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 together 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....

Holdiays

By the way-

Happy Pi Day!!!!

-and-

Happy Holi!!!

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!

Randomly...

Why isn't the word "blog" in the spell-check for blogger.com????

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. :) :) :)

Go Steelers!

I just have to say that I'm happy that I was able to watch the Steelers beat the pants off the Seahawks (sorry, that was just for Liz' benefit!) And see my favorite Steeler, Hines Ward, win the MVP. Although, I must admit, getting up to watch the game at 4:30 AM and not getting to watch all of the new commercials did put a damper on the excitement of the game. I had to go watch it at my friend's place (I don't have cable) and his mother thought that I was crazy to get up that early to watch the game, though I know many, many Indians who would get up at that time on consecutive days to watch cricket. It's all a matter of perspective I guess...

I've added pictures from December and January to the blog now, so enjoy!

Hyderabad

Liz has accepted a training position back in the US, so she's left me all alone and headed back home. Well, I guess she hasn't left me completely alone; the kittens are always there to keep me company and drive me crazy (not necessarily in that order). :)

Before she left, we decided to take a trip to Hyderabad, the capital of the state of Andhara Pradesh. We were dying to get away for a bit and the trip took on extra significance due to Liz' upcoming departure. We took the train again, and I must say, there is a significant upgrade between 3rd class AC (experienced on our Kanyakumari trip) and 2nd class AC here.

We both enjoyed playing tourist and spending our time sightseeing. First, we saw the Birla Mandir, a beautiful white marble temple. Then, we took a boat trip to the Buddha statue in the middle of the Hussain Sagar. We met up with a friend who had moved back to Hyderabad from Chennai. He took us for a drive around the city, including Hi-Tech City where all the BPOs are located. I have to say the architechture there is so much nicer and more creative than that in Chennai! The climate is much cooler and less humid than Chennai and the air itself feels cleaner and less polluted than Chennai.

The next day we took a trip to Ramoji Film City, where many of the Bollywood movies are filmed. They have 21 or so different gardens that can be used for all those dance scenes where the hero and heroine are transported to an exotic location in the middle of the movie. We got the feeling that not very many foreigners visit here because people kept coming up to us and asking to take pictures with us. I was thinking that we should have negotiated our entry ticket prices down a bit, since it seemed as if we were part of the tour. :) Anyway, despite that, Liz and I enjoyed taking melodramatic posed pictures throughout the gardens.

For our last day, we took a tour of Golconda fort-all 750 steps of it. (Boy, as we were puffing through it, we were thinking that we need to get away from our desk jobs more often!) :) The views and architechture there were amazing! I was especially amazed at the hall where you could hear whispers clearly from one side of the room to the other. After that, we headed to the Char Minar (4 towers) bazaar to shop! Hyderabad is known as the Pearl City, so Liz and I both splurged on some pearl jewlery. This bazaar is also known for fancy footwear and glass bangles, which we both indulged in. We had to bargain for everything, so I'm sure we paid more than we should, but we were both happy with the bargaining that we did.

Sunday we had a nice relaxing brunch at the Taj hotel before catching the train. Overall we enjoyed our trip; however, we both felt that we were stared at/ogled at so much more than we are in Chennai. Not that people in Chennai don't check you out, but I feel that they are a bit more subtle about it. Liz also had her butt grabbed three times while were there-and once was even in the temple!!! I didn't have the same experience, and I'm not sure how to take that-is my butt not as attractive as Liz'??????????? Hmmm...maybe on that note I should not allow comments to this post. :)

Appearances

On Sunday morning, one of our friends had an emergency come up, so I ended up baby-sitting for her two boys-aged 9 and 2 1/2 for a bit. I called a friend of mind to ask for suggestions on where to go and he said he would take us somewhere to entertain them. I assumed that he would bring his car, so I was quite surprised when he showed up with just his bike (motorcycle). Let me take a minute here to explain that it is not uncommon in India to see whole families riding on the back of a bike-the parents and two or three small children all squeezed together, so I'm assuming that he didn't really think twice about planning it out that way. It was just a bit of a cultural clash for me because I never thought that I would end up crammed with two kids on the back of a bike. Even though I am jumping ahead in the story a bit, I should also point out here that my friend is a white American married to an Indian, and the kids reflect that.

