A mobile phone?

So Monday I decided it was time for me to get a mobile phone. One week without being able to contact people was enough for me. A couple of the other trainers had a lot of trouble with the company Airtel representative, so decided to forgo that route and go off on my own. Luckily I started asking questions to one of the other native trainers and he obligingly offered to help me in my quest. First, we went to buy the phone. I now have a nice, girly looking phone-the Nokia 2300-nicely pink and purple. I'm happy with it, but I miss my LG!!! :) Of course you don't buy the plans (I planned on getting a pre-paid plan) at the same place you get the phones. So, we went to another local store to get the SIM (connection) card. (This is where you actually get your number assigned.) But, you need to have proof of residency to purchase one (so that you're not a terrorist?) . Initially, they said a copy of my passport would do; however, the a US Passport does not include an address. So I needed a copy of my drivers license...which was back at my apartment. (Why would I carry it arround? I can't drive in India!) We headed back to my apartment to pick up the driver's license. (Keep in mind here that we had to make copies of the passport and the driver's license at small copy stores for each item.) Finally we arrived at the Airtel office in Velachery and provided all the necessary documentation, picked out a phone number and activated it. I needed a picture to put with the application (which I left back at my apartment) but luckily they waived that requirement. Phew. :)

Yea! So after all that I now have a mobile phone-connection to the outside world! :) It would have been quite the frustrating experience if I hadn't had help with it, I'm sure...especially the communication factor with the shopkeepers in Tamil. I love the fact that I can receive calls and not be charged for them! (Hint, hint) ;-)

Weekend fun...

Had a lot of fun this weekend...hopefully this will make up for the criticism I had of being too negative about India... :)

We ended up not having class Friday because our instructor was in an autorickshaw accident. (He's ok, just a bit scratched up.) The group of American trainers went to have breakfast at the Taj Connemara (ooh...the Taj). Mmmm...eggs and pancakes! Then we all divided up and went shopping at Spencer Plaza, the local mall. It was a nice way to enjoy the day off.

Saturday, we went for lunch and then went shopping at fabIndia! My future roommate and I went a little crazy there...but I'm very glad that I will be more comfortable and cool (temp-wise) with my clothes. On the way back we stopped at the bar at the Taj Cormandel-Bikes & Barrel. Who knew there would be a biker bar in India? :) Later in the evening, we went out for dinner at Navaratna-the Indian restaurant at Le Royal Meridian. They were having a special Punjabi festival week there along with some live music. It was great-my friend knows people there, so we had quite the special treatment while we were there. Plus, he also knew the musicians and even sang along with them on the stage a bit. It was quite an enjoyable evening.

On Sunday, we met up with some friends of the roommate for a buffet lunch at Meridian. (Lunch in these two instances means the first meal after we wake up.) Then we went off to see the temples in Mahabalipuram for the afternoon. (I'm hoping I can figure out how to get pictures on here soon!) On the way back, we stopped at Taj Fisherman's Cove for some great seafood! Mmmm.

Wow...now that I'm looking at this, we had quite the upper class tour (or Taj tour!) this weekend! :) This is the India I'm more used to from my vacation here! :)

Indian surnames

Yesterday I was talking with the guy who brings our dinner. He introduced himself with a surname of Thomas. Excitedly, I said to him, "You're not from around here then!" and he confessed that he was from Kerela. I was so excited because I've always been amazed at the way Indians are able to tell where someone is from, just by their surname. I mean, I could never do that in America. True, Thomas is a pretty easy one [Thomas=Christian name=large Christian population=Kerela] but I'll take any small step! :)

Training...

Ok I'm finally starting to feel normal again. The previous night I only got a couple of hours of sleep...but then last night I finally slept through without waking up at 3 AM. I managed to sleep until my alarm went off-5:15 AM-and probably could have slept even later, which is pretty normal for me. :) Can you believe I have to be at work at 7AM? UGH! I'm still not a morning person...so it's good that things don't really start until 8:30 or so anyway...gives me time to have some coffee. :)

The training program has been...interesting. We've been studying phonetics...much more in depth than I ever thought about. I actually find it quite difficult to break down my sound patterns into phenomes and describe them (which I had to do this morning: How do you describe where you put your tongue to make the /r/ sound?) So, I'll have to practice quite a bit. I know it will make me a better tutor when (if? :) ) I get back to the states.

It's funny, though, our manager came in and started promising all these tours of the city and stuff to help acclimate us. It will be interesting to see if anything actually happens. Pretty much like managment back in the US I think. :)

All in all I'm pretty pleased with the training thus far. I'm just worried about being a "teacher" instead of being a "tutor".

I've Arrived!

So, I've arrived and I'm in training now...before lunch I was starting to doze a bit, but I'm hoping that lunch will help wake me up.

So, Chennai is...interesting. I think I like what I see so far. The company? Leaves a bit to be desired in setting arriving people up. When I first arrived, I got put in a company apartment that had been hastily vacated. Other than being messy, it was pretty nice. They said that it would be two days before I moved into the new apartment, so I was expecting it to be a week or so (good old IST!) :) But, the apartment was actually "ready" later that night. Apparantly there is quite a difference between my definition of ready and theirs. It looks like this new apartment hasn't been inhabited in quite some time. All over it's pretty dusty and smells pretty musty...but there's something in the kitchen that really reeks! Ew! Upon further investigation I discovered that I'm sharing the new apartment with at least a couple of cockroaches and they are huge! It scared the daylights out of me when I opened the drawer and one of them bounced back and forth so fast before I discovered what it was.

Luckily one of the guys that came to pick us up from the airport took me around a bit in the evening on his bike. (!!!!) We went out and sat on the beach and watched the Bay of Bengal. It was so relaxing!

Itinerary

So here's my itenerary...

FR 15APR LV ROCHESTER NY 115P US AIRWAYS 2315Y OK
AR NYC/LAGUARDIA 222P

FR 15APR AIRPORT TRANSFER CONFIRMED
TRANSFER FROM LAGUARDIA TO JFK AIRPORT REQUIRED
NEW YORK AIRPORT SERVICE EXPRESS

FR 15APR LV NEW YORK/KENNEDY 700P BRITISH AIR 174M OK
AR LONDON/HEATHROW 655A

SA 16APR LV LONDON/HEATHROW 140P BRITISH AIR 35M OK
AR MADRAS/CHENNAI 355A

I'm a little worried about the getting in at 4:00 AM and then having to work the next day (probably also in the morning) Luckily there are 2 others also flying in on this flight, so I won't be the only one struggling... :) Please pray that I'll make it through the day on Monday ok...