Catch Up

So I haven't done a very good job of keeping up on the blog lately. But I have been trying to post pictures, and they don't load, and the internet in the flat is spotty and slow. I'll do a quick recap of what's happened in the past few days since Holi:

Wednesday Night: Dad was here!! We had a nice dinner and talked about our experiences working here and the differences between our companies and teams. Very interesting and it was great to see him. Had you told each of us 3 years ago that we would meet up in India for business, I don't think we would have believed it. He also helped me with my NCAA picks (doing well so far, in 7th place in my pool out of 41...)

Thursday:
Nothing happened. I worked a long day. So, you didn't miss anything there. Oh well I did work out and watch an Indian version of "Deal or No Deal" while I was running. I couldn't tell if he won or not because it was in a different language and the program was also naming amounts of Indian money that I don't know how much is like Lahk I think was one. Anyway...

Friday:
Friday we came to work late, at 2 which was quite nice. That night we had our team dinner as we have promised to buy dinner every Friday for the team. We ordered food from Hyderabad House and Olive Garden (no, not that one. that's what I thought too) and gathered in the canteen to eat. As we sat down, I looked around and noticed everyone eating with their hands. Or should I say, their hand. Only the right hand was used to eat. Not a big deal if you are having pizza or a sandwich or something. But we had rice and a bunch of other stuff I couldn't tell you what it was, except that it was veg and spicy and saucy, and also chapati bread (like pita). I watched slightly amazed as people tore the bread with one hand, actually just with their right thumb and 2 forefingers. Kathryn and I were not very good at this and used our left hands as well at first, but instead of being rude we decided to struggle through it. It was very difficult, and one of the few times in my life that I have really felt like I was a minority, as I have rarely experienced that being a white middle class person. We went back to work for a few hours and headed home around 3.

Saturday:
Saturday the plan was to get up and go shopping, but instead I slept in again. I can't get enough sleep here, it seems like. We went to work only from 12 to 7 and then we went to Viraj's house, an expat here, and met up with a large group of other people mostly from IAS. He lives in Banjara Hills (nice area of Hyderabad) - we walked up onto this aweseome terracce that was huge, covered in beautiful flowers (it smelled so good!) and overlooked the whole city. He also had 2 dogs which were so cute that he brought from the U.S. - it was nice to be able to play with them instead of having to run away like we do from the stray dogs. I felt sick all day Saturday (I think it was something I ate at Coffe Day) but was able to enjoy most of the evening. Around 11, after having drinks and appetizers we headed to the Secunderabad Club. I can't really describe it except to say that it was huge, outside, and had a band playing American music, with the lead singer singing in an Elvis like manner. Pretty funny. We had dinner at 11:30 (more rice and more Indian food, which I like but am beginning to get a little sick of) and stayed until about 12:30, just chatting and drinking. After that it was home to bed.

So, I told you, nothing really exciting going on here. I'm heading to work again. And I am feeling better after a rough weekend. My experience with food has been that I am either starving because I haven't eaten anything all day, or I feel sick from what I just ate. Pretty much every time I eat I feel like I am taking a huge risk! But I have been mostly ok so hopefully I can survive the next few weeks. I do really enjoy the fresh fruits, juices and ice creams here!