Stay Classy San Diego

Having been home for a week, I've decided it's time to sign out. As I'm no longer in India or traveling, it's time to shut 'er off. I have been meaning to blog about Bangalore, the Maldives, and Bangkok so this final post will be pretty scattered. My time in India had its ups and downs, but the one lesson I've learned is the value of relationships, in all its forms. There is a lot of love and kindness in the world, and the people I've met and my old friends have inspired me to be kinder and more generous. There is never a reason not to be nice to someone, even if the other person doesn't recognize or reciprocate, the world could always use a little more kindness. Both new friends and old have been so kind and generous with me, I hope I can be as supportive to them as they have to me.

On to Bangalore. This trip was with a friend who visited earlier in the year, I just never got around to blogging about it. To be honest we didn't do much in Bangalore, although the exciting highlight was Taco Bell! When my friend first told me about Taco Bell in Bangalore I was so excited. Then I remembered it's India so I asked if there's beef, to which the response was a sheepish, "There's chicken!" I was a little bummed but when I actually had the chicken tacos and the nachos, it hit the spot.

My new favorite place on earth is the Maldives. Having grown up in San Diego, I'm a little bit of a beach snob. A beach as a vacation destination is not enough, it should be a really pretty beach with turquoise water and white sand. I've only been to two beaches that I would call actual beach destinations: Maui and Nice, France. Planning our trip to the Maldives with friends, I knew the beaches wouldn't disappoint. And they didn't. The Maldives are utterly stunning, with turquoise water and white sand. I also love when the water changes from a rich turquoise to deep blue as the ocean floor drops off. The Maldives had that too. It was amazing. After flying into Male, we had to take a 20 minute speedboat ride to the resort, which was its own island. My very generous friends covered our stay at the resort with their free hotel nights, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to afford the Maldivian experience. The next five days were spent eating, sleeping on the beach, snorkeling along the different coral reefs, and wakeboarding. All in all, it was pretty effing amazing.

Water bungalows.

Stairs directly into the ocean.

Back balcony.

Sharks!

From there we went on to Bangkok. Another generous friend put us up in the Grand Hyatt, I didn't do so bad on this vacation as an NGO worker. We had suites and access to the Grand Lounge with free drinks and food. Later he also gifted us a spa afternoon and I got a nice massage, scrub, and mani/pedi. (I mean seriously don't I have the most awesome friends? I really am a very lucky girl.) We went to the crazy weekend market and got Thai massages everyday. We also hit up the red light district of course. But I think my favorite part was going with all my friends to the bespoke tailor. Bespoke clothing in Bangkok is pretty cheap so my friends decided to stock up on dress shirts and suits. I was planning on maybe going sightseeing or shopping while they were there but they asked me to come for some consulting. I was ok with that but it turned out to be so much fun! Getting to choose the colors of the shirts and suits, as well as giving input on general design as well as analyzing fit is my dream come true. The only way it could have been more fun is if I was buying clothes for myself.

Delicious curry crab.

Soi Cowboy

Grand Palace

So now I've been home for a week, and I'm really happy to be back. I've been feeding my Nordstrom habit, and was greeted by the Zappos shoes I bought while in India. (Though now I have to find a place to put all my shoes.) I've also checked off In N Out, Mexican food, ramen,  and Korean food off my list. I still need to hit up IHOP, Taco Bell, and sushi. I've started sewing again, and I'm almost done with a dress already! But again, I'm happy to see old friends and faces. It's been really great to see people who have had my back this whole time. I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so much love and support.

Visitors! The Real India Tourist Experience

As mentioned, I decided to go to the hospital partly because my friends were due to visit in a week. There were concerns about getting their Indian visas in time (unfortunately one of them didn't make it) and of course I felt responsible for them. For those who have been to India, you know what I mean. For those who haven't, India is a high-paced, overwhelming, and intimidating place for first-time visitors. And I love my friends dearly but they live comfortable lives and are accustomed to a high level of good customer service and painless travel. This would of course benefit me later, but it contributed to my unease about them traveling alone in India. So two days after getting discharged from the hospital, I was still exhausted and didn't have my strength back but I got on a plane to meet them at the Delhi airport as our flights were arriving within half an hour of each other.

