Well, one week has passed since I arrived in Bangalore. What a week it has been! Full of new culture, new foods, new friends and a new norm. Here are a few things from the week that have stood out:
The food. I had been warned that for a foreigner, adjusting to Indian food can be difficult. Saturday, my first day here, I had an Indian dish from the hotel restaurant. It was a simple chicken and rice dish and was pretty good. Then, the first few days of the week, I had lunch in the cafeteria at work. I was determined to try new things and enjoy Indian food. This worked great until Thursday, when my body decided that Indian food was maybe not such a good idea, and I had a nauseous, uneasy feeling that has yet to go away. On the bright side, 4 days of hardly being able to eat has to be doing something for my weight, right? I am lucky enough to have a lot of non-Indian options nearby, so I am not starving completely.
Navigating the city. I don't know if it my roots coming from a small town, or just a general sense of being paranoid, but riding alone in a cab is not my favorite thing. As a result, I have walked somewhere in the neighborhood of probably 15 miles in the past two days. During the week, I don't have to worry about getting around, as I am staying about 200 yards from my office. Not only have I been walking a lot, but walking in Bangalore is basically a never ending obstactle course. Broken sidewalks, garbage, animal waste, cows, stray dogs, trees, missing sidewalks (no, of course I have not almost been hit by buses, rickshaws, cars, motorcycles). Also, something I learned quickly was that pedestrians do not have the right of way here. Out on the streets of Bangalore, it is every person for themselves. Eek.
Transportation. On a related note, I have officially ridden in a rickshaw. If you don't know what a rickshaw is, they are the little green and yellow cars in this pic. The little green and yellow 3 wheeled, open air cars are probably not the safest, but they are a quick and easy way to get around. And being that they are open, I don't feel quite so uncomfortable as I do getting into a car with someone. Rickshaws are also cheap. Most rides are $1 or less for trips around the city.
On to my Saturday adventure. I decided to make the day one for shopping. I needed to get a few groceries. But I also wanted to experience Indian cultural shopping. I made my way up into the city and went to Commercial streethttp://bangalore.ind.in/commercial-street-of-bangalore. I could have quite easily spent a little money on a lot of great stuff. I made one purchase, a fun maxi dress for only 350 rupees (about $5). I felt like commercial street is the Indian city life that is made out in movies, full of street vendors, packed with people, and streaming with deals. This definitely is not my last trip to commercial street.
The food. I had been warned that for a foreigner, adjusting to Indian food can be difficult. Saturday, my first day here, I had an Indian dish from the hotel restaurant. It was a simple chicken and rice dish and was pretty good. Then, the first few days of the week, I had lunch in the cafeteria at work. I was determined to try new things and enjoy Indian food. This worked great until Thursday, when my body decided that Indian food was maybe not such a good idea, and I had a nauseous, uneasy feeling that has yet to go away. On the bright side, 4 days of hardly being able to eat has to be doing something for my weight, right? I am lucky enough to have a lot of non-Indian options nearby, so I am not starving completely.
Navigating the city. I don't know if it my roots coming from a small town, or just a general sense of being paranoid, but riding alone in a cab is not my favorite thing. As a result, I have walked somewhere in the neighborhood of probably 15 miles in the past two days. During the week, I don't have to worry about getting around, as I am staying about 200 yards from my office. Not only have I been walking a lot, but walking in Bangalore is basically a never ending obstactle course. Broken sidewalks, garbage, animal waste, cows, stray dogs, trees, missing sidewalks (no, of course I have not almost been hit by buses, rickshaws, cars, motorcycles). Also, something I learned quickly was that pedestrians do not have the right of way here. Out on the streets of Bangalore, it is every person for themselves. Eek.
Transportation. On a related note, I have officially ridden in a rickshaw. If you don't know what a rickshaw is, they are the little green and yellow cars in this pic. The little green and yellow 3 wheeled, open air cars are probably not the safest, but they are a quick and easy way to get around. And being that they are open, I don't feel quite so uncomfortable as I do getting into a car with someone. Rickshaws are also cheap. Most rides are $1 or less for trips around the city.
On to my Saturday adventure. I decided to make the day one for shopping. I needed to get a few groceries. But I also wanted to experience Indian cultural shopping. I made my way up into the city and went to Commercial streethttp://bangalore.ind.in/commercial-street-of-bangalore. I could have quite easily spent a little money on a lot of great stuff. I made one purchase, a fun maxi dress for only 350 rupees (about $5). I felt like commercial street is the Indian city life that is made out in movies, full of street vendors, packed with people, and streaming with deals. This definitely is not my last trip to commercial street.
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