My first full week in India has come to an end. It's been pretty non-stop adventure. This is mainly due to everything being so new. I've gotten used to my surroundings enough now actually that when having a friend drive me home last night I was able to give him directions, which was a pretty amazing feat considering it was nearly 3am at the time.
Nearly everyone I've met here has been very kind. I was speaking with some friends at a party last night and they explained it all to me. Apparently in India from a young age kids are raised being taught that, "Guest is God." It really shows too. People will bend over backwards to help you out when shopping. Just today we all went to get some clothes and shoes and soon as I expressed interest in a pair of sandals I was ushered over to sit down, they measured my feet, quickly grabbed several pairs and would slip them on my feet for me to see what I thought. For something like shoe shopping, which in general is extremely tedious for me, this not only made it a lot faster but kind of entertaining. It was strange to be waited on that way but I also appreciated it. I got a pair I really like, and walking around is now a whole lot cooler than before. Now, this isn't to say that they won't try to push to sell you a lot. Our next stop ended up being a clothing store and when I found shorts I wanted they very quickly suggested shirts that would look good with it. It's hard to say no to trying them on when they move so fast. The store clerks were running to the back opening new boxes to check if they had our sizes even. I did end up buying that shirt too.
I've probably drank more this week than the last several months combined. It's so cheap to do so. On top of that It seems like my options are that or water. I'm also downing gallons of water like never before. I spoke before about some great microbrew that I had but this week I drank mainly cocktails. Having something cooler like that is really refreshing when its 100 degrees outside. Luckily it's a dry heat, you get into the shade and it's not nearly as bad. One of my new favorite places to drink here now is News Cafe.
They have a really huge list of cocktails, many are named either after sexual inuendos or scifi/pop culture references. Their service there actually isn't the best....I know after just writing about how great service is everywhere. There are only a couple of exceptions like this. I thought of it as a balance. The drinks were really good, as was the food, so the lack in service was passable. Honestly, it was about the level you'd get in the U.S. where the waiter comes by once and you don't really hear from them again.
Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have had some kind of cocktail at every meal this week...hmm...
Last night was a going away party for one of the Ex-Zynga employees here. We all met up at this bar that was actually really packed, probably the most I've seen in one place here in India. It definitely reminded me a lot more of a crowded SF bar. The only difference being it was on a rooftop in the open air. Which was great because I'd probably have passed out from the heat of that many people inside. Because it was so packed getting drinks was a little tough there, but I had a really awesome expresso martini and pretty soon everyone at the table was drinking them. Hurray for trend setting! Someone mentioned a friend that is anti-social and I chimed in saying, "So am I. I actually very rarely go out. I don't like talking to lots of people, or being around big crowds." Everyone seemed really surprised and a little confused by this. One person said, "No, you're very social! You've been going around talking to everyone here." I suppose I had. Which is unusual for me. Everyone was pretty friendly though and not so stand-offish as I'm used to seeing in America. Also, because cell phone reception sucks people aren't just staring at their phones all night long. It definitely helped. I feel like I'm using up all my internal social activity budget here. I was definitely ready to seclude myself again after that.
Also, I want to say, I'm pretty proud of myself, and my friends, of how well we've been taking the rickshaws around and crossing the streets. Sounds kind of dumb, but you have to time darting across traffic, often getting part way across a street, stopping, then ducking behind a car just as it goes past. The rickshaw drivers here can refuse to drive you places, so you have to get a price before going anywhere, or at least tell them you want the meter. Just tonight as we were getting a rickshaw back from News Cafe we saw our first accident right in front of us. A rickshaw rammed into the back of a car and crumpled up like aluminum foil. Everyone seemed ok though. When I went up to the first driver and said, "Diamond District." He just shook his head 'no'. Ok..no problem there are a ton other rickshaws all over the place. I just went to the next and said the same he nodded I inquired how much. He tells me 200. Not going to happen, that's at least double what it should cost. I backed up and said 100 and started to move away thinking he was going to stick to it and drive off. Seeing this he changed his mind and countered my offer....with 70. I stopped and stammered a little at this. I had expected to need to work him down more.