We took the kids to a video game parlor which they seemed to enjoy. However, at a stoplight on the way home, I notice a guy on a bike ahead of us looking at me strangely. As we started to move, I realized that it was the youth leader from my church. :-0 Uh oh! Let's review the details to make sure everyone understands how bad this looks: First, I wasn't at church that morning due to the emergency. Second, I (a white American) am sitting with two kids (1/2 American, 1/2 Indian) and an Indian man on a bike, just like any Indian family. Third, I've professed to be single numerous times at the church. Additionally, I know that I'm not going to be at church the next week because I'll be out of town on vacation with Liz. I'm thinking that this doesn't look good at all. Will I ever be able to show my face again at the Madras Vineyard???

Mocha

The Monday after Pongal was the day for final assessments for my mortgage batch. They were a really good batch overall and they all passed their final assessment. (For some reason, I seem to have better luck with my even numbered batches-and they were #6.) After class, they wanted to take me out to treat me, so we chose a new coffee shop that had just recently opened-Mocha. Mocha cafe is a chain here in India (I visited one when I was in Delhi), but the one in Chennai retains much of the feel of Java's or Spot Coffee in Rochester. It is located in an old house and one of the rooms-the bathroom-uses toilets as seats for one of the tables. They have also filled a bathtub with pillows for seating at another table. It's pretty cool! We usually end up sitting outside, though, so that we can smoke the hookah (yes, Pete, I've finally joined the club!) :) However, we didn't get one this time (I didn't want to shock the girls in my batch too badly!) It was the first time any one of my batches has planned an outing like this and it was really fun! They even got me flowers as well! Awww...!

A Day at the Races

This weekend was the celebration of Pongal, the harvest festival in Tamil Nadu. Pongal is a three day holiday with different celebrations on each day. It seems as if it is similar in nature to Thanksgiving back home with celebration time with family and traditional foods to eat. Pongal (the food) can be either sweet or savory. The savory form is traditionally eaten for breakfast around the year, but the sweet form is eaten on Pongal. It's made of rice, dal, & jaggery.

Saturday was the start of pongal. This day is literally the day to be thankful for the sun. We spent the day at the Madras Race Track, watching the derby. (This is not a normal way to celebrate Pongal; it was just a coincidence it happened on the same day.) Racing is not a big sport here in Chennai (apparently one person owns most of the winning horses here), but my friend's husband is a horse trainer/owner, so she invited us as her guests. We had a lot of fun, placing Rs. 5 (~10 cents) bets on the horses, even though my friend wouldn't give us any insider information!

Sunday was mattu pongal, a day of thanksgiving for the cows. I hear that, in the villages, the farmers give their cows a day of rest and decorate them with paint for the festival. I was disappointed not to see any of the city cows painted for the holiday!

Monday was kaanum pongal, a day typically reserved for visiting friends and relatives. Of course, we still had to work, so we were unable to join the throngs of people that flock to Marina Beach to picnic on the holiday.

Call Center Humor

I'm trying to collect various examples of call center humor. Here's what I have so far:

1.) The Onion: New Tech-Support Caste Arises in India

2.) The Humor of Melvin Durai: INDIAN ENGLISH: IT VILL BE WERY HELPFUL, YAAR!

3.) Conan O'Brien clip: Andy Blitz' trip to a Hyderabadi call center

If you can't see the humor in these, then you haven't had enough customer/technical support experiences to appreciate what we are doing here. :)

Yes, Pete, the mistletoe is broken! :)

Liz and I took the Christmas decorations down this weekend. The cats are sad now that they don't have anything to climb on... :) It was actually a rather sad experience for me at least. When we bought all of these decorations, I remember thinking that we would be able to use them again next Christmas. We were in the mindset that we liked being here so much, we would be able put up with the company for another year. We had all of these plans of what we would buy for the next year and what we would change in the next year. However, as we packed up the Christmas decorations, it seems that this is not going to be the case. I don't think I can live with the proposed changes in the contracts, so I'm setting my expectations that I will have to leave here in March. It was rather subdued as we divided up what we each wanted to take back and talking about who we could pass the remainder onto instead of packing it up for next Christmas. I don't want to leave...but I don't think I can live with these conditions...

Cultural Day

I've started training a batch for our new mortgage program, the company's first foray into the financial services industry. (Who would have thought that I'd be back working with financial stuff again??) Some of it is fun (training for a new program instead of the repetition of shooting out tech support batches), but some of it is frustrating (dealing with people who don't know the system and having to develop curriculum at the same time as teaching). The batch has been pretty receptive, however, to trying different things. They have a lot of pressure on them, being the pilot batch for the program, but generally they seem to be coping well.

