toasty

Last night when I got home from work I checked the thermometer in my living room and it read 35 Celsius. Which is 95. Needless to say I turned the AC on right away. Now you are probably thinking "why didn't you have the AC on all day?". Well, first, I think it is a waste, second, electricity is pretty expensive here, and third there isn't enough power here for all the ACs so when it gets really hot there are frequently power cuts so everyone is careful to only use the AC when they need it.

Last night the power went out as always just as I was in the bathroom getting ready for bed. It is always an adventure. I am becoming an expert at walking in the dark but I keep my cell phone with me at all times so that when the power goes out I can use the light from the screen to help navigate. I burned my finger lighting the match for the candle though. I have no idea how I did it. I feel like a bit of a dingbat for it actually.

So, even though it is super hot I'm planning on sightseeing tomorrow so I should have updates on Monday about some of the fun and exciting places in Delhi.

Have a good weekend all....and happy early birthday to Wyatt :)

Water

There are definitely things that you take for granted back home that you can't really take for granted here. Clean water being one of them. I always use a Brita filter back home but wouldn't refuse tap water if that is all that was available.
Here I definitely don't drink the water.
I do brush my teeth with the water. I can't be bothered to use filtered water for that and I haven't had a case of Delhi belly yet (knock on wood).
I could imagine that the fear of getting sick could ruin a trip here for some people. Someone once told me that everyone they knew that had been to Egypt got sick. I was perfectly fine when I went. I wonder if people think that they should get sick so they feel like they are queasy even though they aren't. I look at staying healthy as a challenge.
There are a few additional steps I do take, like at restaurants I always ask for my drink without ice because you can never be sure if the ice is made from tap water or not. One or twice I've forgotten and I'm still here. With iced tea (which, FYI, is so good here!) you kind of need the ice so I only get that at coffee shops where they definitely use filtered water. And I wash my fruit off with filtered water.
But one thing I never thought about when it comes to water is that it could run out...
Yesterday when I got to work there was a sign on the bathroom door "no water". Turns out that our tank was empty. I never really thought about where the water comes from, it is just there. Turns out that most places have tanks of water that need to be filled. So the people came to fill the tank mid-way through the day and all was well...but I must admit that there was few times during the morning when I was a bit worried that we would go all day without water. Yikes!
I was walking around my neighborhood last night and noticed that most of the houses do have water tanks on their roofs; mine probably does too it is just not visible. I guess my landlord takes care of the water being filled up. I've been here almost 2 months now and haven't run out of water yet. That would be miserable; especially since the heat is back with a vengeance (and it is sooo humid!). Definitely very uckey. I'm a fairly low maintenance person but not being able to take a shower or use the toilet (yikes!) could be my un-doing.

the other side

I haven't really talked about the poverty here yet. Not on purpose, I've just had lots of other things in my head. You definitely cannot escape the fact of poverty here. There are a lot of people living in slums. There are poor people and homeless people everywhere in the world, but I think the biggest difference here is that it isn't hidden.
Back home there are good neighborhoods and bad neighborhoods and they are pretty clearly defined. You can fairly easily live in a bubble, especially if you don't live in a city, and not see real poverty.
Here, however, there are slums right next to very nice places. And I mean right next to. One of the swankiest areas of town is by the Embassies. The American Embassy School and British School are right across the street from one another and they are NICE. The AES campus looks like a college campus. And directly next to them is a slum. I mean directly next to them. It has been there since at least the 80s. Back home people would be outraged; we wouldn't stand to have that in our view; the slum would be torn down and people forced to move out. If I remember correctly a few years back the mayor of Chicago moved the homeless people out of the city.
Some of the slums are more hidden; they are there but somewhat shielded from view. And what may look to the western eye like a slum isn't. In some places where big construction is going on men will stay in small huts and tents near the site while the construction is going on so that they don't have to pay to go back and forth. It is sort of like unofficial temporary housing. Not exactly nice, but those men may have apartments outside of the city with families and they are just here for a few months making money.
For sure it is difficult to see people living in poverty. Some of the slums do seem 'nicer' in that they look from the outside to be more organized; and everyone that I've driven by I see TVs. The part that always gets to me is when I see kids in the street playing in the middle of the day and I know that they will never have the opportunity to go to school and that they will likely live their whole lives right there.
Pretty much every day I will see something or someone that just makes me feel guilty for what I have but thankful for the opportunities that I have. As difficult as it can be, the truth is that I hope that I never stop feeling guilty and never stop noticing the kids running around in the streets, because even though I work hard for what I have; these kids will likely work hard their whole lives and never leave Delhi and I think that it is good to remember that. I hope that it makes me live my life as a better and more generous person.

