Advertisement
Published: January 15th 2007
Edit Blog Post
Hi everyone!
I have made it to India!! My flight here went very well, we was due to land early but then had to fly around Bangalore for an extra hour because of the fog. Ended up meeting my driver at about 6am, he held my name on a big bit of paper which I enjoyed very much. The drive from the airport was quite chaotic; it reminded me of the drive in Jakarta where it really gets your adrenalin going because of all the noise and madness, that’s when you remember then why you are here and how exciting everything is. The roads are mad, you can imagine, Bangalore has about 6 million people but hardly any traffic lights or road markings so there are cars and people, and cows everywhere.
Anyway, I arrived at the flat early Friday morning after our adventurous drive, Susan (my new flat mate) met me and we drank tea and chatted for a while until I went to rest. For those who are wondering I am coping well without my PG tips, in fact the tea is far nicer, we boil it in a pan with sugar and drink without milk The
flat is pleasant, simple and clean with a small balcony, we don’t have a fridge which I am a finding hard to adjust to, if we get milk we have to keep boiling it every few hours so it doesn’t go off. There is a shower but cant use it so I wash using a bucket and cup, but the water is heated so I am more than happy with that.
Susan is from Sikkim, a place in the north of India that borders with Nepal, she is about 27 and studied law in Bangalore, she has here stayed since. She has showed me pictures and invited me to travel there later in the year, it looks amazing. She worked Friday afternoon, so I went to explore on my own just down to the shops, couldn’t find anything that remotely resembled food so I promptly came back and ate some porridge. Susan returned from work about 8pm and we went for dinner nearby, the opposite direction to where I had gone luckily. Preparing myself for the food as we sat down, Susan ironically ordered fish and chips which was much to my delight, so I had lasagne and a
coke and decided I would start with local food on Saturday.
The following day we stayed in, read, watched TV and chatted all day, TV is great they we have BBC, National Geographic, VH1, and MTV, they even show friends, and OC on Sunday nights! It really hits home how everything is has become so globalised. Susan cooked pulses, potatoes, rice and something else for lunch so I kept my word and ate Indian food. Saturday evening we watched ‘Big Boss’ the Indian version of Big Brother whilst drinking Goan wine, an absolute delight!
Susan’s brother has decided to come and live with us, he has left today (Monday) and will take him three days to travel by train. This is good as rent will be split three ways also he is very spiritual and knows a lot of weird spiritual things that will keep me entertained so I cant wait. He is also very good at Yoga and massage so may ask him to teach me. Because there will be three of us now we need more things, so on Sunday we went home shopping, it was great fun, we got new bedding, plates, a toaster so
I had have jam on toast now. Because there are many ex-pats here no one takes any notice of you and shopping is much easier than it was in Indonesia, everyone is very polite and happy to help without asking you a million questions.
Last night Susan and I met with my new boss for drinks and dinner, this was my first time to central Bangalore, I was very excited. There are huge malls, they even have a Marks and Spencer which amazed me. The place we went to was wonderful, called Boutique I think. It had three floors with a south-east Asian feel, lit by candles it was filled with modern art and big cushions, it was very relaxed and there served a good choice of wine, mexican, french and Italian food; the top floor was open so you could see out across part of Bangalore. The music was very chilled, we sat and chatted, drank beer and shared lots of lovely food. My boss seems a very nice man and told me not to work too hard as I am just out of uni. He drove us home but on the way we picked up more beer, people stand on the street, take your order from the car and then go and get whatever drink you want from this underground shop, it’s awesome. So until about 1am we drove around Bangalore drinking beer with our boss, superb.
Ooh I forgot to say we have a maid, she cleans for us and does all the washing up every morning. I can’t speak to her as she only speaks Kanada the local language, the language is very noisy. This week I am going to buy a language book on Hindi and Susan will help teach me so I can understand the films a little better. Also, don’t worry Steph I am not tanned yet, although we have a big terrace at the top of our building, perfect for some sun loungers and a mini bar I recon. I start work tomorrow, I have to go and register with the police otherwise they may arrest me, and then I think we are going on visits for most of the week to some homes and schemes, next week I think I am meeting with someone from Action Aid.
I will write again when I have more to say, for now I will return to the flat where I will pass some baby cows lounging in the street.
P.S. Sorry there is no pictures there is no USB port...so no I haven't lost my camera mum.
Miss you all lots, not quite as much as my fridge though.
Love Kate
xxx
Advertisement
Tot: 0.133s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 9; qc: 48; dbt: 0.0728s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
josie
non-member comment
hey kate, sounds like your having an amazing time already - so jealous!! I was just speaking to becky elmhirst about u and ur dissatation - how strange! anyway take care hun, can't wait for the next installment!!! xxx