Apparently there is going to be a solar eclipse today here between 1 and 4. I wonder if any of you will see it? Will it still be happening by the time morning comes where you are? It is pretty hazy here so I'm not sure how much I will be able to see of it but I'm sure I'll be able to tell somewhat.
My boss here is pregnant and she was told by someone in the office that solar eclipses are bad luck for pregnant women so she cannot be outside, or cooking, during that time. And they were completely serious, I'm sure that if we head out during the eclipse that she will be stopped. It must be exhausting to be superstitious.
That is all I have for today; except that I can't believe the Sox traded Manny, but that is another story, but I am in the depths of despair about it.
Have a good weekend all; and happy (early) birthday Meg :)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Shopping fun!
Yesterday I bought milk and toilet paper. I know, doesn't sound very exciting but it actually was interesting.
Milk here comes in two versions. You can either get the Nestle boxed kind which is extremely uckey and full of preservatives so it will last after it is opened. Seriously, gross. Or, you can get good old milk in a bag (my Canadian friends know what I'm talking about). You go to the "Mother Dairy" stand and get a bag, or 2 or 3, of milk; you can either get a bigger bag, which is Canadian sized, maybe about a 1/2 litre, or a small bag which has about 2 cups worth. The thing with this milk is that there are no preservatives so people visit the Mother Diary guys every day and buy milk because once it is opened it lasts about 24 hours.
It cost me 15 rupees for two small bags, that is about 35 cents.
Someone told me that part of the reason why cows are considered sacred here is because they give us milk so we should treat them with respect. Not sure how true that is but it is what I've heard.
So, if my milk was 15 cents, guess how much a roll of toilet paper was???
$1.
Seriously, $1. It is imported here.
It costs me $5 to go to the movies,
Two boxes of bottled water (12 1-litre bottles a box) delivered to my house = $6.50
25 passport pictures for $1.50
And one roll of TP is $1.
It is so funny seeing what one country/culture sees as a necessity and what another sees as a luxury.
Happy final day of July!
Milk here comes in two versions. You can either get the Nestle boxed kind which is extremely uckey and full of preservatives so it will last after it is opened. Seriously, gross. Or, you can get good old milk in a bag (my Canadian friends know what I'm talking about). You go to the "Mother Dairy" stand and get a bag, or 2 or 3, of milk; you can either get a bigger bag, which is Canadian sized, maybe about a 1/2 litre, or a small bag which has about 2 cups worth. The thing with this milk is that there are no preservatives so people visit the Mother Diary guys every day and buy milk because once it is opened it lasts about 24 hours.
It cost me 15 rupees for two small bags, that is about 35 cents.
Someone told me that part of the reason why cows are considered sacred here is because they give us milk so we should treat them with respect. Not sure how true that is but it is what I've heard.
So, if my milk was 15 cents, guess how much a roll of toilet paper was???
$1.
Seriously, $1. It is imported here.
It costs me $5 to go to the movies,
Two boxes of bottled water (12 1-litre bottles a box) delivered to my house = $6.50
25 passport pictures for $1.50
And one roll of TP is $1.
It is so funny seeing what one country/culture sees as a necessity and what another sees as a luxury.
Happy final day of July!
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Clean but Dirty, or Dirty but Clean
Every morning I see people washing cars. There is a kid who washes our company car every day (yes, by hand). I was thinking that this was all very silly and a waste of water, but I realized that it is so dusty here that you actually do need to clean every day.
And then I noticed that people clean all the time, they sweep outside every day, they clean off windows every day, there is a guy who is constantly cleaning our office.
It definitely is dirty here, and by that I mean literally dirt, it is dry (even with the rains) so there is a film over everything if you don't clean daily; and people definitely will throw trash on the ground, but somehow with all the cleaning everyone does it is sort of a clean dirty, or a dirty clean depending on your perspective.
I'm sure in the winter it is less dirty but for now I'll just be happy that someone cleans my apartment every day because I am waaaay too lazy to get down and wash a floor daily.
oh - saw a monkey again today. :)
And then I noticed that people clean all the time, they sweep outside every day, they clean off windows every day, there is a guy who is constantly cleaning our office.
It definitely is dirty here, and by that I mean literally dirt, it is dry (even with the rains) so there is a film over everything if you don't clean daily; and people definitely will throw trash on the ground, but somehow with all the cleaning everyone does it is sort of a clean dirty, or a dirty clean depending on your perspective.