Now I have seen it all...

Believe it or not, The Daily Show does a special global edition for CNN. I was watching CNN and saw "next: The Daily Show" and I didn't believe it so I had to watch and voila...there was Jon Stewart. It has a special intro and closing for the global edition and then some of the top stories from the past week.
I wonder if since this is done for CNN if they show any of his bits making fun of CNN, or if it is FoxNews and MSNBC only? I will have to watch and find out. They showed only one clip from CNN of Anderson Cooper (who I will always see as the host of The Mole) but it wasn't making fun of him. Hmmmm, has Jon Stewart been corrupted by CNN?
I don't know why but it is having things that are completely normal like The Daily Show popping up that always surprise me the most. I mean who'd of thunk it.
Final Olympics tally: 1 gold and 2 bronzes for India. The bronzes were in wrestling and boxing. There is some serious love going on for the gold medal winner. Not quite Michael Phelps level of love, but almost.
Random note: I was coming home from the market and there was a cow right in front of my house so I went upstairs as fast as I could (which with a gimpy foot is not that fast) to try and get a picture and she had moved on. Oh well, I will get a good picture of a moo cow one of these days.
Happy Monday all!

pictures

I finally got some pictures posted but am having trouble figuring out how to just attach a link so if I left you off of the email, first, sorry! and second just let me know and I will send them along.

Moo

So driving home last night I saw the Biggest cow. As in tall big, not fat big. It was pulling a cart and it could have been mistaken for a horse at first. I said "Wow, that cow is huge", and when my driver replied I heard: "Oh, that is for the mail". But what he actually said was :"Oh, that is a male". He was explaining that female cows are never used for work, they get to relax and give us milk while the boy cows (yes, I know that they are bulls) do the work. Even then it is rare for a bull to work; usually it is horses or donkeys. However I still wouldn't be that surprised to find out that the mailman would have a cow-drawn cart. I have yet to see a mail man. Things get delivered, I just don't know how. (I also don't know where to put garbage out...the pitfalls of having a maid. what if she falls sick? where will I put my garbage?)
I also saw 4 cows this morning standing on the side of the road looking very regal. It was as if they knew that here they can do whatever they want. They can stop traffic if they want and it is fine. I never thought of cows as regal but these ones definitely looked the part of a sacred animal. I know, I talk about cows a lot, but if you lived here you would too. I found myself wondering what types of comments an Indian living in the US would make. What would they notice on the street? I notice cows. What would jump out at them? The size of our cars? That we drive on the right side? That we don't honk? I wonder...
Have a good friday all!

The Scottish Play

I would say that the most challenging part of living here, which I didn't expect, is working here. People have a very strong work ethic for sure, but there are two key things which just don't seem to exist in an Indian office. The first is following deadlines and the other is a sense of urgency.
I was sitting in a meeting the other day and I found myself thinking of the line from MacBeth "tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow". Not at all because of the context of the play, but because I hear the word "tomorrow" about a million times a day. For example, if I ask someone at work when we can expect something, frequently the answer is tomorrow. But the reality is probably not tomorrow, maybe the next day, but more than likely in a week or so. Now, as you may be aware, I'm not the most patient person in the world (to put it mildly) so this has taken a big effort on my part to get used to. It isn't that the staff are lying to me. It is that they hope to do it tomorrow but if they don't, that is okay too.
The problem is figuring out the clients. They will definitely lie. The payment we were guaranteed to receive by July 31st we got yesterday...but about 1/2 of what it should be.
I can't figure out why this is. Someone told me that in India that people don't want to disappoint you so they will tell you what you want to hear. Also, pretty much everything here is negotiable so my deadline may be arbitrary. I went to the doctor again on Tuesday and the clerk asked for a 500 rupee payment. To which I said "usually I pay 600" (yes, I'm too honest) to which he said "oh, 600 then". Apparently doctor's visits are negotiable too.
My way of dealing with this is to ask for everything a few weeks before I actually need it and hope that is comes through somewhere in the vicinity of the right time. And if it doesn't I'll just figure out a way to negotiate an extension and plan for tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Final note: I have to imagine that about 1/2 the people reading this think that it is classic geeky me that my mind goes straight to Shakespeare; and my dad is probably very proud that Shakey was my first thought.
Second final note: India won a second medal in the Olympics. A bronze for wrestling. This is a HUGE deal here. Two individual medals in one Olympics having never won any before.

