Random babbling

Starting tomorrow I am the only Shared Services Finance person in India. Ruchika is going on maternity leave today and the other person resigned last week. Now the adventure really begins.

The place I am staying at has an excellent power generator. Power goes out quite often at the apartment, but it kicks back in within 30 seconds. From talking to others at work, power can go out for up to 3-4 days at a time in the area I am staying. For one of the coworkers who lives in the area, the power last night went out around 9pm and her backup generator did not kick in. Finally the power turned on around 6am. It was a sleepless night for her because of the heat. At least I know I am not the only one struggling with the heat.

Another difference I have noticed in the dress of some of the men is they will leave the first two buttons open on their shirt to show off a little chest hair. It might be for better ventilation also.

As for the food it is one of two menus, veg and non-veg at restaraunts. The non-veg consists primarily of chicken, mutton and fish. I have only gone with the chicken so far. To me all of the dishes have been too spicy and too oily. I have only had lunch at work and I have only gone with the veg. You get a stainless steel tray and there are 3 choices - rice and two curries. Most of the people here go about 20% rice and 80% curry where I go about 90% rice and 10% curry, and it is still too hot for me. There are also a tortilla type flat bread, can be fried, grilled, and sometimes have spices in it.

I have ordered room service a couple times. Each time they have either brought me something I didn't order or brought me something that sounded similar but cost 3 times as much. It is always a suprise when they come to the door.

There are no bugs to eat here like in China, the Hindu’s do not believe in killing any form of life. I haven’t seen any chocolate since I have been here either, it is too hot for it. The guy that drives me is purely vegetarian. The only thing he ingests that comes from an animal is milk. He has never eaten eggs or any other animal products. If I were to go to his house to eat, they would never use that dish and silverware again since I am a beef eater. Most families have different sets of dishes for such visitors, but they can never touch or be stored in the same area.

Last night he brought a desert in called keel. It is made up of milk, rice, sugar and dried fruits. It was sweet and very good, almost like a light rice pudding with more liquid in it. It is only for special occasions, it was his wife’s birthday the day before.

I also have not seen a mosquito over here yet. I think since I am in a residential area and it has been a drought so far, there have not been any issues. The only bugs I have seen are a few flies. I did see my first lizard this morning walking to breakfast. It was running across the sidewalk.