Mysore

On Saturday I decided to venture out to Mysore. A city known for fine silk, sandlewood, craftworks, and this exquisite palace. The drive there and back was truly horrible due to constuction and broken down vehicles, but the sites and sounds that were experienced outside Bangalore made the journey worth it.

This is MG Road!

My New Shirt

Here's my newest find! And guess what?? It's PINK!

Difference and Similarities

I've been in India now for 3 days. Initially, when I thought of visiting India, Bangalore was not on my list of destinations. It wasn't as glamourous as Mumbai (Bombay) and it didn't have the royal pull of Rajastan. But now, as I think about it, I am really glad I came to Bangalore. It is a city filled with extreme contrasts. Ultramodern and yet very antiquated at the same time. It just depends on where you are looking.

I moved into my new apartment on Monday. It is awesome! It is located in an area called Koramangala. Aside from the cold shower yesterday, it's been a great stay. You can see their website: http://www.athome-apts.com/ It was the easiest decision I have ever made besides buying my car. They even have a room where they serve breakfast every morning. That is a really nice touch.

So far I haven't gotten sick of the food, but it is SUPER spicey. The first night I had dinner here I ordered Sheek Kebab and Chicken Biriyani. It was sooo spicey I could barely eat a few bites. And I normally eat "spicey" food! Haha... US spicey is a joke compared to this stuff. Last night I took refuge at the KFC. :D It is a really popular place around here, and I can see why. I think I might hit up the Mcdonald's tonight. ;P So much for my whole "I'm only going to eat Indian food" plan. Actually, Oracle has a huge lunch pavillion on the 9th floor of the building and they serving mostly all Indian food. They offer free lunch to their employees and today I got a booklet of tickets. Woohoo.... free lunch! So... I suppose I will still be eating at least one Indian meal per day.

More to come later... I'm going to take off a little early and have my driver take me up to Brigade Road and MG Road. I've been told these are the happening streets in town. Should be a good time.

Where Are We Going?

When you first get to Bangalore, you really don't notice it. 1. You are driven by a driver, so you aren't really looking for them. 2. Even if they were there, you wouldn't be able to see it past all the traffic. But once you actually start to pay attention to where you are going, you realize that not only are their no signs to label the roads, but the drivers themselves don't even know what roads they are driving on. So of course that begs the question... where are we going? You learn really quickly to identify locations by landmarks rather than signs. So where is my new apartment? Well... it's down the straight road, when you see a green flag on the right, make a uturn, and when you see the Mahindra dealer, turn right. Then look for a building that says @Home. Got that. :)

Oh, and if you get lost, just pull over and ask one of the many autorickshaw drivers that line the roads. Just be patient though. The first two are there just to play with you and get you lost, but the third guy... he should be right on.

Entering India

This was the line to get out of the aiport. We had to go through the security check here.

Namaste India!

I am here. I made it safe and sound late Sunday night. I was met by my driver Jagadish... Whoa... did you catch that? I could really get used to having my own driver. He even had my name on one of those official looking placards. It was like totally cool.

The airport experience in Bangalore was nothing that special or noteworthy. The only strangish thing was the security check set up as you leave the airport. I quickly discovered after nearly getting a ticket for having a digital camera that it was most likely a way for the cops there to make some money. Once they saw my US passport, they just waved me away. Guess there still are a few good things about having a US passport abroad. :)

After getting to the car, we were off to my corporate apartment. Sounds nice huh? Well, the truth is, it was a nightmare! I'm probably exagerating a little, but it was a pretty scary experience. When Jagadish picked me up, there was another young man with him that helped carry my bags. As it turns out, he was from the apartment company. But you know... no one seems to introduce themselves, so I think you just have to figure these things out after the fact.

The apartment was located down a dark corridor in the back on the building called "Classique Mansion". That must have been the joke of the day. The place was really old and there were stray dogs wandering around everywhere howling. Rabies anyone? The apartment guy only stuck around long enough to turn on the AC and drop off the key. When I went to close the door behind him, I saw that the chain lock had been cut. Not the most assuring thing. The flourescent lighting used throughout made the apartment look like a scene out of The Shining. Yikes! The apartment was also supposed to come with an internet connection, so I decided to search the place for the port so I could get set up and at least skype Vic. No luck. All I found was a welcoming commitee of roaches in the kitchen... I was starting to lose my nerve a little. One thought occupied my mind... When is the next flight home? But knowing me, there was no way I would give up this easy. Then Vic called on my cell phone. Thank goodness for that. It was so good to talk to him. It really made me feel better, but I better stop writing about it before I give him a big head. It was 2.29$ per minute so we kept it short.

By this time it was about 3:3oam and I was beat after being in transit for nearly a day. I figured the sooner I got to sleep, the sooner morning would come and I would be able to get out of this place. [I did find a new place the next day... Yeah! (:D)] Needless to say, I was off to a rather rough start, but the good news is that I suppose things can only get better from here. Amen to that!

Shirinne