the hell I was saying, but I finally managed.  From there I made it to Andheri station.  Andheri is the name of the neighborhood I live in, and all the stops on the train are named after the neighborhood where they are located.

Inside, looking toward the ticket counters.  Not sure why the overhead sign looks like that in the picture.

I had a little language barrier here as well, as not only were the usual challenges present, but added to that was the fact that the guy I was trying to talk to was behind a glass partition with a little hole cutout, and it took me a few tries go figure out what he was saying.  Round trip ticket to my destination of Lower Parel was 140 Rupees, or $2.20, which seems insanely cheap, but I guess if 8 million people a day are paying that, it can be.  I even splurged for the "first class" ticket, which basically just means it costs more, so the cars wind up being less full.  It was worth it, as some of the regular cars looked pretty crowded, even though it was a Sunday afternoon.

Happy Journey!

From there you have to figure out where the train is that you want to go.  It wound up being pretty easy.  There is a train coming through that is going your way every 3 minutes, so you just have to make sure you get on the ones that stop at all the stations, rather than the "fast" trains that only stop at the major ones.  Even better is that someone developed an app for the iphone that makes it even easier to find where you need to be to get on the right train.  Once over that hurdle, it's down to the platform.

In that picture you can see the sign showing when the next train will be coming, and all you need to know about it.  It says BO 02:36 S :10 which means the originating station is Borivali, it leaves at 2:36 PM, it's a Slow train (stops at every station), and it will be here in 10 seconds.  And when they say 10 seconds, they mean it!  The trains run like clockwork.  They seem to be really proud of keeping an on-time schedule. Each train only stops for 30 seconds at each station, so you don't have time to stand around and figure things out, otherwise you'll be watching it leave and have to wait on the next one.

From there you have to locate the right car to get onto. They sporadically post signs and paint things the corresponding colors, but you can't count on it reliably, so you just have to look at the train cars themselves.  First class, in my case, had a section of the car painted with red/white diagonal stripes.  They also paint markings on the ground or poles at the station that match the car classes, so you know where to stand while you're waiting on the train.

See how close together those overhead grab handles are? Now imagine a person holding onto each one. The entire train is filled with them.

The car in the above picture is marked to indicate that it is a women's only regular class car.  They also have women's only first class, although as a woman you can ride whatever car you purchased a ticket for.  The issue is that, as I think I've mentioned to some of you, Indian men can get a little grabby when the trains are crowded, and rather than try to fix that problem they just ignore it and let women have their own space if they want it.  I've read that you don't want to get on one of these by accident, as they'll quickly remind you you're in the wrong place.

Total cost for the trip, including the rickshaw rides to/from the station:  300 Rupees/$4.71. Crazy.

Lastly, here's a little video clip I made of my ride today.  Sorry about the bars on the window.  In the tradition of twisted Indian logic they put bars on the windows, but you can hang all the way out of open doors while the train is moving to your heart's content, which you'll see in the video:

I took this trip so I could go locate a place to buy some belts that I mistakenly left at home.  There's a mall closer to me that I could have gone to, but this provided an excuse to go explore the trains.  I went to a place called the Palladium mall, which we were told is the nicest in town.  It certainly was that, as it's probably the fanciest one I've been to anywhere.  There was almost every luxury brand you could think of, like Armai, Burberry, and many others that I'd not heard of before.  It seemed strange to have such a high class place inside, where just outside there are people so poor they can't even afford shoes to wear, let alone a place to live.  It's hard to figure out how a population of people that is so in touch with spirituality and kindness seems powerless to help alleviate the depth of the poverty, but then I guess you can say the same thing about home.  I read yesterday that 65% of this city's population lives on less than $55 US.  A month.

On a happier note, I was in my apartment yesterday afternoon and heard what I at first thought was thunder, but quickly realized was drums of some sort.  The club in our complex can be rented for wedding receptions, and I had noticed that they'd done some decoration for one, so I realized I was hearing the band leading the wedding party.  In Hindu culture it's customary for the groom to ride a white horse to the ceremonies.  The groom's family can just be seen in the video ahead of the horse, and they were dancing like loons to the music.  They looked like they were having the best time, smiling and laughing while they danced.  The drums were LOUD...they were really banging on those things.