(de) construction

The Commonwealth Games are taking place here in 2010. (if you haven't heard of them it is all the countries that used to be in the British Empire). They are doing tons of construction to prepare for the games including building a metro. I didn't really think much about the metro being built and how it was being done 'til I noticed how houses are built, and torn down, here. Everything is manual.
There is a house around the corner from me being torn down and I see men taking is apart literally brick by brick. They swing sledgehammers to break through the walls. They have nothing electric to help them. I wanted to take pictures but they notice me so I feel uncomfortable doing so. Around the other corner a house is being built; again completely by hand. I saw a guy mixing cement by hand and bringing it in to the house to work. Again, no machines. The nice part is that it is quieter than a house being built up/down back home.
Everything seems very solid and well made but it takes a very long time. Back home you have contractors throwing up developments in a few months but they frequently have lots of problems. I think I prefer the Indian way of slow and steady. The scaffolding is a thing to be seen. That I have only seen on bigger buildings while I'm driving, I'll have to get a picture one of these days, but it looks completely rickety like it could fall down any minute; that I prefer the US way (not that I've ever been on scaffolding but it makes me nervous just looking at it).
I bet an extreme home makeover here would be getting it done in 7 months, not 7 days.
They have some machines for the metro, but not many. What a daunting task to build all that. They say it will be ready for 2010. We'll see. Apparently a ticket will be about 25 cents; it has to be since rickshaw rides are about $1 so you would need it to be cheaper than that.
Final aside: my driver is sick today. There is a wrinkle I never thought about. I'm fine taking rickshaws, I certainly don't want him passing out at the wheel; but you get used to having a driver really quickly that it can be surprise when you need to navigate your own way to work.

Stranger in a strange land

I think it is funny that my comments about LOST are the only thing to get comments this month. Well, I can't watch it on abc.com; apparently they block it outside of the US and Canada. I can get illegal downloads but I would feel guilty since they are illegal. And I probably would be confused but that is the fun of it all!
Anyway. As I was driving this morning (read: sitting in the back while the driver drove) I realized that I still feel somewhat like a tourist here. It is odd how in some cities and places you just feel at home right away. I don't think that I'll ever fully feel that way here. It isn't that I'm unhappy, outside of my foot pains which restrict my exploring I'm very happy to be here, it is such a unique experience; it is just that I don't think that I will ever truly feel like I belong here. It is too different from what I know to really feel 100% like I fit in.
But this feeling really makes me think about all of the Indian immigrants in the US and Canada and how difficult it must be for them. For as different as India is to me, I imagine that it is even more different going the other way. Let me try to explain. Here I can live my lifestyle within Indian rules; but an Indian would have to adjust their life to fit in. Example: at night here there is tons of noise. We have security guards in our community; there are people that walk around blowing whistles and banging sticks all night to keep the guards awake (seriously). People use horns when driving all hours of the day; dogs bark; people talk. To me that is odd and wrong and were it not for the jet lag I probably wouldn't have slept the first week. Now I'm used to it and sleep fine but I would never make noise that late. Now imagine someone moving to your neighborhood and not thinking anything about making lots of noise at 2 a.m. The neighbors would hate them and possible even call the cops. There are lots of other things too. Here if you are middle class it is normal to have a maid who lives with you; does your cooking, cleaning, etc. I have someone who cleans for me for a few hours a day, that is all I need and all I want. A middle class person in the US with a live-in maid; well, it would be too expensive, and people would judge them and think they were snobs. So I wonder, those people who immigrate to the US and Canada; do they ever really feel like they belong?
I know that I will leave here eventually so it is easy for me to spend a year or so being the foreigner; but I don't think I could spend forever here. Eventually I would want to feel 100% comfortable.
Final note: I forgot my camera again, had to visit the doctor early and was only thinking of that. I'm a one track mind of late (the track being my foot, I'm determined I will be able to wear open toed shoes by my birthday but have had lots of pain so must keep my activities very limited).

