24 March 2006
I'm coming home!!!!
Gotta love the way everything happens at the last minute! I'm coming home on Tuesday!!!!
23 March 2006
Anyone know anyone that wants to buy my car?
Ok. So I've decided to renew my contract with the company for another year. HOWEVER, it's with a different program and under different management, so hopefully things will be better! *crossing fingers* :) But, yes, I am happy about the decision.
Anyway, I am coming back to the US imminently to get a new visa and take care of things there (including selling my car) in a relatively small amount of time. So I'm asking if anyone knows anyone in the market for a new car to please let me know. I have a 2005 Suzuki Aerio, manual transmission, with only 5000 miles and I'm looking to sell it for the Kelly Blue Book value of $11,000.
It looks like I am coming back next week and will be leaving by the middle of April. I hope to see as many people as possible while I am there!
Anyway, I am coming back to the US imminently to get a new visa and take care of things there (including selling my car) in a relatively small amount of time. So I'm asking if anyone knows anyone in the market for a new car to please let me know. I have a 2005 Suzuki Aerio, manual transmission, with only 5000 miles and I'm looking to sell it for the Kelly Blue Book value of $11,000.
It looks like I am coming back next week and will be leaving by the middle of April. I hope to see as many people as possible while I am there!
21 March 2006
Holi
One of the festivals that I was really looking forward to seeing here in India was Holi...I mean is there a comparable festival/holiday in the US where you are allowed (encouraged even) to smear colors all over everyone? It always seemed like it would be one big party day. For more information and pictures, check out The Colors of India) I was disappointed, however, to find out that here in Chennai, it is not celebrated very much. It is much more of a North Indian festival and the community here (at least in my area is very small.) Actually, all over India, many of the politicians were encouraging people not to play holi at all. Apparently, in past years, there have been many unsavory incidents due to the free intermingling of the sexes for this holiday. I don't know, the images of the festival still intrigue me. I think if I'm here next year, I'll have to go North to see it played properly.
16 March 2006
A visit
It was really exciting for me to have my close friends, Stephen & Malinda, come to visit me for a week last month. I couldn't wait to show them around Chennai (not that there's a whole lot to see here!) and show them what my life was like here. It was great to be able to talk about people and things back home and not have any cultural barriers in the way. As with all international arrivals, they got in around 2:00 AM Saturday morning. :) Luckily, I'm still working nights (9pm-6am), so I was awake to greet them. :)
They spent some time here with me, but then went off on their own to visit Ooty and Mysore. (I'm so jealous because I haven't even been there yet!!!) The time we
spent toge
ther was good. We visited Mahabilipuram, parts I hadn't even see yet (where Malinda and I both got sunburned pretty badly) and did a lot of shopping in T. Nagar, Besent Nagar, and Mylapore. We also got to see the St. Thomas memorials-St. Thomas mount, the Little Mount, & San Thome Basilica, which holds the tomb of St. Thomas. I have never seen any of this in my time here! Unfortunately, they also got to experience the worst time ever with an auto driver-who didn't want to negotiate for the whole trip and then complained to the nuns and priests at the Basilica that we were cheating him. Sigh....well, I guess that's a good example of the fascinating (for lack of a better word) contrasts in India! We even did a drive-by viewing of Marina Beach and Fort St. George. 
Introducing them to the food here was fun as well! Of course we had to have a good south Indian thali, dosas, south Indian coffee and of course fresh juices! (Mmmm...fresh grape juice-I will really miss that...fresh lime sodas....sweet lime juice...ok I better stop now before I get too misty-eyed!)
I just wanted to finish off and say that I was really glad that they were able to come-it was a very special time for me-so anyone else from home who wants to come visit me should definitely consider it....
They spent some time here with me, but then went off on their own to visit Ooty and Mysore. (I'm so jealous because I haven't even been there yet!!!) The time we
spent toge
ther was good. We visited Mahabilipuram, parts I hadn't even see yet (where Malinda and I both got sunburned pretty badly) and did a lot of shopping in T. Nagar, Besent Nagar, and Mylapore. We also got to see the St. Thomas memorials-St. Thomas mount, the Little Mount, & San Thome Basilica, which holds the tomb of St. Thomas. I have never seen any of this in my time here! Unfortunately, they also got to experience the worst time ever with an auto driver-who didn't want to negotiate for the whole trip and then complained to the nuns and priests at the Basilica that we were cheating him. Sigh....well, I guess that's a good example of the fascinating (for lack of a better word) contrasts in India! We even did a drive-by viewing of Marina Beach and Fort St. George. 