This was no fun. I traveled on a budget airline and arrived at Terminal 1 while they arrived at the nice international Terminal 3. We decided to meet at the Costa Coffee right outside customs. In the back of my mind I knew there would be issues trying to get into the terminal, but like a true Indian I decided I would figure it out and take care of it once I got there. After getting to Terminal 3, I had to find the Costa Coffee. Done. Except I couldn't get into the building. In India, you need a ticket just to get inside the airport. So I walked the entire length of the airport about seven times, as different people told me different ways to get into the airport. I finally found a ticket counter that sold visitors' tickets to the airport. I got one, but was told I couldn't take bags in. Well I had a suitcase and backpack since I was going on a 10-day trip so that prevented me from going in. At this point I'm pretty frustrated because I had lost my cell phone on the way to the airport, and just have no idea how I'm going to get to my friends. I said I was just going to leave my bags outside and they said I couldn't do that either, adding to my frustration. I could see the Costa Coffee through the windows, and decide to ask the carts outside if they could call the Costa Coffee inside to tell my friends to come out. But they didn't have the number, I was foolishly hoping there would be some sort of intercom system. At the height of my frustration, I went to one of the airport staff milling around and shed a few tears to show them how desperate and frustrated I was. He agreed to let me walk up to the door (there's a barricade about 30 feet from the door that prevents people from even approaching). As we were walking up I see my friends through the window! I gesticulate wildly for them to come outside and we were reunited! It was so great to see them, and I was so relieved that the one-hour saga came to a happy end. Then we left for the hotel.

Upon arrival at the hotel we were told it was overbooked so we would be staying at a sister hotel. I asked if it's just as nice and he kind of demurred and said it's not all the same but I was too tired to notice. We got to the sister hotel and it was not nice. My friend pointed out we just got downgraded. Then I got more annoyed. They gave us some water bottles and we went to sleep because we had a train the next morning. In the morning we moved our stuff back to the original hotel. Before letting us leave for the train they wanted us to pay for the water. It was about a dollar. But I had it. I argued with hotel manager that I wasn't going to pay for the water unless he refunded us the difference in rates between the two hotels or upgraded us for the second night. After 10 minutes of being stubborn, they let us catch our train to Agra.

We decided to get a driver for the day in Agra. At first there was no guide in the car, after I insisted there be one all of a sudden we had a new driver and a guide for the same price. We started at Fatehpur Sikri as the sky was filled with smog and smoke and we wouldn't have good views of the Taj. The heavy cloud cover keeps all the pollution trapped overnight and it doesn't start to dissipate until the sun burns away the cloud cover. We had a nice guide who explained the old city and then we went to the Taj. It's pretty awesome. There were a ton of people and we made two laps around it just to get into various lines. But it was really beautiful. This was my second time visiting Agra. The first time was misery because of the heat and humidity. The second time was much, much better and I was able to enjoy the day. I actually had to borrow my friend's hoodie!

We had a long lunch, and got driven to various crafts stores. After driving around Agra Fort, our cab was stuck in gridlock traffic. Our driver had warned one of the other drivers to be more careful. About 15 minutes later, this driver rear-ended our car with some force. Our driver gets out and demands the other driver also get out of the car. I'm not really watching, my friend is, and I hear a SMACK. I turn around to see our driver slap the other driver again across the face. The other driving was rubbing his cheek and looked ashamed. I mean, if someone slapped me I'd be pissed! But this guy just looked embarrassed. The driver gets back in the car like nothing happened. My friends and I were pretty stunned and didn't really know how to react, so we just started laughing. I mean this guy just slaps this other guy across the face and it's all ok? It turned out to be one of the more-talked about points of our trip.

Well our driver continued to drive us to various stores until our train time. My friend bought a carpet and I got some jewelry. Then we got back on the train to head to Delhi. When reaching the hotel it turns out I got an upgraded room and we all got free internet. Because of this we paid for the water when checking out the next morning.

Fatehpur Sikri

The Taj Mahal

The fountains were off!

Then we spent the day in Delhi before our evening flight. I wanted to show them the "real India" so we ate at Karim's in Old Delhi and walked around Chandni Chowk. After about five minutes walking around in the craziness we'd had enough and decided to see Red Fort. Well we were completely lost so we kept walking. We were so lost that the locals milling around saw us, knew we didn't belong, and immediately pointed the direction out of the market. We finally reach a road where we hail an auto. At that point we had about an hour before we had to leave for the airport, and my friend had a "Delhi belly" moment so we decided to go back to the hotel. I'm happy because my friends visited and got to see the authentic frenetic India. Next up: the Maldives.

