4/1/2011 post - Camels?

So yesterday and this morning I learned a few things...

1. I thought I saw some camel statues outside of my hotel yesterday. On the way back from work I realized they were actually camels...


2. Eating at a traditional indian restaurant is not the same as eating at an indian restaurant in the U.S. Some of my co-workers took me out to lunch yesterday at this restaurant. I truly felt like I was learning to read again. There are too many things to share about my lunch experience so I'll just say 2 things that stood out... 1. Don't try to grab nan bread that is shared with your left hand... huge no no... 2. at the end of the meal they give you a bowl full of warm water with a lemon in it. initially i thought, 'yes! this must be a traditional indian tea!' psych. it's water to wash your hands. i guess the lemon takes the indian food smell off of your hands... The whole experience was amazing and the food was great. I got chicken tiki masala... i know, 'way to step outside the box bob!'. it was delicious though! i'm not ashamed.

3. I went walking to look for a grocery store called 'Spencers'. Couldn't find it :( But some nice dudes did point me to a store close to the hotel that I can go to. On my long journey I did realized something... the pigs are no longer as cute as i thought. My last post unveiled this discovery of the pigs. On a 45 minute walk today I probably saw 50-75 pigs just walking around the streets... 

 

The last day has been quite an experience. I'm still trying to get my sleep under control and I think I have today. I slept until 6:30am this morning so that's good news. I should have a full day of work today where I'm told they're throwing me a welcome pizza party. Should be fun. Well, I'm off to the grocery store!

B

First day/night

It is currently 4am india standard time and I am wide awake and have been for about an hour. I'm counting down the minutes until the breakfast buffet at the optus premeir hotel in delhi opens up.
 Some highlights of my first day (which would have been yesterday).... and not in any order....

1. The food is great so far! I had a masala peneer dish in the hotel with some awesome garlic nan. It was incredible. Although my stomach is feeling a little funny... Could be the spices... could be a parasite... j/k, but seriously.
2. Cricket... don't understand it, but indian's seem to love it. I was at the hotel bar watching the semi finals of the world cup cricket match.... Pakistan vs. India... I know, riveting, haha. It was fun though. One of the waiters was giving me a play by play of how the game is played and the rules and so on. I still felt very out of place thought. When everyone would start celebrating during a part of the match, I would look up excitedly not knowing what to look for, giving an awkward smile to the waiters as if to say, 'that was a great play!'.
3. The head bobble thing is true, but I feel like it's more of a head sway...
4. The driving is crazy. At one point while I was being taken to the hotel I noticed there were no lines in the road.... 8 lanes of disorganized traffic emerged... Also, honking is a form of communication on the roads. One for, 'hey it's me, i'm here, just so you know...', 2 for 'get out of my way right now'.

Everything is going great so far. The only bad thing that has happened is my shampoo and conditioner busted in one of my bags. Since my bag was searched in customs I'm convinced someone wanted to try it out and then forgot to screw the lid on all the way.

It is now 6:00 am. I shall now retire to watching grownups on streaming netflix as I wait for McDonalds to open up.

B