Exploring Delhi

It is Monday after a long weekend and I'm not in the mood for work. Some things never change. I had a very nice long weekend though. I finally did some sightseeing (and my foot is making me pay for it BIG time). Friday was the actual holiday so everything was closed so no sightseeing for me. On Saturday I went to the Lotus temple. It is a temple that is apparently in the shape of a Lotus flower, it kind of looks like a flower but it reminds me of the Sydney Opera in that it is large and white and otherworldly. Pictures are coming soon - I forgot my camera at home. I didn't go into the temple because you can't wear shoes and I can't walk without shoes yet so I'll have to go back. On Sunday I took a tour of the Lohdi gardens which was Wonderful :). This heritage group offers tours for just over $1 every weekend of different neighborhoods of Delhi. They start at 7:45 a.m., early, but with the heat you want to start that early. In Lohdi gardens I finally saw people exercising. Lots of people walking, 1 or 2 joggers, some people doing what looked like Tae Kwon Do; and tons of people meditating. There are 4 big mausoleums and several small mosques that are centuries old and are amazing. Around every corner I was saying WOW. I swear that the flowers here are brighter than back home, and I kept catching a glimpse of a pretty green/yellow bird that wouldn't stay put for a photo. It was nice to get out and see the other parts of the city. There are lots of trees around and I have a small park right in front of my house but to see BIG open green areas was something I was missing.
I was home by 11 on Sunday after breakfast and stopping at a market and was completely drenched in sweat but it was worth it; especially since it poured rain in the afternoon so I couldn't go out.
Well, time to do some work. Bye for now!

Holiday!

Tomorrow is a holiday here; Independence day. So I get a 3-day weekend...yeah! Apparently today is Independence day in Pakistan so you aren't supposed to do any early celebrating in India so that it isn't seen as celebrating for Pakistan.
I feel bad that I honestly have no clue why the two countries are at odds; but I'm going to read a book that is all about it so I will be more aware of where I live.
A funny thing about being American is that because we are the most powerful country in the world right now the whole world knows about America and the big news back in the US gets broadcast around the world. China and Russia get pretty good coverage too.
For sure when I was in Canada I noticed it. I mean can anyone reading this who is not Canadian tell me who the Canadian Prime Minister is? For that matter the PM of England (hint: it isn't Tony Blair anymore).
Anyway, maybe I'm being too deep, maybe not, it is just something to think about.
I am happy to report that the coverage of the presidential election is surprisingly well balanced over here. Not decidedly for or against either candidate. Rather refreshing actually.
Total aside: did you know that there is doubles badminton? The courts are really small, it seems oddly easy to me and strange that it would be in the Olympics.
Aside #2: it is pouring. This means that I will be stuck inside 'til the rain ends and I'm hungry. Rain here really is a sight to see. It comes fast and with a vengeance.

Hindi

I saw a tractor on the road this morning. I've seen tractors before, but not in a big city. But I guess if I can see cows and donkeys why not a tractor.

Anyway, I'm planning on taking a Hindi class. I am surprised by the number of people that don't speak English at all. Apparently in the 80's a lot more people spoke English. The Hindi language baffles me. Most languages I can listen to and pick out a word or two or get at least a sense of the conversation but not Hindi. I doubt I will use it much but I figure that it will make dealing with rickshaw drivers and people at markets a lot easier and make it less likely that I will get ripped off.

Of course the people that speak English speak "Indian English" where such phrases as "can you do the needful" are standard. Some of the sentences just crack me up; it is a combo of extremely polite and grammatically slightly off. The accent on words is different than what we are used to. For example there is an area of town called Saket. I pronounce it putting the emphasis on the second syllable; they put the emphasis on the first so if I want a driver to take me there I need to switch it up.

I wonder how I will talk when I return. Will I use the Indian English emphasis (i.e. talk like Apu from the Simpsons), will I say things like "the situation is as it has been" instead of saying "no change". Either way I have no doubt that a fair number of people will be keeping an ear out for my funny pronunciations...you know who you are.

Sports

An Indian man won the gold medal in 10 meter rifle shooting. This is the first individual gold medal an Indian has EVER won. They have won group medals before in hockey (field hockey) but not in years. Everyone is super excited. I still find shooting pretty boring, but I'm happy for the country.