Truly Thankful

So it's been a while, I've been busy. Every so often my stomach gets a little upset but it passes. Beginning in early November I had another round, and I thought it was great to lose a little weight, but this time it didn't go away for more than two weeks. After it got to the point of not being able to hold anything I ate, I decided I should go to the hospital (yes I probably should have gone earlier). So the doctor says I can be admitted to the hospital now for five days, or wait two days until my test results came back and probably have to be admitted for five days after that. I knew my friends were coming to visit in a week and I wanted to get better before they got here. Plus my great American friend was cooking a Thanksgiving feast and I had been looking forward to her amazing cooking. So I decided to get admitted to the hospital then and there. I mean I didn't want to eat or even drink water because it was so painful. Turns out I had E. coli and I had Dengue fever (pretty much worse than malaria). Since I have health insurance under VSO, I got the clear to stay in the swanky private room. However when I came to be admitted, the private room was unavailable so I started out in the ward. It really wasn't fun. I guess seeing a foreign girl in a hospital is new to most Indians so I had about 30 pairs of eyes on me the whole time I was there. Plus there were no fans or A/C. Plus you're just in the hospital. So I made a few calls to my allies (you need to have allies in India who can throw some weight around) and they came to my rescue. They brought me food, visited with me for a few hours, and made sure I got my private room. I am so grateful because I had a TV, ensuite bathroom, and A/C! The hospital I was in didn't have a cafeteria, plus most hospital food isn't know for being great. So this is the best. My friends brought every meal for me and visited me. One friend brought me a goody basket made out of a Corn Flakes box with many issues of OK! magazine, plus tons of food goodies. After five days of sleepless nights and a constant IV (turns out it might take my hands up to one month to heal because of the IVs and my Dengue), I was released. My friend insisted I stay with her for the two nights before I had to meet my friends to rest up for my trip. I mean the hospital part sucked, but man I am totally blown away by the generosity and kindness of my friends. I haven't been here very long, and they know I am not going to stay much longer but they cooked gourmet meals for me, brought meals to the hospital, and stayed to keep my company while I was cranky and incoherent. I'll admit that I had become pretty jaded at my circumstances and with people, but I am just so touched by these friends, they have really restored my faith in people and the love that's out there. I can never fully express my gratitude for their kindness, company, and support through a difficult time away from home.

Apple pie, pumpkin pie, and pumpkin cake for Thanksgiving dessert!

Monkey and Monkey Temple

I have been meaning to write about my trip to Hampi. It took a plane, train, and bus, about 14 hours of traveling, to get there. I was hesitant about going at first, because I had never heard of it and had other places I wanted to see, like Kerala and the Golden Triangle, but my friend wanted to go and I'm glad we did. It was so beautiful with all its ancient ruins and stunning scenery. I think the pictures are better than any story I can tell so I'll just say we spent two nights there. One day we toured the ruins and the next we crossed the river and climbed 600 steps to visit the temple on the top of a hill. Hampi is definitely a highlight of India for me.

Real Korean writing, and the good penmanship indicates it was written by Koreans. I mean unless you read Korean you wouldn't know it says "Korean Restaurant" and lists tasty Korean dishes. Excited, we checked it out and it had some Korean food on the menu but wasn't authentic.

Virupaksha temple.

Greedy monkey inside the temple that SPRINTED at my friend who wisely and quickly threw the bananas on the ground.

Tungabhadra River.

Other side of the river.

Everything had engravings, even the rocks in the river.

Big Ganesha among the ruins.

Old city ruins.

Engraving on Vittala Temple.

More engravings.

On my 5km bike ride from the river to the Monkey Temple on Anjenaya Hill.

The 600 steps to the top of the hill, the Monkey Temple is that white building at the top.

After 600 steps, the view is worth it! Also, there were grubby monkeys everywhere.

Different view from the Monkey Temple.

Viva La Singapore, Mumbai Edition

Back in Mumbai, we had another extravagant weekend of food and drink, but this time in Mumbai. And yes this included going out in Mumbai, which I never thought I would do but turned out to be a lot of fun! So after my most exciting ride on the train to date, I arrived at the very nice Ramada on Juhu Beach. This was quite the departure from my more simple life as an NGO worker. After getting ready we hit up Rock Bottom, though the name was a little intimidating, it was nice and really happenin. I saw lots of young Indian people drinking and wearing western clothes, something that was a shock to my new conservative sensibilities. My favorite part of the night was probably the DJ. I have been itching to hear and dance to American pop music for months now, and that’s what I got! It was great. So at about 1AM the club shut down, but there was an after-party upstairs! Wow! So after some more dancing, we were exhausted and collapsed in our nice Ramada hotel room.

The next morning we dragged ourselves out of bed to make it to the breakfast buffet. Which was delicious of course. Then onto Juhu Beach. After making the rounds on the beach, and getting some coconut water, we decided to head down to the Fort area. From there we had our first extravagant meal. And it was amazing. Peppered fish and squid, so good.

Lots of people hanging out at Juhu Beach.

$35 meal in Mumbai! But so, so good.

From there we wandered to Colaba and through the Taj Mahal hotel and eventually found ourselves at Leopold’s. Turns out Leopold’s has a second-story bar I never knew about. Tons of expats of course. Then we called it a night.