And finally, today's WTF I can't believe people here think this is acceptable adult behavior, I bring you this guy:

He's got this....probably....

One Week Down

Made it through the first week without contracting dysentery, getting hit by a car/taxi/rickshaw, or falling through an open sewer access.

I've eaten more rice this week than I have the rest of the year, but it's just a large part of their diet, and can't really be avoided.  There are US chains here nearby, such as a Domino's and Burger King in the building next door, but I just can't bring myself to do that.  I've decided that I really love biryani dishes, which are in plentiful supply.  They're usually not too spicy, and come in all kinds of variations.  There are numerous restaurants around that serve what is generally considered to be American (they refer to it as 'continental') food.  It's strange to be in a place where someone might say "hey, let's go get some American food tonight!" much like we would say about a foreign cuisine back home.

Speaking of food, the office where I work has been an interesting experience. Evidently it's common here to have food and beverage service in office environments.  Two guys in uniforms with bow ties come around throughout the day with coffee/tea, or you can call them if you want more.  On top of that, the food/beverage manager for the inflight catering brings us lunch every day. On the first day he asked what we wanted, and we told him Indian food, so he's been bringing us different regional dishes every day, which is just awesome.

Typical lunch in the office.  We told him to bring about half that from now on.

Um, waiter, my cup appears to be empty

I have been trying to stay entertained in my down time.  Indian TV is mostly unwatchable for me.  Even the international CNN channel focuses almost exclusively Indian news, so I lose interest pretty quickly.  Thankfully I can access NetFlix and similar services back home, although I'm hoping to get my internet connection here upgraded so it works better.  Speaking of Indian TV, they play the same few commercials RELENTLESSLY, which does not help the experience.  This one played about every 5 minutes since I've been here, but luckily it cracks me up every time I watch it.  It's almost like they're making fun of themselves:

They do this head shake thing here when you talk to them.  It's kind of hard to describe, but if you could imagine you're tracing a figure 8 pattern with the tip of your nose, you'd be pretty close.  

It's usually not this creepy

The meaning of this movement is kind of situational.  It can be anything from "yeah, ok" or "I understand."  I'm still getting used to it, as sometimes you're not entirely sure what they're meaning to convey.  

We got a chance to drive around a bit this week.  My employer arranged for a neighborhood familiarization trip, so we could know where the essentials are located, such as hospitals, police stations, etc.  Along the way, we got to stop and see the sights a bit, for what it's worth.  First we stoped at the Mount Mary Basilica, which is the oldest Christian church in Mumbai, founded in 1570.

Notice you can see the reflection of the church in the glass?

From there we went to the Castella de Aguada just south of the church, which was also established in about the same time frame. I didn't take as many pictures there, as it was fairly underwhelming as far as attractions go, but it was right on a point of land overlooking Mahim bay, so I did get this one:

You probably shouldn't get in that water

Heading back towards home, we stopped in a neighborhood called Bandra West for lunch, at a place called Lucky's, which is known for it's Biryani.  It's an old, but well maintained place, with no air conditioning, but the food was really good. Our guide was from Mumbai, so he helped us negotiate the menu.  

There was a protest outside the gate of our complex the other day after we got home from work.  Not sure what it was about, but they were out there chanting for a couple hours before the police finally came and broke it up.  

We're extremely dissatisfied!

According to their banners, it was the RPI(A), or Republican Party of India.  I passed along that they'd been out there to our company security guy back home, and he didn't seem to happy about the fact that this was going on. He'd probably be even more bothered by the fact that I was down there taking a picture of them, but it was a fairly small group.  What I don't know at all is why they were here.  I'm hoping to find out more about that soon.  

Tomorrow I'm going to attempt to negotiate the extensive Mumbai train system to go to the south end of town. I managed to leave town without a couple of my belts that I wear with my office dress clothes, so I'm going down to what is supposedly the best mall in the city to see if I can find some replacements.  Shopping for things here is still somewhat of a challenge.  I went to 5 different places that had home goods before I finally found a stupid trash can for my apartment.  I still haven't managed to find a cutting board for my kitchen.  It makes no sense, but then a lot of things don't.  