Introducing them to the food here was fun as well! Of course we had to have a good south Indian thali, dosas, south Indian coffee and of course fresh juices! (Mmmm...fresh grape juice-I will really miss that...fresh lime sodas....sweet lime juice...ok I better stop now before I get too misty-eyed!)
I just wanted to finish off and say that I was really glad that they were able to come-it was a very special time for me-so anyone else from home who wants to come visit me should definitely consider it....
14 March 2006
Narnia
So who has seen The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe? I finally saw this movie in the theaters here (Mayajaal on ECR for those of you that know-my first time there!) As a kid growing up, I loved these books! I probably read them more than 50 times. I have also seen the 1989 BBC production, but I remember being not very impressed with it. I really enjoyed this version, however. It seemed to better match the images in my mind that I envisioned while reading it...although I thought one of the girls was supposed to be blond?
Hum Tum
So why didn't anyone tell me that my favorite chick flick, When Harry Met Sally..., has been copied into a Hindi movie??? I know I shouldn't be surprised, are there any English rom-com movies that haven't been turned into Hindi movies??? Nonetheless, I enjoyed Hum Tum (which, for the non-Hindi speaking crowd, doesn't actually rhyme,even though it looks like it should) very much. The plot runs basically the same-the two characters meet randomly (or what seems like randomly) over the years and begin to build a friendship, though, at first, the girl can't stand the guy. They help each other out during times of crisis and when they finally have sex, it drives them apart. The interesting twist on the movie (to keep it from becoming an exact copy) was that the guy was a cartoonist who created a girl and guy character who were trying to be friends. Instead of the couch episodes to separated the scenes as in WHMS..., the scenes in Hum Tum were separated by the cartoons. Cute!
11 March 2006
Back by popular demand!
Ok. I can hardly believe that it has been a whole month since I've posted anything here! Not that I haven't had anything to say, mind you, I have many posts swirling around my head, just circumstances have prevented me from having the time to sit down and post. (Well, that and the fact that they have now blocked access to blogger.com from my office-though I can still read my blog itself. Does this make sense to anyone else???)
I'm sure, though, those of you reading from home are hoping that this post will answer THE question in everyone's minds, the one that few people have dared to ask. Namely, "When are you coming home?" Well, I'm setting expectations early in the post that you will be disappointed. Because the only answer I can give right now is, "I don't know", which, I know, is not much different than where I was when I posted last.
Since that time, I have interviewed a few places, but it looks like none of them are working out. It seems that no one is willing to pay for an American. (How can it be that my horrible company pays the best? It's almost too fantastic to comprehend.) Am I too demanding? I hardly think so when these companies have centers in the US where they would know exactly how cheaply they are getting me for, especially for relocating to another country. I am now trying to get my mind to accept the fact that I will probably be coming back to the US to stay.
Anyway, I have many more cheerful things to write about in forthcoming posts (such as the visit from my friends Stephen & Malinda and the nosy security guard and the Hindi movie that I saw) but I wanted to get something posted so that people would quit hounding me about it. :) :) :)
I'm sure, though, those of you reading from home are hoping that this post will answer THE question in everyone's minds, the one that few people have dared to ask. Namely, "When are you coming home?" Well, I'm setting expectations early in the post that you will be disappointed. Because the only answer I can give right now is, "I don't know", which, I know, is not much different than where I was when I posted last.
Since that time, I have interviewed a few places, but it looks like none of them are working out. It seems that no one is willing to pay for an American. (How can it be that my horrible company pays the best? It's almost too fantastic to comprehend.) Am I too demanding? I hardly think so when these companies have centers in the US where they would know exactly how cheaply they are getting me for, especially for relocating to another country. I am now trying to get my mind to accept the fact that I will probably be coming back to the US to stay.
Anyway, I have many more cheerful things to write about in forthcoming posts (such as the visit from my friends Stephen & Malinda and the nosy security guard and the Hindi movie that I saw) but I wanted to get something posted so that people would quit hounding me about it. :) :) :)
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