Hanging Out in Bangalore

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Hey! I think I am finally mastering the auto rickshaw in India. Well… the auto drivers in Bangalore are way nicer to foreigners than the ones on Delhi so I guess that’s not saying to much. I mean, I still get the constant calls for 100 rupees for a ride to the other end of the street. But now I know that a ride like that would only cost either 20 or 40 rupees. I say both 20 and 40 rupees because some of the auto meters are totally rigged! You get in and hold your breath in hopes of slowing the meter down. These meters go up ½ a rupee every 5 second whereas the normal auto’s meter will go up every 10 -12 seconds. Oh it’s so annoying! Every time I get into an auto I hope that I happened to get a normal meter. Of course you may be thinking “40 rupees, that’s just 1 buck in American standards.” Yes, yes… but I am really trying to stop converting everything I buy into American dollars, because when I do that first I feel bad about haggling down the price from 1.4 dollars to 1.2 dollars and second because I am trying to understand the value of the rupee and if I keep thing in American money standards I will probably end up spend .5 times the amount that I would normally spend here in India.

Anyway, classes started today. The day began with some very simple yoga. The master had us all breathing so fast I almost passed out because of toooo much oxygen. Man, after that I could hold my breath for about 1.5 minutes easily! Then I had my Buddhism and Hinduism class that started out on a very good note. The topic was “What exactly in Religion” and then we moved into mentioning all the major religions in the world. Then I had a long break and a group of 8 of us foreigners went to a Mocha lounge and I had a wonderful American omelet and a late. Oh I was so nice after that spicy samosa I ate for breakfast. After the break all the American students had a crash course in the Self Help Groups for the people under the poverty line. Very interesting stuff. Then it was off to buy groceries, a yoga mat, and of course a coffee maker! So that’s a rundown of an Americans first day of classes in India! Exciting hugh!! 😊 Oh and tomorrow we have a Hindi class!

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Comments

[Laura Henderson]

It sounds like you are having lots of fun! I agree with the whole conversion deal. You should try to stop thinking in dollars and start thinking in rupees. Keep up the writing and take care!