I was proud of them: when auditions for our company's annual cultural show were announced, they managed to get together enough people for two entries into the show-one vocal performance and one fashion show-all in about two days. Luckily for me, the vocal group managed to get their performance together without asking for my help. I only required that they pick an English song, since they were in accent training. They chose "As Long as You Love Me" by the Backstreet Boys (appropriate since there were 5 guys in the group!) The fashion show, however, was a different story! When I asked them (3 guys and 3 girls) what they were going to do they all looked at me blankly. Somehow I managed to choreograph a few moves for them. (Luckily, I remember watching various fashion shows at the Basant Festivals, sponsored by the Indian organization at RIT!) I was a bit nervous because some of them seemed to have trouble remembering the routine.

The show was actually very good-although a bit too long! Liz and I got there early in the morning so that I could practice with my group a bit before it started. We did a run-through, practiced walking a bit, but weren't able to practice with the music that they had selected. ("One Love") Throughout the day, Liz and I were able to see people from the various programs that we had worked with showcasing their talents, which was great! My singers went on right after lunch. They surprised me by dedicating the song to me-and I was extremely touched by that. Unfortunately, the fashion show was one of the last events. Due to time constraints with the stage, they cut the fashion shows' allowed time in half. This turned out to be a benefit to my group. They all managed to remember their cues (for the most part) during the first few positions or at least cover it up when they forgot. And it did look pretty good (if I do say so myself). Again, luckily for me, they didn't get to the part where they had wanted me to come up on the stage (like the designers or hosts of the shows have to). :)

Happy New Year!!!

...and Merry Christmas while I'm at it! :) Liz and I managed to have a nice Christmas here, even though we were both missing being at home for the holidays. On Christmas eve, we went to a midnight mass, where we were pretty much able to keep up with the service (well, except for not catching on to the kneeling part!), even though neither of us has a Catholic background. Christmas morning, we got up and began to cook an American-style lunch. (Which actually turned out pretty well. It made me think about attempting to cook here every now & then.) Raghu came over, we all opened presents, ate, and headed over to the apartment of one of the other American trainers for a party. All in all it was a good day.
Now that it's a new year, it's time to look to the year ahead. First, we need to take down the Christmas tree, especially since the ornaments are already dusty and the kittens have now decided to use it as a jungle gym. :) Secondly, it is time to start evaluating what I'm doing here, if I'll stay for another year, and what I'll do if I don't stay for another year. Supposedly our contract renewals start on the 10th of this month. The word on the street is that there are 8 things different from our old contracts (not that those were adhered to that well anyway), but I'm betting that the changes are not going to be ones in our favor! *sigh* All I can do is wait and see... Waiting is always the hard part: too many questions start running through my head! Do I even want to stay? Yes, I love being here in India, but working for this company can even take the joy out of that at times. But what will I do when I get back to the US? Go back to school and get a degree in education? Or, do I apply to teach in another country? What is the appeal: Teaching? India? Or specifically, teaching in India? I was hoping that this year in India would clarify things a bit for me...but right now I feel just as confused as when I left. :)

An emu farm?

This weekend Liz and I were invited to visit an emu farm, run by one of the students currently in new-hire communication training with another trainer. We were both surprised to hear that there was such a thing in India, so we readily agreed to go...even though we had to leave at 6:30 AM to get there!! (Ugh! I haven't been up that early since I got moved off of the morning shift!) The farm was located about 2 hours away from Chennai, a bit across the boarder in the state of Andhra Pradesh, with only a smallish town nearby. It was a big occasion because it was the second anniversary of the farm and it seems as if they had really done quite a bit with the land in that time. Besides the emus, they also raise turkeys & cows as well as several fields of corn and rice. The place seemed quite scientifically run-we weren't even able to enter the hatchery because it was a sterile environment. [It has to be since the eggs can each run upwards of Rs. 1500 (~US$35)]. We were, however, able to go into the pens and pet the adult birds, which were a bit softer than they looked. After our tour of the farm, they treated us to a nice lunch (Andhra food is generally spicier than that in Tamil Nadu!) and we headed for home to find our own animals crying for dinner. :)

Meow, meow, meow, meow

So in addition to all the Christmas shopping, Liz and I have also acquired some company in our apartment. We have adopted two six-week-old kittens that were birthed on Liz' friend's porch. Pet ownership, especially of cats, does not seem to be very common here in India; although stray animals roam freely in the streets. It some areas, these animals cause big problems. Some celebrity here (Amitabh Bachan?) needs to take up Bob Barker's crusade ("have your pets spayed or neutered") Although, I guess it would have to be "have the strays in front of your gate sterilized!" :)

But I digress. Yes, we now have two lively kittens running around our apartment. We wanted to give them good south Indian names, so we have chosen Lakshmi and Priya. Apparently, this many of our friends are shocked by this-they feel that pets should only have cutesy pet names, not real person names. For the first couple of days, we also referred to Priya as "the noisy one". She was constantly crying from the time we put her in the box to take her to the apartment to the time we let them out in the living room. She hated to be picked up and hated to be put down. It was a long night and it made me repeat my mantra ("this is why I don't want kids") over and over. :) Lakshmi was much more pliant. She reveled in the attention and was calm about being handled. However, after a few days of settling in, it seems as if the personalities have been reversed. Priya still doesn't like to be picked up, but she settles in next to you on the sofa without too much protesting. Lakshmi is now loudly demanding more and more attention, as if she has just now realized that she's not going to get to go back to her mother.

