Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Day 1
For a little back story: I am here in India due to the generosity of a friend. B is, as cliché as it sounds, setting up a call center in Bangalore, India. He has offered up his hotel room to me. He provided me with free place to stay, a tour guide, and, since he works long hours, the freedom to run around on my own!
So, the run down.
I got in last night, late. Around 2 in the morning. It took an hour to get from the airport to the hotel.
Which means it was nearly 4 am by the time I had unpacked and showered.
4 am. Sounds like long past time time for bed, right? No.
I had been sleeping on and off for 20 hours worth of travel, plus that 4 am time was in direct conflict with a mid afternoon body time.
Stupid jet lag.
Plus, I was in India! Who can sleep in India?
So I stayed up and putzed around. I stared out the window as the sun rose. I jumped around the room in a state of giddiness until my roommate made me at least lay down until it truly was morning.
I fell asleep almost immediately.
A few hours later I woke up to a sunny sunny morning. Nothing in this city really opens until 11, and it was much closer to 9am. However, though nothing was open, the streets were open for the walking.
That sentence kind of make me sound like a street walker.
For 5 hours we walked around town.
It is hot out there.
I saw buildings and cars and sidewalks, and dirt, and people in suits, and people begging for money.
I hear the hustle and bustle of horns honking and people shouting and construction work occurring and more horns honking.
By the time the restaurants opened, I was starving.
Lunch:
Pizza Hut.
Yeah, I know. Not exactly exciting. Not exactly my style for my first meal in a new country. But B has been here for months and is not exactly an adventurous eater. So, Pizza Hut.
However, as with most chain restaurants, there were some striking changes in the menu to accommodate cultural considerations.
They had your typical cheese pizza.
There was a range of peperoni and sausage.
Then there was the pizzas with Caspian.
Tandoori sauce.
Corn.
Baby corn.
Paneer. (an India cheese cut into chunks)
it may not have been the most interesting restaurant, but it was one hell of a pizza.
Tandoori, corn, onion, peppers, Caspian, black olives, and paneer.
Yum.
Funny lunch related story. We had leftover pizza and chicken things in to go boxes. A tiny begging boy started following us down the street making hungry motions and begging for food. B, being the nice guy that he is pulled out the chicken things and gave the little boy some lunch. The boy quickly stopped looked inside the container and ran to catch-up. Shouting pizza! Pizza! He wanted the pizza, not the chicken. We gave him that too. He was just so insistent.
By 2pm the day was still young, but jet lag was hitting me in the face.
I took a nap, but the nap turned out to be a bit more like sleeping than just napping.
By the time I woke up, B was gearing up for work, he works third shift, and the sun was setting.
So now I am chilling in the hotel. Messing with the TV. Foreign TV is funny.
So, the run down.
I got in last night, late. Around 2 in the morning. It took an hour to get from the airport to the hotel.
Which means it was nearly 4 am by the time I had unpacked and showered.
4 am. Sounds like long past time time for bed, right? No.
I had been sleeping on and off for 20 hours worth of travel, plus that 4 am time was in direct conflict with a mid afternoon body time.
Stupid jet lag.
Plus, I was in India! Who can sleep in India?
So I stayed up and putzed around. I stared out the window as the sun rose. I jumped around the room in a state of giddiness until my roommate made me at least lay down until it truly was morning.
I fell asleep almost immediately.
A few hours later I woke up to a sunny sunny morning. Nothing in this city really opens until 11, and it was much closer to 9am. However, though nothing was open, the streets were open for the walking.
That sentence kind of make me sound like a street walker.
For 5 hours we walked around town.
It is hot out there.
I saw buildings and cars and sidewalks, and dirt, and people in suits, and people begging for money.
I hear the hustle and bustle of horns honking and people shouting and construction work occurring and more horns honking.
By the time the restaurants opened, I was starving.
Lunch:
Pizza Hut.
Yeah, I know. Not exactly exciting. Not exactly my style for my first meal in a new country. But B has been here for months and is not exactly an adventurous eater. So, Pizza Hut.
However, as with most chain restaurants, there were some striking changes in the menu to accommodate cultural considerations.
They had your typical cheese pizza.
There was a range of peperoni and sausage.
Then there was the pizzas with Caspian.
Tandoori sauce.
Corn.
Baby corn.
Paneer. (an India cheese cut into chunks)
it may not have been the most interesting restaurant, but it was one hell of a pizza.
Tandoori, corn, onion, peppers, Caspian, black olives, and paneer.
Yum.
Funny lunch related story. We had leftover pizza and chicken things in to go boxes. A tiny begging boy started following us down the street making hungry motions and begging for food. B, being the nice guy that he is pulled out the chicken things and gave the little boy some lunch. The boy quickly stopped looked inside the container and ran to catch-up. Shouting pizza! Pizza! He wanted the pizza, not the chicken. We gave him that too. He was just so insistent.
By 2pm the day was still young, but jet lag was hitting me in the face.
I took a nap, but the nap turned out to be a bit more like sleeping than just napping.
By the time I woke up, B was gearing up for work, he works third shift, and the sun was setting.
So now I am chilling in the hotel. Messing with the TV. Foreign TV is funny.
posted by Jody @ 11:02 AM 
