Sorry for the delay in posts - now that I have my new laptop I hope to be better about this. Anyway, it's Day 4 now, and I feel like I'm settling in. My roommate Ami arrived on Saturday to drop off her bags. She stayed with her aunt and uncle for the weekend - they live in South Bombay and seem nice but don't appear to speak much English. She came to stay here for good on Sunday night, and we are getting along very well. She's a vegetarian, so she has promised to help me figure out this new lifestyle while I'm here (for those of you who don't know, I've decided to try going vegetarian while I'm here. It's more of an experiment than anything else).
I've done a bit of exploring around my neighborhood. I went out in search of food this weekend, and the first restaurant I came across was a Subway! Of course, I won't be eating there at all while I'm here. I went to a cafe instead, and was disappointed to find that they weren't serving the portion of the menu that I recognized at that time of day (Chana masala, saag paneer, etc.). Instead I had to resort to my tried and true method of pointing at two different unknown items on the menu and being surprised when my food arrived. Turns out I ordered a lentil pancake covered in spices (a mysore masala dosa) - which was delicious - and a cheese sandwich (Saag bread - and yes that's how it actually appeared on the menu). The sandwich had fresh tomatoes and cucumbers on it, which I unfortunately can't eat since they haven't been cooked, but I nibbled on the bread a little.
My neighborhood seems to be residential and central within the city. We live directly across the street from the neighborhood police headquarters, which Mom was happy to hear when I spoke with her. I have noticed that the people I encounter on the street are more frequently men than women. I'd say it's an 80/20 split. I'm not sure why yet - will let you know if I figure it out. One possible reason is that women stay at home during the day, whereas men go out and work, but I wonder if I'm stereotyping too much by suggesting that.
My first day of work yesterday was interesting and boring all at once. We had to go through new hire training, which was largely redundant with what I already know about the fim. However there were some notable differences between the US and India. For example, in India it is part of the standard benefits package to include separate insurance for your parents and your spouse's parents. It tells you something about the cultural norms here regarding children taking care of their parents as adults. Also, everyone in the office actually takes a lunch hour and goes and sits together and talks about non-work related things. There is a cafeteria in our offices with an outdoor patio overlooking Mumbai - its quite wonderful to take a step away from the computer and socialize over lunch. I wonder if I'll feel the same way when I'm stressed over my project, though. Speaking of my project, I haven't been assigned one yet but hope to find out more today. More about lunch - the standard lunch hour is 1 pm, mostly due to the fact that they begin work late - 930 is quite normal, and 10 isn't unheard of. I had a vegetarian meal from the canteen - some dal, some saag, and some spiced cauliflower and peppers. Overall very yummy.
We have been introduced to several great people in the office so far. The head of HR - Manaz, is an outgoing and friendly woman who made sure we made friends on our first day. One of those women, Isha, recommended a yoga studio to Ami and I, and we decided to go to an evening class last night. I was hesitant because I'm so tired from the jet lag, but I remembered Dad's advice and methods about using working out to help adjust, so I went along and am so glad that I did! The studio was very small - just one room. It's right on the Arabian Sea in the middle of this idyllic garden, and they open up all of the windows and there is this wonderful breeze. We did Hatha yoga as the sun set and filled the room with light and air. It was truly wonderful - how yoga is meant to be done. It wasn't technically a hot yoga class, but with the outside temperature so hot and muggy it might as well have been :) we were the only two students, so we got a lot of personalized attention. We'll definitely be going back.
Well I have to go get dressed for work now. The driver gets here in 15 minutes, and for some reason the cook forgot to bring us breakfast today. I guess we'll have to find out what breakfast at the cafeteria is like. Send me emails!
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