It definitely has brought more life to our apartment...especially the amount of time we have to spend cleaning up the messes!!!! UGH!!!! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Well, the cyclone seems to have passed us by or petered out somewhere before it hit much land. We all were a bit tense to know whether we would get stuck at work Friday night again, but luckily the rain didn't hit too hard.

Liz and I were quite happy because it meant that we could spend Saturday shopping for Christmas decorations for our apartment. One of our friends lent us an extra tree and we found a Christmas store in Egmore where we could buy trimmings for it. And buy we did! :) We got lights, garland, and ornaments to cover our 5-ish foot tree. Without planning it purposely, we ended up with a patriotic red, blue & white (the lights) tree. Hmm...maybe we are a little homesick!!!! We got stockings, a manger scene that lights up & plays 'silent night' and even mistletoe!!!! Afterwards, we went to dinner at the American diner that opened up recently. Sparky's diner is great-real American food at reasonable prices. I've been there twice now and had a real burger (with no extra spices added) and a meatball sub on homemade Italian bread. MMMMM!!! One of the best parts is the ambiance. It's decorated all over with Christmas lights and Christmas decorations. And they play real, honest-to-goodness Christmas carols the whole time. The owner of the place-an American himself-is even having a special Invitation-only event that we are planning on checking out on Christmas Eve. I never really thought of spending Christmas Eve in a diner, but I am really looking forward to it.

Please Pray!

This is an update that we are still being plagued by rain and flooding in Chennai. On Sunday, our pastor said that if the water rose another 3 feet, even our church building would be in the water. The water in the rivers is so high, officials are worried that any one of the bridges could give way at any time. Crowds were gathering on the bridges just to see the depth and the current in the river.

Not only is it a spectacle, but the flooding has already displaced the many people that lived in huts along the river. Our pastor pointed out that the more the flooding continued, the more money would have to be diverted for flood relief from other civic necessities.

Cyclonic storms are again predicted for the next couple of days, so I'm asking-PLEASE PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE CITY!

Aloha!

I just got back from my quick trip to Hawaii and I'm feeling great! (Well, except for the jet lag, that is!) I guess a vacation to a tropical paradise is always good for the soul, no matter where you come from! :) I had a wonderful time in Hawaii celebrating the union of my friend Heather to her partner Alexis. They had a beautiful ceremony on the beach and all of the events were full of love from the family and friends surrounding the couple. They both made the guests feel loved and valued as integral parts of their lives. I greatly enjoyed getting to know Alexis' side as well as meeting Heather's friends that I had heard so much about during our time in college.

After the wedding, I was able to meet up with one of my close friends from elementary through high school. She now works as a dolphin trainer at Sea Life Park. I remember her saying that she wanted to work with dolphins from the beginning, so it is pretty exciting to see her now living out that dream! We even got to go "backstage" to meet one of the penguins and one of the dolphins and learn a bit about their training. It was such an awesome experience to be that close to both animals! I managed to survive my 7-hour layover in Singapore Airport, even though almost all of the shops were closed (which may not be a bad thing in terms of my budget!). Luckily I managed to find the movie theater to keep my mind engaged for some time. The trip back to India really reminded me of what I had been missing while I was gone. Indian Airlines has got to be one of the worst airlines ever! Everything about it was bad: the plane itself should probably have been retired at least 5 years ago-I was sitting next to the emergency exit and I could hear it rattle the entire time, the seat covers were all torn and falling off and there was no movie screen at all (for a 4 hour trip.) The food was horrible-completely unrecognizable and tasteless! I didn't know what to say when the steward who collected my tray said, "I hope you enjoyed your meal!" :)

One of the more amusing parts for me was that while we were descending for the landing in Chennai, the Indian passengers were all standing up in the aisles, opening the overhead bins for their carry-on luggage--completely ignoring both the seatbelt sign as well as the instructions from the crew! Then, the two people next to me got up and moved to seats in the front of the plane so that they could be sure to be one of the first ones to get off!

When I got through customs at the airport and was waiting for my luggage, the power went off! Welcome back to India! :)