Bangalore - Day 1

It was an interesting day yesterday. I am struggling to overcome jetlag... the past 2 nights I have woken up at 3:30 am local time. I cannot figure out what significance that time has for me, as its 2 in the afternoon back in Seattle. but somehow thats what my internal alarm clock has been set to! And all of the advice I have been given says to NOT take a nap, and sleep only at night. So these have been long days thus far.




I spent Sunday in my hotel room working for the most part. I had a long TODO list and wanted to crank through much of it before meeting the team Monday morning. The roomservice in the hotel is horrible, so I'm going to have to explore for some local restaurants. So when housecleaning came I decided to try to take a walk around. This plan quickly went south: I was immediatly beset by 2 of the auto-rickshaws (half motorcycle and half taxi/death trap ;^) and they REALLY wanted to take me for a ride. It was a little intimidating, as there is not really much of a sidewalk you are walking along the side of the road, with other traffic hurtling by, and then these 2 autorickshaws following me as I walked, jockying for position, trying to get me to take a ride to the palace or other unintelligible tourist destinations. They both actually cut me off and insisted that I get in for a ride... I took a turn down another street and finally lost them.

It's an interesting neighborhood my hotel is in. there are little storefronts and a few restaurants at street level, then either hotels or apartments behind or above them. There were street vendors with stands selling cigarettes and fruit, and a guy with a huge pile of coconuts (this struck me as a little odd, as there are coconut palms everywhere this seems kind of like picking up litter off the side of the road, the selling it on said road.) Most of the shops were closed (being Sunday) so I hightailed it back to the hotel before my friendly neighborhood autorickshaw drivers found me again.

I was picked up at the hotel in the evening by a few of my co-workers and we went to Campus Rock Idols, a huge college battle of the bands. Apparently they do it in all of the big cities here, and winners all go to some final competition. This was like a blast from the past... in my former life I played in several bands in the Olympia, WA area and have either worked sound or played a handful of events like this. this one was quite large, in a full size stadium with an impressive light show, jumbotrons, etc. But what most amazed me is no matter what country or culture you are in, some things do not change. Maybe this is just a sign of how Westernized the youth of India are? The bands ranged from a female vocal-led pop rock group, to several metal bands, to a Hindi folk group. The diversity was great! It was a fun show but my jetlag was kicking in; I was glad to have something to do to keep me awake!

Afterwards we went out for some Punjabi food. Another most excellent meal. My strategy when eating out: have an open mind and just ask for their recommendation of what is good. And I have not been disapointed! Also, I probably owe one of my hosts a great debt of gratitude... after the show I was hot and thirsty and was about to drink down the glass of water I was brought. He quickly reminded me to wait and get bottled water, whoops! Thus far I have been handling the food and water well, and I'd like to keep it that way.

We had some interesting conversations on the way back to my hotel. Again I am enjoying how open everyone has been with me, it can be a touchy subject comparing and contrasting cultures but I find it fascinating. My colleagues observations were that India culture is very passionate and that people are very open with their feelings, as opposed to American culture. I had to admit that I agree with them, but I told them that I am not like most Americans... for me there is no point to live without passion, and I cannot hide my emotions. Maybe this is why I am getting along so well with these guys?

I took pictures of the evening on my blackberry but I have thus far been unable to get them to transfer, so I will have to update my album later. It's now 4am local time, and as I am wide awake I think I may try to get a little work done so that I am not so far behind today... another post after work tongight, with I am sure many pictures. This morning I finally get to the office and meet my team, so it should be an interesting day!