Melody She Wrote

I feel like I actually have things to write about today. We went to lunch with the Bangalore writer manager and one of the project managers. We went to Mainland China and had a huge Indian-Chinese lunch. My travel-mate and I ate partially with chopsticks, unlike our Indian counterparts, which for some reason I find amusing. The food kept coming, more or less family-style, though we had all ordered our own dishes. Large bowls of rice, noodles, and stews. The waiters wouldn't let us serve ourselves, even though the dishes were on our table. They came over and served us from the bowls, not always at our request (though you could tell them no). This, combined with the fact that it's hard to tell people 'no' (though this gets easier in this culture), meant that I ate two or three times more than I would have eaten on my own. Then, we ordered-in chai and samosas for office snack time. (Have I mentioned that the chai here is heavenly? It is how chai is supposed to be, ...

My short-slept nights are catching up to me, so today's post will be short. My travel-mate and I finally got the chance to walk  somewhere instead of being driven. We did some more shopping, and I bought myself and my mom more pretty things. Shopping for certain people is immensely easy in India, but there is only one kind of "thing," one kind of design and aura in all the clothes and artwork. I have found it extremely hard to find gifts for guys, or really anyone who does not typically choose things in the bohemian style. Apologies in advance to all my urban-minded friends. Walking anywhere is an adventure. The sidewalks are not really sidewalks, but slabs of concrete placed over small (2 ft wide) canal moats that are for drainage. Half of the concrete slabs are broken or upended or nonexistent, so then you walk on the street. Most of the drains were dry, waiting for when it rains. Trash ends up there. I told my travel-mate that it was unhygenic, and she looked at m...

Two presentations given, and now it's my travel-mate's turn to give them all! :) However, tomorrow I have to meet with one of the developers and answer hard questions, so that's fun, too. We ended up revisiting a shop/market/mall that we visited on Sunday with K & S. We spent our entire time in one store, but we were both very happy with our purchases. We then walked a few blocks to another store, and then we got an Uber back to our hotel. It takes 30-45 minutes to get anywhere. From hotel to work, from work to hotel, from hotel to shopping, from shopping to hotel. So tomorrow we are going to walk to one of the shopping-busy streets nearby and hopefully find some good deals. This is actually where we wanted to go today, but when we requested directions from the hotel staff, they recommended we go to Safira or Commercial Street (both of which we visited on Sunday), so we did as we were told. I'm not sure if we are babied here or not. It has become an legitimat...

Gave my first presentation today, and it seemed to go well. I have two more tomorrow. :) We had a team lunch because the team here has a new writer! We went to Absolute Barbecues and had a ton  of food. I would say it is a cross between an Indian buffet and the Brazilian steakhouse. There are grills in every table, and they bring a variety of skewered meat and vegetables (already cooked) and place them there for you to eat. They also brought us corn, and some fried falafel and cheese, not to mention the variations of chat that we got from the counter. Then K said, "Now the main course?" I genuinely thought she was kidding, I was already so full. But then came the Indian food, and after that, the dessert line, where I tried an ice cream with a flavor that I knew then but can't place now. It had anise in it, too. Finished it off with mukhwas , the Indian mouth freshner. It tastes like what it is--small mint candies and fennel seeds. This evening, my travel-mate an...

Not a bad day, but a high-stress day nonetheless. Started it off with the complimentary breakfast buffet, which featured Indian breakfast and western breakfast, with hints of Italian and German and accompanied by pineapple juice, coconut water, and more. My travel-mate and I are going earlier tomorrow so we can enjoy it better. Upon arriving at the building complex that houses my company, we wandered around for a bit, realizing that the buildings had no signs, and there were at least four of them housing different companies on different floors. Not only did we happen upon a fellow employee while in the courtyard, she was a fellow writer. And so indoors we went. My day was fraught with getting up and getting down and trying to eek out some speed from my remote connection. Didn’t get much done, so I’ve spent the evening preparing a presentation that I’m giving in the morning. Definitely getting my share of presentation-giving this week! I find it odd that doors never opened to teach...

First day in Bangalore, India after 24 hours of air travel. Yikes! So far, my plan to avoid jet lag is working, which means I've been crazy tired at some points and am now too. Yet I should sleep well tonight and start fresh tomorrow--that's the goal. I am currently sitting in my giant bed in a nice hotel. I'm sure there are fancier ones, but it is also nicer than your typical Hampton or La Quinta. The bedside plugs are international and fit every kind of plug you may have, which is very convenient. The electricity only works when you have inserted your key card in a special slot by the front door; this means that energy is conserved when you leave (because you surely will take it with you). I now have rupees in my possession. I have bagged up my two complimentary items for laundry tomorrow. I have had brunch by the pool, a buffet whose extent is similar to that of Trudy's Sunday brunch, except all the food was Indian. One of the servers took pity on my travel-mate...