Athletics are definitely not a big deal here. I've never seen anyone jogging and the only people I've ever heard mention about going to the gym are other ex-Pats. Occasionally I will see kids playing a game of cricket but I don't think I've seen any athletic fields. I wonder why that is? It isn't that people are out of shape; they just don't work out. I guess that for so many people their jobs are physical so there is no point in working out. And if you don't have a physical job your degree is what gets you ahead in the business world so people focus on working out their minds, not their bodies. (total aside: there are 2 TV channels here devoted to cricket.)

Actually, now that I think of it I don't think I've seen anyone other than myself wearing sneakers. My doctor said I have to wear them for 1 more week before I can wear "normal" shoes so I still look kind of silly. I doubt I'll even be mistaken for an Indian so it doesn't really matter what shoes I wear.

Okay, back to work.

Random Thoughts

A few random thoughts for a Monday:

• Did you know that shooting is an olympic sport? It is, and so is handball. There are Indians in the shooting competitions so they showed it on TV here. It was pretty boring. Handball was amazing though, who knew? There is also an Indian boxer so lots of boxing coverage. They only showed one swimming race, the one that Michael Phelps won. Lots of diving coverage; good excited Aussie announcers :)
• My hair is very sad. I just ran out of the shampoo and conditioner I brought from home and the "best" brand I can find here is Loreal. Of course my hair is up every day because of the heat but still, I miss my nice shampoos :( I know that may sound shallow but I'm sure that some of you understand.
• I saw 3 donkeys this morning. It made me smile. They always make me think of Eeyore
• They sell DVDs here that are "Video CD"s, they have no special features and the movie is spread out over 2 disks but they cost less than $5 so are a pretty good deal I must say.
• I bought the most amazing map of Delhi this weekend so I can finally get situated. This if the first city I think I've lived in without either a major river or a big body of water to use as a point of reference; and everything kind of looks alike so it is hard to get a sense of direction; but now I will. Turns out that what I thought was north was west and vise versa. That makes no sense I know...you can see why that map was needed.
• And finally, 2 years ago today I was in Toronto for only the 2nd time for Nelly and Rob's wedding. Who knew that 2 years later I would have spent over a year and a half in Toronto and would be living in India. You never know where time will take you.
• Today is also my parents' anniversary. So if you are planning on getting married, August 11th seems to be a good date.

new discoveries

One of the fun things about being anywhere new is discovering new places. As I have been fairly immobile for my first month here I know a few places in Delhi very well. Last night I went to a different part of town, which was actually very close to my office. It is called Green Park and the market is fantastic.
For shopping here you generally go to markets which is a collection of several stores. Some are really big and have everything, some are smaller, like the one in my neighborhood, with limited supplies. So sometimes to get your favorite things you will go out of the way to a market you know.
Well Green Park is my new favorite place for fruit. I'm completely addicted to fruit here as it is plentiful and cheap and yummy. It is also a good way for me to keep my blood sugar up in the heat and humidity. There are guys everywhere selling fruit on carts, it is good but the selection is limited and frequently the bananas are badly bruised. But this is a store with just fruit and in great shape. Very exciting, trust me.
Total aside: apparently broccoli is crazy expensive here, like $10 for one small bunch. Good thing I don't like it :)
Happy Friday all! Still raining here. When it rains it definitely pours here...no wonder it is called monsoon season.

Love (?) and Marriage

It is pretty much assumed here that everyone gets married. The bank manager looked at me like I had two heads when I checked off the "single" box on my bank application (why my marital status has anything to do with opening a bank account is another question). I have had two different people ask me when I plan on getting married. When I say that I have no plans to get married people do not understand.
Arranged marriages are still very common here, I read somewhere that 95% of marriages here are arranged, not sure how accurate that number is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was that high. Our company driver is getting married and has only seen a photo of his bride to be.
There are commercials on TV for websites for finding a spouse just like there are commercials back home for dating websites. And apparently the paper has personals for people looking for a spouse. It is also normal for a man to go to the US or Canada and work for a few years and then return to India to get a wife.
Young women here live with their families until they are married then they go and live with their husbands. Marriage equals financial stability. I'm quite the anomaly; in my 30s and single and living alone. One girl asked me if my parents were ashamed of me for being single.
There is a line in the movie "The Truman Show" (yes, I have referenced that movie twice, it is my favorite) that "we accept the reality with which we are presented" or something like that, and I guess that is true. To me my life is "normal", to the people around me here I am definitely not normal.
I can't help but wonder what my life would be like if we lived in a culture where marriage was a given and arranged marriages were the norm. Would I have refused...I am pretty stubborn. Who would I be married to if it was arranged? Would I be happy?
I don't know, but I'm happy that I am able to choose my own path and that if meet someone I want to marry that I can, and if I don't meet that person that is okay too.

