So it's about 9 am here, official full-day two. Avi and I got here with no problems. In fact, we were literally the only people on the security line at JFK and we breezed though customs in Delhi. The trip itself wasn't bad either. Slept - though fitfully - on the super long leg from New York to Delhi. Long story short, after transferring (and waiting) for our flight to Bangalore we got in about 10:30 pm (our first flight left 4:30pm the day before). I slept until 730 this morning, and including getting up at 1030 yesterday means that I think I'm over jet lag already. The trick was to forgo naps, a tough battle at one point, and drinking at night.
There's so much to say already about this experience. I think the best way to tackle this right now are a couple of quick blurbs.
Accomodations
Avi and I are staying with his friends Gautam and Raksha in a (fantastic!) house in the city of Bangalore, which generally speaking is a big city in the middle of southern India. We'll be here for a few days before taking a train to Mysore to Avi's parents, about 2 hours west. Staying here is great for quite a number of reasons. Besides Gautam being our tour guide/chauffeur, I get Raksha's cooking, a water/ice filtration system, and above all else peace of mind - frankly we don't have to worry about a thing here, from security to the food/water situation, Internet, etc. They have absolutely everything we have at home that I can tell. But I very much appreciate not having to worry about anything, just tagging along with Gautam and seeing India without having to worry about figuring out where to catch a train here or a bus there.
Driving
This is the only thing that makes me nervous. It's complete chaos here and I honestly don't even know where to start in trying to explain it. Think about the craziest/most aggressive NYC taxi ride you've ever taken. Every driver here is that crazy cab driver. Add to this the fact that maybe 75% of the vehicles on the road are scooters or motorcycles, bobbing and weaving around everything, plus the British-style driving on the left hand side of the road thing. If there are lane lines in the road at all they don't count. Now, throw in the random cow in the middle of the road which doesn't seem to know or care that it's standing in the middle of the road with cars/trucks/bikes flying around it on both sides, plus the random horse or cow-drawn cart also trying to use the road. Apparently honking makes everything okay, from passing on either the left or the right, or coming within inches of another car/bike. There are very few traffic lights so turning onto another street is pretty much a matter of being aggressive and honking like a mother$@%*er. Crossing the road on foot, which I've had to do twice, is straight up kamikaze frogger.
I will take a video of a ride soon so you can see what I mean.
Food
The food here is insanely good. The typical breakfast is a non-sweet crepe/pancake which you dip in this spicy powder, with tasty coffee. It takes a second to get used to a spicy/savory breakfast but I am completely over that at this point. It's damn good. Lunch yesterday was homemade (by Raksha) creamy cottage cheese curry, with homemade flat bread (nan). This is probably close enough as an example. We went to this place down the road for a snack and got this masala curry chick pea dish which was ridiculously good plate of food for a whopping 50 cents. Avi had two. I've tried everything offered to me so far except for the sheep brains - wasn't going to go there.
I should do a better job of keeping track of the names of the dishes I have (or just ask Avi, who is still snoring and farting).
Money
The exchange rate makes for an interesting situation. It's 45 rupees to one dollar, but combined with the fact that everything is super cheap here has me all messed up. The plan is to let Avi handle all transactions, keep track, and then figure things out once we get back to the states. How's this for a picture though (those are 500 rupee bills fyi):
PERSPECTIVE PIECE
As I mentioned in my very first post I am going to try to chronicle some of the big cultural differences and relate them to my life and world view, and America in general. I am going to include these Perspective Pieces in some of my posts. The point is to sit here and really think about things, then force myself to get the thoughts onto (virtual) paper.
This first Perspective Piece needs a little bit of a setup though. Yesterday I went with Gautam to check out his farm, maybe a 45 minute drive out of the city. They farm carnations, which I got to see. Even cooler, when we got there the farm manager brought us coconuts, expertly/ viciously hacked into them with a machete then handed them to us to drink. Better than Gatorade and pretty much bad-ass and cool. While we were there, mind you in a much more rural area, we were standing on the road while Gautam's car was loaded with flowers when a family of four rode by on a scooter (in itself crazy as all hell).
The perspective that I really want to get down is the way the two children stared at me, maybe the first non-India they had ever seen in their lives. I mean, it was a straight-up, open-mouthed-in-wonder stare down, not anything that I've ever experienced before. I've also caught other people staring at me too; usually a face down to the toes back up the face thorough one-over. It's a strange feeling. I do try to appreciate the blessings of being a healthy, educated white man in America, but these two kids really made me think. It reiterates the whole stranger in a strange land thing - not that I could really forget this based on the sights and smells around me - but it reinforces the reality of being a visitor in a very different place.