The next morning was delicious vegetarian thalis. Then we did some actual Mumbai stuff and saw dhobi ghat. After a nice stroll through Chor Bazaar, where we discovered a new sect of Islam, we decided it was too hot and sunny to stay outside and went to the Intercontinental on Marine Drive. The rooftop bar had beautiful views. After watching the sunset we headed back south to get kebabs. And of course those were delicious too. That was the end of our gluttonous weekend in Mumbai, and I probably gained about 8 pounds.

Vegetarian thalis with dosa (not pictured.)

Dhobi ghat.

Lonely guy in dhobi ghat.

View of Marine Drive right before sunset.

View of Marine Drive right after sunset.

Kebabs! It's just a stand on this side street.

But you can't miss it because there are lots of people milling around.

Happy Diwali!

Another festival! But this was the big one, I was lucky to be in India for Diwali, the Festival of Lights. I was actually in Hampi, which is a very small village that takes a plane, train, and bus to reach, but it was great! All the houses and business have candles lit outside their homes which they use to light crackers, sparklers, everything that was bright and/or noisy. For a few nights all the young and not-so-young spent the nights setting off fireworks and playing with the lights. Here are some of the highlights.

The leftover damage.

Lighting the popper.

So bright!

Spying on my Neighbors and Indianisms

After sleeping off and recovering from my Singapore trip, I started noticing some changes to my next-door neighbors. The windows from my flat and from work face the same apartment building to the east. About ten feet from the entrance to my building was a small row of about seven slum shacks. Slums usually spring up where there is construction, as the families who work on the construction site move near the building for the duration of the construction. This row of slums has been here the whole time I’ve been here but I noticed one day that two of the shacks were empty. Then after returning from Singapore I noticed that the slum had been emptied out leaving behind their discarded belongings. I guess construction has finished.

One empty shack

Now they're all gone

I also noticed a lattice had been propped up against a building, and then there were two men just balancing on the horizontal beam. These guys are like thirty feet above concrete on a very flimsy plastic matrix held together with what I imagine to be strong string (twine?). And then here they are chipping away at the wall of the building, causing their support to wobble with every whack they take. I was nervous for them the whole work day as I would look over and see them climb up and down to continue hacking away at the wall. I was also thinking how this would absolutely never fly in the US. They would be breaking like hundreds of safety codes.

Chipping away at the wall

Moving to the next section of wall

Also while living here I’ve adjusted to Indian idioms in English.  These are a few of my favorites:

“Double #” Anytime there are number read off and two of the same number are in a row, like two 9’s as in my phone number, you say “double 9.” When numbers were read to me and someone would say “double #” I would begin to write down the word “double” because my brain was in strict regurgitation mode. I also noticed if I said “9, 9” then the person taking down the number would pause and convert it to “double 9” in his head. But I’m Indian now and everything is double #.

“Kindly” or “you are kindly requested to do the needful” This seems to be a vestige of British English. What is needful? Does that mean what is needed to be done? If you receive an email that requires action on your part you are “kindly requested to [action here].”  I guess that’s a very nice way of putting it, but in my American experience it’s more “please complete [action] by [date].” It almost sounds like they are asking you to RSVP for something.

“Prepone” You guessed it, prepone is the opposite of postpone, and is very logical. You can postpone a meeting but there is no equivalent word of moving up a meeting. Bravo to Indians for this one.

“I stay in [place]” In this case stay just means “live.” “I stay in Mumbai” means “I live in Mumbai.” To me “stay” as a much more temporary connotation, like you are staying somewhere for a few days, but you permanently “live” in your hometown.

“Are you leaving station?” This is asking if you are going out of town. This one really confuses me, why is your house your station? Or is station referring to your hometown? And why is it a station? I still haven’t wrapped my head around this one.

“My native place” Your native place is where you grew up. This is a reflection of the diversity of cultures and identities within India. Every state has a different language, and village culture is vastly different from urban culture. “Native” to me sounds very foundational, like at the root of your ancestral history your family is originally from [country]. But here it refers to the village or block (a form of municipal districting) where you grew up.  It’s the equivalent of saying “I stay in San Francisco, but my native place is San Diego.” To me it implies that San Diego is this completely foreign, wholly different culture and place than San Francisco (yes they are very different).

"A/C and non-AC" "Veg and non-veg" These are pretty self-explanatory. When booking a cab or a room you are asked if you want A/C or non-A/C. Predictably the A/C amenities cost more but depending on how sweltering the weather is, is totally worth it. All packaged food and menus indicate whether food is veg or non-veg (which is like a double negative for me) and the vegetarian food has a green dot while the non-vegetarian food is marked with red. Subliminal much?