TV

I just had the yummiest Indian lunch, I never liked Tandoori Chicken much back home but it is just delicious here :)

Anyway, the Olympics begin in a few days and I can't help but wonder what the broadcasts will be like. Will it be in Hindi? I doubt it, but who knows. I also wonder what events will be televised. Will I see the gymnastics competitions? Is that popular here? Cricket is the big game in India but it isn't in the Olympics so I wonder what will be the big draw. (thank goodness it isn't, could you imagine if Cricket got the prime time showing during the Olympics!)

I have about 200 channels on my TV, about 15 are in English, but I only watch about 5 of them. There is a BBC International which I quite like except there seems to be no schedule, but I have caught some AbFab episodes including one I had never seen. There are two movie channels; they have ads and show some movies over and over (FYI: Spiderman 3 is not good) but they did show The Truman Show which I love. I get CNN International; and "Star World" which has American shows but about a year late. I'm catching up on Ugly Betty which I never watched at home, it is cute but the braces really need to come off, I mean her teeth are straight, who are they kidding? I can't find LOST anywhere here so everyone must maintain a code of silence about the new season when it starts since I won't be able to watch it.

So...I don't watch much TV, I read a lot and the person before me left 4 DVDs, I've only watched one so far (Ratatouille - love it) as the rest seem kind of depressing/violent (Fight Club/A Mighty Heart, etc). I try to watch the Bollywood movies but they don't really do it for me.

So when I return back to the US you can prepare for me to be completely out of the loop pop-culture/TV wise but very well read.

Happy Wednesday all!

driving in Delhi

I would never want to drive in Delhi, the rules of the road are, well I'm not entirely sure if there are any. From what I can tell lanes are merely suggestions; horns are mandatory - you see trucks with "horn please" written on the back - and you just go forward without ever looking back. Somehow it works, although I have heard that there are lots of accidents I haven't see any.
That said: the thing that amazes me the most are the motorcycles and scooters. Helmets are not required here and I would say that only about 50% of people use them, but the shocking bit is how people ride. Women will ride on the back of a motorbike side saddle; I have no clue how they stay balanced but they do. I even saw a woman side saddle on a bicycle. I guess if you are used to it it works but I would definitely fall off - not to mention the logistics of balance for the driver - and these women usually don't hold onto the driver, they just balance and never seem to have helmets. AND...it is very normal to see these women holding babies. That totally freaks me out. You will also see men riding with "older" kids; I saw one guy on a motorbike with one kid, maybe 4 years old sitting in front of him and 2 kids about the same age sitting behind him. The best (and by best I mean worst) was the guy with the kid sitting in front of him, maybe 3 years old, and the guy was talking on his cell phone zipping through the street no helmets to be seen.
So not only could I never drive here because I would be afraid of being hit, but I would be petrified of hitting someone (or a cow, because they do occasionally stroll into the street).
Already I'm much more used to it but I don't think I'll ever get fully acclimatized to the way of the road in India.

p.s. first day sans cast. I feel about a thousand times lighter and cooler, but my ankle is really weak so I'm walking at a snails pace.

medical care take two

One month in and I'm still surviving!
So I went to the doctor this morning, it is 6 weeks and a day since I broke my foot, and...I'm healed :)
But, trust me, it was a much more interesting appointment than just that. I asked him if he was going to take an X-Ray. He said no, he just needed to feel my foot, too many X-Rays are bad for a person, something about Hiroshima...seriously. He seemed to know what he was doing but I really wanted the X-Ray for proof.
Then, for physical therapy, it is pretty basic what I need to do, just strengthening exercises for which I need one of those elastic band things for resistance (if you've done PT before you know what I mean). But...this is India, so I should go to a bike shop and get the inner tube from a wheel and cut it and use that. Which does work actually; so now I need to find a bike shop and negotiate that.
After one month I can safely say that broken bones and India do not work well together; there are too many stairs here; but the doctors are nice and the wait times are non-existent (after Canada wait times are a big thing for me). Hopefully bike wheel powered PT will help me to get fully healed so I can truly enjoy all the craziness around me.