Tomorrow I finally get to have some decent coffee. Apparently there is a place next to work that is really good. The coffee in the office is the worst. I can't wait.
Nearly everyone I've met here has been very kind. I was speaking with some friends at a party last night and they explained it all to me. Apparently in India from a young age kids are raised being taught that, "Guest is God." It really shows too. People will bend over backwards to help you out when shopping. Just today we all went to get some clothes and shoes and soon as I expressed interest in a pair of sandals I was ushered over to sit down, they measured my feet, quickly grabbed several pairs and would slip them on my feet for me to see what I thought. For something like shoe shopping, which in general is extremely tedious for me, this not only made it a lot faster but kind of entertaining. It was strange to be waited on that way but I also appreciated it. I got a pair I really like, and walking around is now a whole lot cooler than before. Now, this isn't to say that they won't try to push to sell you a lot. Our next stop ended up being a clothing store and when I found shorts I wanted they very quickly suggested shirts that would look good with it. It's hard to say no to trying them on when they move so fast. The store clerks were running to the back opening new boxes to check if they had our sizes even. I did end up buying that shirt too.
They have a really huge list of cocktails, many are named either after sexual inuendos or scifi/pop culture references. Their service there actually isn't the best....I know after just writing about how great service is everywhere. There are only a couple of exceptions like this. I thought of it as a balance. The drinks were really good, as was the food, so the lack in service was passable. Honestly, it was about the level you'd get in the U.S. where the waiter comes by once and you don't really hear from them again.
Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure I have had some kind of cocktail at every meal this week...hmm...
Last night was a going away party for one of the Ex-Zynga employees here. We all met up at this bar that was actually really packed, probably the most I've seen in one place here in India. It definitely reminded me a lot more of a crowded SF bar. The only difference being it was on a rooftop in the open air. Which was great because I'd probably have passed out from the heat of that many people inside. Because it was so packed getting drinks was a little tough there, but I had a really awesome expresso martini and pretty soon everyone at the table was drinking them. Hurray for trend setting! Someone mentioned a friend that is anti-social and I chimed in saying, "So am I. I actually very rarely go out. I don't like talking to lots of people, or being around big crowds." Everyone seemed really surprised and a little confused by this. One person said, "No, you're very social! You've been going around talking to everyone here." I suppose I had. Which is unusual for me. Everyone was pretty friendly though and not so stand-offish as I'm used to seeing in America. Also, because cell phone reception sucks people aren't just staring at their phones all night long. It definitely helped. I feel like I'm using up all my internal social activity budget here. I was definitely ready to seclude myself again after that.
Also, I want to say, I'm pretty proud of myself, and my friends, of how well we've been taking the rickshaws around and crossing the streets. Sounds kind of dumb, but you have to time darting across traffic, often getting part way across a street, stopping, then ducking behind a car just as it goes past. The rickshaw drivers here can refuse to drive you places, so you have to get a price before going anywhere, or at least tell them you want the meter. Just tonight as we were getting a rickshaw back from News Cafe we saw our first accident right in front of us. A rickshaw rammed into the back of a car and crumpled up like aluminum foil. Everyone seemed ok though. When I went up to the first driver and said, "Diamond District." He just shook his head 'no'. Ok..no problem there are a ton other rickshaws all over the place. I just went to the next and said the same he nodded I inquired how much. He tells me 200. Not going to happen, that's at least double what it should cost. I backed up and said 100 and started to move away thinking he was going to stick to it and drive off. Seeing this he changed his mind and countered my offer....with 70. I stopped and stammered a little at this. I had expected to need to work him down more.
Tomorrow I finally get to have some decent coffee. Apparently there is a place next to work that is really good. The coffee in the office is the worst. I can't wait.