I'm sure in the winter it is less dirty but for now I'll just be happy that someone cleans my apartment every day because I am waaaay too lazy to get down and wash a floor daily.
oh - saw a monkey again today. :)
Monday, July 28, 2008
Indian Food
I think I'm addicted to blogging, it is fun :)
Anyway: Indian food. The food here is so yummy. My favorites so far are:
Anyway: Indian food. The food here is so yummy. My favorites so far are:
- dahl - this is made with lentils, it is sort of a lentil stew. They make several versions of it with different spices; dahl makhani and dahl masala are my favorite so far
- palak - at least I think that it what it is called, basically you will have something with a spinach sauce; palak paneer is spinach and cheese, but I've also had it with chicken
- anything cooked tandoori style. This is definitely way better here, the meats are soooo tender and yummy
- naan or roti - the naan bread here is amazing. You can get butter naan which is just smothered in butter, so I usually get it plain, or you can get roti which is naan made with wheat flour so it is better for you. I usually order one or the other depending on the restaurant I'm at, roti usually but naan if the place is known for particularly good naan.
That is it so far. Frequently I don't really know exactly what I'm eating but so far so good.
I'm going to take some pictures of my apartment tonight but it may take me a while to figure out how to upload them onto a computer so bear with me.
Hope all is well back home.
Friday, July 25, 2008
The FRRO
The FRRO is the Foreign Registration Office and it is where I spent my day yesterday. See, everyone that arrives in India that is planning to spend more than 180 days in the country has to register at the FRRO. It is one of those miserable experiences that can only be equated to sitting at the DMV all day (which makes me wonder what the Indian DMV must be like??). So, after going last week and being told that I didn't have my "request letter", which was literally a letter from my boss saying "I request that you register Alison", I went back. We arrived at 9 a.m. and there were already about 50 people in line in front of me (luckily I was with 2 colleagues so we traded off standing in line - i.e. they stood while I sat and put my foot up). 9:45ish we are allowed in, 11ish I get a number. I'm number 19 for my counter. I'm thinking 19, not to shabby, I'll be out of here by noon.
More like 3:30.
So what is the point of all of this? The point is that even though it was long and I was hungry, and I don't really understand the point of it since I gave them all the same papers when I got my visa; it was actually kind of interesting.
There were lots of other foreigners there, obviously, and it is the one thing that everyone, regardless of how much money you have, has to do. There were very wealthy looking business men, middle of the road folks like me, students and just generally people from all over the world. Yes, you can hire someone to stand in the line for you (I'm fairly certain that you can hire someone for everything here) but you have to be there. It is the great equalizer of ex-Pats here in Delhi. It is not fun, no doubt, but we all started chatting, telling each other our stories, where we are from, why we are here, how long we have been waiting, and were thrilled for one another when our number came up, it was like winning the lottery.
But...if you ever come to India to work, check with me first, I will tell you exactly what forms you need because you don't want to have to go back to the FRRO.
Happy Saturday all!
p.s. I'll answer the questions in the comments on Monday.
p.p.s. the AC in my living room died last night - yikes! It was over 90 in there (33C), so I hung out in my bedroom all night. Luckily it is fixed today.
More like 3:30.
So what is the point of all of this? The point is that even though it was long and I was hungry, and I don't really understand the point of it since I gave them all the same papers when I got my visa; it was actually kind of interesting.
There were lots of other foreigners there, obviously, and it is the one thing that everyone, regardless of how much money you have, has to do. There were very wealthy looking business men, middle of the road folks like me, students and just generally people from all over the world. Yes, you can hire someone to stand in the line for you (I'm fairly certain that you can hire someone for everything here) but you have to be there. It is the great equalizer of ex-Pats here in Delhi. It is not fun, no doubt, but we all started chatting, telling each other our stories, where we are from, why we are here, how long we have been waiting, and were thrilled for one another when our number came up, it was like winning the lottery.
But...if you ever come to India to work, check with me first, I will tell you exactly what forms you need because you don't want to have to go back to the FRRO.
Happy Saturday all!
p.s. I'll answer the questions in the comments on Monday.
p.p.s. the AC in my living room died last night - yikes! It was over 90 in there (33C), so I hung out in my bedroom all night. Luckily it is fixed today.
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Food
One thing that is fun/interesting about moving to a new place is the food. I find that no matter where I live certain aspects of my eating routine change. Breakfast is a great example. In France I ate Special K every morning (I swear it is different in Europe because I didn't like it when I bought it back in the US); in Boston I was usually running late and would grab a bagel; in Toronto, oatmeal or a muffin, and here I have toast every morning.
But, while the Indian food is delicious and plentiful, what I find funny is not what I can't get (the main reason I always have toast is that I can't find really good bread so I only like it toasted) but what I can get. I have seen Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes, Oreo cookies, Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, Nature Valley granola bars, and, my biggest surprise, Kraft Mac-n-Cheese (Kraft Dinner to my Canadian friends). I was so shocked to see Mac-n-Cheese that I bought a box and will keep it for a day when I'm homesick.
Of course all these things cost and arm and a leg here but it is fun to know that it is out there if I need a "taste" of home.
Still no Starbucks here (which I see as a good thing) but apparently it is coming...