  

Did I mention it's hot?

So today, it was 93 degrees.  With the humidity factored in, the heat index was 110.  As you can imagine, this is unpleasant.  Once you're out in it for about 10 minutes, any recent showers or bathing you've done quickly becomes irrelevant.  That being said, I wind up looking like I did just bathe, but with my clothes on.  Oddly enough, the locals seem to completely unaffected by this.  Almost nobody wears shorts, instead wearing either jeans or slacks, and they don't seem to be sweating at all.  It stands to reason that any outdoor activity is out of the question.  They've told me that May and June are the hottest months of the year, so that's something to look forward to, however mid-June brings with it the beginning of the monsoon season.  We're told that some days you just can't even really get to work, as the flooding is too much for what meager sewer system they have can handle.  Furthermore, being a coastal city, the water table isn't far from the surface, so any heavy rains turn to flooding pretty quickly.  I can't wait to see what happens to all the trash and dirt in the street when that happens.  Hip waders may be an option to explore.

The traffic continues to be a source of amusement, and occasional consternation.  It backs up without much warning or common sense, and quickly becomes a snarled mess.  This, for example:

That was taken right out in front of my building, at 4pm on a Sunday.  Not even rush hour at all.  As mentioned before, the horn honking is a little ridiculous.  That being said, I think I figured out one aspect of it today.  The cars drive on the left here (opposite of the U.S.).  As I've seen in other countries, they prefer to have cars pass them on the driver's side (right side of the car).  When passing on the left side, it's some sort of courtesy/custom to signal that you're doing so by beeping the horn.  Almost every vehicle here that's not a motorcycle or regular passenger vehicle has some form of this painted on the back to emphasize this:

Horn OK Please.  At least they're polite about it, I guess.

All the rest of the honking appears to have no purpose, yet it's something everyone does.  It all fits in with the occasional moment's that I have begun referring to as the "Indian cluster."  For example, yesterday one of my co-workers decided to purchase a coffee maker for his apartment.  What would be a non-event back home turns into this sort of labyrinthine process that defies understanding.  First, he found the machine he liked, so an employee had to go check and see if it was in stock.  Upon returning to state that it was, in fact, in stock, it had to be repeated that yes, indeed, he did want it.  From there the employee goes over to a computer, and produces a sales invoice, which he brings back.  That invoice then had to be carried over to the cashier counter.  There another employee is summoned, who went to fetch the item out of inventory.  Once he returned with the item, the cashier proceeded to completely unpack and unwrap it, I guess to determine if all the parts were there.  From there, they proceeded to unsuccessfully re-wrap and package it the way it was before they messed with it.  Once it was finally handed over, he had to stop and talk to ANOTHER employee at the exit, show the receipt and coffee maker, before he was allowed to leave with it.  All that for a $30 coffee maker.  I can only imagine what going to the BMV would be like.

Getting adjusted

At last we have arrived in India to begin working.

Yesterday was a difficult, long day for me.  Difficult because I had to leave Emily for the next 4 months, long because, well...it took over 24 hours just to travel here.  My route was from Columbus to JFK, sit for 5 hours, then nonstop to Abu Dhabi on a 12.5 hour flight.  I'm not sure I could do that kind of flying all the time.  I watched two movies before I checked the time remaining, and we were barely halfway.  I'm very fortunate though to have been booked in business class, so I was really very comfortable.

After arriving, getting through customs and immigration, and collecting our bags, we met up with our drivers and made the trek to our apartments.  On arrival, we got our phones and wifi cards issued to us, so I was able to call home once I got everything working.  By that time it was 11pm here, and I was exhausted, so it was off to bed.  I took some melatonin, which seemed to help, as I did sleep through the night, although I was freezing for part of it, as the air conditioning was evidently set to the "meat locker" setting.  My apartment is on the 10th floor of this building, which I'd hoped would make me immune to the inexorable honking of the car horns on the streets below, but unfortunately that's not the case.

Today I met up with my cohorts from NJA, and we found some breakfast at the Starbucks next door, and then did some shopping for things we need.  Our apartments, although furnished, are still lacking some things, so we're trying to go out and find them where we can.  My apartment, for instance, has zero coat hangars.  I'd have packed some to bring with me, but I was completely out of space in my suitcases.  The bourbon I brought wasn't getting left behind for coat hangars, I have priorities.