I could talk about the poverty and the extreme social stratification here, even more the whole casualness of the poverty and the stratification - and probably will get to this at some point. But for now I will sign off with this: I fully understand why I'm getting stared at but that does not change the fact that it can be more than a little uncomfortable.
There's a reason why your mother told you not to stare.
There's so much to say already about this experience. I think the best way to tackle this right now are a couple of quick blurbs.
Accomodations
Avi and I are staying with his friends Gautam and Raksha in a (fantastic!) house in the city of Bangalore, which generally speaking is a big city in the middle of southern India. We'll be here for a few days before taking a train to Mysore to Avi's parents, about 2 hours west. Staying here is great for quite a number of reasons. Besides Gautam being our tour guide/chauffeur, I get Raksha's cooking, a water/ice filtration system, and above all else peace of mind - frankly we don't have to worry about a thing here, from security to the food/water situation, Internet, etc. They have absolutely everything we have at home that I can tell. But I very much appreciate not having to worry about anything, just tagging along with Gautam and seeing India without having to worry about figuring out where to catch a train here or a bus there.
Driving
This is the only thing that makes me nervous. It's complete chaos here and I honestly don't even know where to start in trying to explain it. Think about the craziest/most aggressive NYC taxi ride you've ever taken. Every driver here is that crazy cab driver. Add to this the fact that maybe 75% of the vehicles on the road are scooters or motorcycles, bobbing and weaving around everything, plus the British-style driving on the left hand side of the road thing. If there are lane lines in the road at all they don't count. Now, throw in the random cow in the middle of the road which doesn't seem to know or care that it's standing in the middle of the road with cars/trucks/bikes flying around it on both sides, plus the random horse or cow-drawn cart also trying to use the road. Apparently honking makes everything okay, from passing on either the left or the right, or coming within inches of another car/bike. There are very few traffic lights so turning onto another street is pretty much a matter of being aggressive and honking like a mother$@%*er. Crossing the road on foot, which I've had to do twice, is straight up kamikaze frogger.
I will take a video of a ride soon so you can see what I mean.
Food
The food here is insanely good. The typical breakfast is a non-sweet crepe/pancake which you dip in this spicy powder, with tasty coffee. It takes a second to get used to a spicy/savory breakfast but I am completely over that at this point. It's damn good. Lunch yesterday was homemade (by Raksha) creamy cottage cheese curry, with homemade flat bread (nan). This is probably close enough as an example. We went to this place down the road for a snack and got this masala curry chick pea dish which was ridiculously good plate of food for a whopping 50 cents. Avi had two. I've tried everything offered to me so far except for the sheep brains - wasn't going to go there.
I should do a better job of keeping track of the names of the dishes I have (or just ask Avi, who is still snoring and farting).
The Indian way to eat late-night pizza is, er, interesting.
Money
The exchange rate makes for an interesting situation. It's 45 rupees to one dollar, but combined with the fact that everything is super cheap here has me all messed up. The plan is to let Avi handle all transactions, keep track, and then figure things out once we get back to the states. How's this for a picture though (those are 500 rupee bills fyi):
PERSPECTIVE PIECE
As I mentioned in my very first post I am going to try to chronicle some of the big cultural differences and relate them to my life and world view, and America in general. I am going to include these Perspective Pieces in some of my posts. The point is to sit here and really think about things, then force myself to get the thoughts onto (virtual) paper.
This first Perspective Piece needs a little bit of a setup though. Yesterday I went with Gautam to check out his farm, maybe a 45 minute drive out of the city. They farm carnations, which I got to see. Even cooler, when we got there the farm manager brought us coconuts, expertly/ viciously hacked into them with a machete then handed them to us to drink. Better than Gatorade and pretty much bad-ass and cool. While we were there, mind you in a much more rural area, we were standing on the road while Gautam's car was loaded with flowers when a family of four rode by on a scooter (in itself crazy as all hell).
The perspective that I really want to get down is the way the two children stared at me, maybe the first non-India they had ever seen in their lives. I mean, it was a straight-up, open-mouthed-in-wonder stare down, not anything that I've ever experienced before. I've also caught other people staring at me too; usually a face down to the toes back up the face thorough one-over. It's a strange feeling. I do try to appreciate the blessings of being a healthy, educated white man in America, but these two kids really made me think. It reiterates the whole stranger in a strange land thing - not that I could really forget this based on the sights and smells around me - but it reinforces the reality of being a visitor in a very different place.
I could talk about the poverty and the extreme social stratification here, even more the whole casualness of the poverty and the stratification - and probably will get to this at some point. But for now I will sign off with this: I fully understand why I'm getting stared at but that does not change the fact that it can be more than a little uncomfortable.
There's a reason why your mother told you not to stare.
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