After a few Thanksgiving phone calls, I gather some people think I am "enduring" Bangalore well. While I'm sure I could milk that idea for care packages, I am obligated to make it clear that my life in India is at least as easy as my life in Seattle.
The Wrong Impression: "I work 6-7 days a week. I must go through five auto drivers before I find one who will take me to the client site. Everything takes longer here. The pollution is so bad I can't run outside. I haven't found any soccer teams, and the treadmills squeak. My laundry just returned a shirt with the same toothpaste stain on it. I can't travel alone after midnight..."
Just Send My Tiara
I do very little laundry or cooking. I sleep in a king-sized bed. My apartment has three huge bedrooms, two bathrooms, and marble floors that we have someone else clean. I live in a walled compound that includes a parking garage, a swimming pool, basketball courts, and a mini skate park. I have air conditioning, but I've never used it because the weather's been so great.
I never have to drive. If I am out too late, my friends have a driver take me home,
let me sleep over, or ride to my house with me. While riding in autos, I work or read books--I've gotten more reading done here than I have in months. Sometimes I get to ride on scooters and motorcycles and get through the city quickly. I can hire a driver if I ever needed one.
Work is whenever, wherever, and as much as I like. I can work from home most days, and my commute is opposite the traffic. The IT Director at GK is spectacular and patient with me. The client site has a huge jackfruit tree growing in the courtyard. Every time I go in or out of Grameen Koota, children shout "America! America!" and want me to smile and wave at them.
"Damn, it feels good to be a Gangsta"
Meeting other people is easy. I go out three to five times a week. People buy me drinks and dinners all the time, and I got spoiled on my birthday. Wednesday night we played poker, ate chicken, and drank beer while shooting pellet guns and listening to NWA. I had two Thanksgiving dinners.
Almost all of the 20+ restaurants within walking distance of my house deliver. I eat South Indian, North Indian, Indian Chinese, Thai, Chinese Chinese, Malaysian, pizza, Italian, and steak. I also know where to get sushi and Belgian beers any time I need them. Sushi is the only meal that costs more than $20 USD, and usually I spend <$1 USD per meal. I am tired of Italian food only.
I can talk to my family and friends by IM or Skype when I miss them. TM thoughtfully hauled twenty pounds of shoes and cranberries to Bangalore for me, all of which was packed by RB and my dad. Friends at home make time to talk when I miss them. Ashlock even volunteered to do a small project for GK.
All this AND Diwali?
I received an hour-long pedicure for $9 USD. I see fireworks at least once a week. I get special treatment because I am foreign far more often than I am hassled for it. Auto drivers and clerks ask me where I am from and tell me about their relatives in the United States. Service is different than the US but far better than Seattle.
So, yes, we have power outages weekly (that's why I brought an extra laptop battery), and I'm on water rations for four days (I have additional places to shower and extra bottles in the fridge), and my new sport is professionally annoying auto drivers, but adjusting was easy. As long as you are patient enough, India always takes care of you.
3 years ago