We start work on Monday, so we're trying to get all of these things done now, and get used to the time difference, which for me is proving to be a challenge.  Even though I slept through the night, I'm still feeling pretty groggy.  I know it will just take time though.  The climate itself is going to take longer to get used to, I think.  Right now, for instance, it is 91 degrees outside, however with the humidity the heat index is 108.  Hot and humid is probably my least favorite climate, so I'm likely to be grumpy about it for a while, especially since I see that it's 73 degrees at home today.  I should probably quit looking at that.

Abut Dhabi seems like an interesting place, at least what I saw of it from the plane.  It looks like there are some nice beaches, so maybe it would be worth going over for a weekend visit if I can find a cheap ticket over there.  I've been in deserts before, but the one there is really different.  It is just nothing but bare earth and sand, and has almost no vegetation of any kind.  It's hard to believe how anyone can live there.

Our first trip to the grocery store was something of an adventure.  There's a small one in the mall right next door, so we went there to get some of the immediately needed items.  It's very (very) tightly packed compared to what I'm used to in the USA.  Add in the throngs of people and it quickly resembles a rugby scrum. I'm still trying to pick up on the nuances so I don't look like a dumb ass, but that's going to take time.  For instance, I picked up a package of pears to buy, but evidently you're supposed to weigh them and get a sticker so that the cashier knows how much to charge you.  Since I wasn't aware of that, this evidently caused some consternation on the part of the cashier, but the language barrier prevented me from really understanding it.

Speaking of cultural differences, I've spoken here before about the male-dominated culture here.  Unfortunately this is in the news again here, as this happened recently.  It's a wonder that women travel anywhere alone in this place.

It's about that time

My departure date is quickly approaching.  My airline leaves the morning of 4/16, which takes me first to Chicago, then a stop in Abu Dhabi to change planes, then on to Mumbai.  After all this talking about leaving, it's a little hard to believe it's finally here.

My wonderful friends all came to a send-off party for me last weekend, which really made me feel very special.  It was great to see everyone one last time. I've been running around all week, trying to think of all the things that need to be done, which has the added effect of reminding me of all the things I've procrastinated on as well.

One of my tasks last week was to convert some currency, so I'll have some to spend over there until they get my bank account set up for me.

I'm rich! Not really...that's about 500 USD

Indian money is ridiculous.  There's entirely too many zeros involved.  It gets a little confusing to try to convert it all in your head quickly, so you can decide if what you're looking to buy is a good deal or not.  I'm sure it will all start making more sense as I get exposed to it more, but for now I still have to pause and try to figure out what ₹5000 equates to (this much).  For now I just remind myself that ₹1000 is about $16, and multiply as necessary.

Further complicating matters, they don't always just call it Rupees, they also use "Lakh" and "Crore." At about $1600 you have ₹100,000, which because of the increasingly insane number of zeros is simply referred to as 1 Lakh.  Even better, they put the commas in strange places anyway, so if they were going to put it down as Rupees they'd write ₹1,00,000.  A rational human being might then consider that Crore then must equal 1 million, but then you've never been to India or had a mild concussion.  Instead, 1 Crore equals 10 million Rupees, and again with the commas, which would be written as ₹1,00,00,000 or 1Cr, which would be about $16,000.  You'd think given all those large sums that you wouldn't need any small denominations, but you'd be wrong, as there are coins too, as low as ₹1, although who knows what you'd buy with that.

So after all that you might pick up the paper and read an article like this one, and read the numbers involved, and after a while just give up and say "well that sounds like it was probably a lot of money" and go on about your day to the next challenge.

Back in the U.S.A.

Back in the USA again, after a 10.5 hour flight from Mumbai to Amsterdam, and then another one to JFK for 8.5 more hours.  Now just one more leg to get home, and I'll start the whole process of flipping my body clock again.  Will probably take a couple of days before I'm right again.

Thanks everyone for all your comments about my posts.  I'll keep them coming as things develop in the next month as I get ready to head over there for good.