It’s 9:30am on Monday morning and I’m sitting here on my bed having green tea and lychees. Lychees are the most amazing fruit I’ve ever had! Do we have them in the U.S.? I’ve only ever seen lychee-flavored things, such as a lychee martini or something of the likes, but I’ve never seen the actual fruit in the stores (unless I didn’t know what it was when I saw it). They’re about $2 for half a kilo. SO DELICIOUS! The German girls traveled for the weekend so they gave me about 7 Bangalore maps and an electric water heater, hence the tea. Too bad I only figured out how to use the water heater this morning. I tried other times this past weekend and only today realized the 2 outlets I tried weren’t working. So, 2/4 outlets in my room work…go figure.
This weekend flew by. I was nervous it would drag on because all the girls I’ve met here went traveling for the weekend, but somehow I managed to fill the time pretty easily. Yesterday I ended up going to Bannerghatta (pronounced (Bah-NAH-gah-tah…I know, what?) National Park. I walked about half an hour towards the Dairy Circle bus stop to catch the 365 bus to the park. I could have easily taken a tuk-tuk, but I needed the exercise and I’m glad I walked because I got to see all the shops on the way. I asked a few women while I was walking where Dairy Circle was, to make sure I was headed in the right direction. One lady was so sweet- she told me she would pass the bus stop and told me to come with her. She was on her way to work at one of the grocery markets. She told me never to ask any of the men here for directions, because they will tell me to go the wrong way! I told her I haven’t been asking any men anything and have pretty much been avoiding them.
The bus ride was only 40 minutes. The ticket line at the park was insane!! It moved pretty fast and I was only in line about 20 minutes, so it wasn’t too bad. One of the first things I did while in the park was go on the “grand safari.” Being one single person helped a lot; when they needed to fill the last seat on one of the buses, I got pulled up to the front of the line. I sat in the front seat next to the driver. I would say the bus held about 30 people, and was completely caged on all sides to prevent any disastrous wildlife encounters. The driver and his assistant kept asking to take my camera to take pictures for me, but I never let them because I’m sure that would require a hefty tip. I took great pics myself…no need for them! We saw lions, tigers, bears (oh my!) and white spotted deer. Thought it was hilarious how excited everyone was for the deer since I grew up with them in my back and front yards and they’re considered a nuisance in Maryland. Overall the safari was really fun and I’m glad I paid the extra 100 rupees for it ($2).
There were some creepy Indian men who thought it would be a good idea to take my picture, so I became a zoo exhibit myself. I just put my hand up in front of my face and give them dirty looks, and sometimes I ask what they’re looking at. 90% of Indian men are creepy and immature, I think it has something to do with the macho-man attitude here and also most of these men having such little education. Pretty funny because the average Indian man is probably 5’6” and 110 pounds. I also ended up meeting a few Americans at the park, including a lady from Jacksonville, who were all here on business. So funny how easily it is to pick out white people and especially Americans here. After a stroll around the zoo to see all the other animals and, of course, the elephants, I had a popsicle and headed back.
Here are some pics from the park:
The line to get in...thought I would be there all day but it only took 20 minutes
Tiger on the safari
The elephant rides. Looked awesome but I didn't feel like being shoved in between 15 Indians. I'm sure I'll have another chance to ride one somewhere else.
Had to have a popsicle to cool down a bit before I left :)The scramble for the 365 bus back to B’lore was crazy. Everyone pushes and crams to get on a bus, only to be left standing because all of the seats are taken. A girl around my age ended up standing too and when we saw another 365 bus pull up behind us at the station, we ran out of the bus together and got good seats on that next bus. They don’t turn on the AC of course, until the bus starts moving, so it was miserable waiting about 10 minutes for the bus to leave. For 35 rupees (less than a dollar), it was a good deal though, and only took 40 minutes to get back.
I remembered seeing a modern-looking pub called Manchester United on the walk to the bus stop, and made it my mission to find it on my walk back so I could stop in and have a much-needed beer. The bar was really, really nice, cleaner than any bar I’ve been to here and one of the best atmospheres I’ve seen. The bartender was from Manipur and his name was Myopin but then when I asked him a few minutes later to say his name again, he paused and said “Stanley!” Haha, I have no idea what he was talking about, but I think he was trying to translate what his name would be in English. I ended up having a few Kingfinger Premiums (the ONLY beer on tap anywhere) and a delicious buffalo chicken wrap (side note: I NEEDED protein, I’ve been craving it the past few days and have noticed that while I’ve been here 10 days, I have only needed to shave once- my hair is literally not growing from lack of protein). I also met a few nice girls at this pub. One was from the U.S. (NY) and has been over here almost a year working for Goldman Sachs and living out of a hotel not too far from where I’m staying. The other two girls were Indian, but one was born and raised in Dubai, and her native language is English. Leonne (NY), Michelle (Dubai) and I ended up going to another pub in Indiranagar, about a ten minute tuk-tuk ride away. It was cool to see other areas of Bangalore and I’m sure I’ll be going back to Indiranagar again. It’s more of the trendy area of town. Also got some great recommendations from these girls of other places in B’lore I need to check out.
I don’t have to be at the department today until 1:30pm, so I think I’ll go walk around and get some more bottled water and maybe check out the nearby Oasis mall. This afternoon I think I’ll be going to the rural clinic in Mugalur again for a geriatric clinic. Geriatrics really aren’t my thing but hopefully it will be interesting. Tomorrow will be the eye clinic in Mugalur, Wednesday will be the geriatric clinic (not sure if it’s the same one as today), and Thursday I will start my research project in the department. Dr. Farah and Dr. Twinkle, both faculty in the dept., are supposed to talk to Dr. Dominic today about the possibility of me working with them on some cardiovascular disease research. Everyone here always has to check with the head male in charge of whatever they’re doing before being allowed to proceed with anything. It’s so ridiculous, but I guess that’s the way the U.S. used to be way back when. I hope India eventually makes some progress in equality of the sexes, but it doesn’t look like that will happen any time soon.
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