But, while the Indian food is delicious and plentiful, what I find funny is not what I can't get (the main reason I always have toast is that I can't find really good bread so I only like it toasted) but what I can get. I have seen Betty Crocker cake and brownie mixes, Oreo cookies, Ragu Spaghetti Sauce, Nature Valley granola bars, and, my biggest surprise, Kraft Mac-n-Cheese (Kraft Dinner to my Canadian friends). I was so shocked to see Mac-n-Cheese that I bought a box and will keep it for a day when I'm homesick.
Of course all these things cost and arm and a leg here but it is fun to know that it is out there if I need a "taste" of home.
Still no Starbucks here (which I see as a good thing) but apparently it is coming...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
The "White Tax"
Hi again! So, one interesting thing about being here (I say that like there are only 10 interesting things as opposed to 10 million) is that for almost all services and products with a negotiable price; i.e. you can haggle; foreigners will almost definitely pay more. Some people here call this the "white tax" and some ex-Pats get pretty upset by it.
I guess it is a hold over from the times of British Rule and it is annoying in principle, but in reality I don't know. Almost every foreigner that comes here is, by Indian terms, pretty well off. People here generally earn much much less than we do - I don't even know if minimum wage exists. There are some very wealthy people, but - to give you an idea - my apartment here for just me would likely be something that a middle class family with 2-3 kids could afford.
This weekend I took a rickshaw ride and I knew that if I was Indian it would be 30 rupees, but that I would likely pay 40 or 50. He wanted 50. I tried to haggle down to 40 (the cast on my leg also puts me at a disadvantage when haggling with a rickshaw driver) but after about 10 seconds I gave up and jumped in. I realized that I was trying to pay $1 rather than $1.25 for a 20 minute ride and that this guy spends all day taking fares of a dollar or less and likely lives in a slum so really 25 cents extra is no big deal.
It is tricky when you live in a country where haggling is pretty much the norm to put it in perspective and realize when you are getting a good deal with a 10-20 rupee markup for being foreign, or when you are getting completely taken advantage of and they quadrupled the price.
I just ask other ex-Pats how much they think I should pay and use that as a jumping off point and hope for the best. I guess if I really want something the real question is how much is it worth to me?
Happy Wednesday! 10 a.m. here and bottom of the 8th for the Sox back in Seattle, they are up 4 - 0.
I guess it is a hold over from the times of British Rule and it is annoying in principle, but in reality I don't know. Almost every foreigner that comes here is, by Indian terms, pretty well off. People here generally earn much much less than we do - I don't even know if minimum wage exists. There are some very wealthy people, but - to give you an idea - my apartment here for just me would likely be something that a middle class family with 2-3 kids could afford.
This weekend I took a rickshaw ride and I knew that if I was Indian it would be 30 rupees, but that I would likely pay 40 or 50. He wanted 50. I tried to haggle down to 40 (the cast on my leg also puts me at a disadvantage when haggling with a rickshaw driver) but after about 10 seconds I gave up and jumped in. I realized that I was trying to pay $1 rather than $1.25 for a 20 minute ride and that this guy spends all day taking fares of a dollar or less and likely lives in a slum so really 25 cents extra is no big deal.
It is tricky when you live in a country where haggling is pretty much the norm to put it in perspective and realize when you are getting a good deal with a 10-20 rupee markup for being foreign, or when you are getting completely taken advantage of and they quadrupled the price.
I just ask other ex-Pats how much they think I should pay and use that as a jumping off point and hope for the best. I guess if I really want something the real question is how much is it worth to me?
Happy Wednesday! 10 a.m. here and bottom of the 8th for the Sox back in Seattle, they are up 4 - 0.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Hi from India
Hi from India. A few people have suggested that I start a blog to chronicle my time in India and it does seem a lot easier than emailing updates. So I hope you enjoy it.
A thought for today. I think it would be impossible to live here if you had a debilitating fear of either bugs or the dark. Now I'm no fan of bugs, but it is pretty standard to see ants and flies and little spiders pretty much everywhere. And as for the dark, well the power goes out pretty frequently, once every few days for about 10 - 30 minutes. Apparently this mostly this happens in the summer because everyone is using the AC. So last night when I got home from work the power was out, so I had to feel my way to the matches and the candles and I thought to myself; if I was afraid of the dark I would be in BIG trouble.
A thought for today. I think it would be impossible to live here if you had a debilitating fear of either bugs or the dark. Now I'm no fan of bugs, but it is pretty standard to see ants and flies and little spiders pretty much everywhere. And as for the dark, well the power goes out pretty frequently, once every few days for about 10 - 30 minutes. Apparently this mostly this happens in the summer because everyone is using the AC. So last night when I got home from work the power was out, so I had to feel my way to the matches and the candles and I thought to myself; if I was afraid of the dark I would be in BIG trouble.
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