2010 begins ......
on Jen's Indian Adventure (India), 05/Jan/2010 14:28, 34 days ago
2010 started out with an office sport’s day. I went into the office on 1stJanuary and proceeded to get some work done, when bit by bit my colleagues started arriving into the HR office to say‘Happy New Year’ in English and to each teach me a few words in Oriya. When one realized I was actually working, he told me I should stop as no work is ever done on 1stJanuary. It’s a pity I wasn’t told that the day before as I had been in the office since just after 8am and the first visitor I had to the office was after 10.30 !It was explained to me that all they do here on 1stJanuary is wish each other well, have a communal office lunch and play sports in the gardens for the afternoon. And to top it all off the person telling me this was handing me his resignation so he could go off for a year to be a VSO volunteer.The afternoon was great fun. It was hilarious to watch a group of adults fight over the chairs in musical chairs. The way people walked slowly, then ran to be sure they were at a chair when the music stopped, just as children do was very funny. But then the real rivalry started–IndiavsPakistanin a cricket match. The rules were changed slightly to ensure it didn’t go on forever, but as could have been predicted India won by 6 wickets (You will know that what I know of the rules of cricket could be written on the back of a postage stamp, but saying ‘won by 6 wickets’ sounds like I know something about the game. Damien if you’re reading this and a team can’t win by 6 wickets please let me know).Naturally when the result was announced by our very fair referee it was time for chai. We all sat around the garden and it was after chai was served that the sign-song started. Soon enough there seemed to be a sing-off starting up from opposite sides of the circle of chairs– mind you this is a pure guess as it was all in Oriya or Hindi and my morning lessons wouldn’t have been enough for me to work this out, so instead I just sat back and enjoyed.At the end of the afternoon we were all presented with our new year gift of a water bottle, a very important thing to have when in approx 6 weeks we’ll be facing into the summer heat over here. I’d like to say I’m looking forward to that, but I’m not sure. And this iscoming from the girl who has been cold the last few evenings when it has dipped below 20 degrees !That same afternoon I got very excited when having applied for a bank account 4 weeks ago a couriered envelope was sitting on my desk. I joyfully opened it thinking‘finally my debit card’ to find the envelope contained no debit card and a cheque book which I will never use. I phoned my bank contact on Monday morning who 4 weeks earlier had told me how great the banking system is over here and that I’d have everything within 7 days to ask what had happened. As it turned out he was on his way to meet me at the office – quote ‘I’ll be there in 5 mins’ which actually was 1 ½ hours later - to then tell me I had to reapply for the debit card and sign another form.When asked for an explanation there was none. Thankfully my office colleagues were as annoyed as I was and I think he got the message, assuring me it would be couriered over to me within 7 days (I’m not holding my breath). It had all started out so great when he arrived to the office on my first day here with all the necessary forms and I didn’t have to go looking for a bank. Ah well, I guess it was too good to be true.I had my first trip to Puri on Saturday. Approx 2 hours fromBhubaneswaris the coastal town ofPuri. We traveled by bus and believe me when I say I will never complain about Irish busses again. All the busses here are from times past, but having the habit of being early paid off as I got a seat. There is no particular schedule to busses over here. They just go when they are full– and I mean full as in no standing room left.Puri is not really a seaside tourist resort as we’d know it. Certainly nothing likeGoawhich is further north. But tourists are discovering bit by bit it as it is meant to be good for surfers.As it was just a day round trip we found a nice fish restaurant and shopped for some locally handmade nic-nacs to decorate our apartments. Naturally being a sea-view restaurant it was a bit pricy for the local market, but it sold fish. You need to be here to understand how excited I now get when I see fish or meat on a menu. My body won’t know what hit it when I come home in November and get back to eating a non-veg diet.(Still not brave enough to buy chicken from the local stalls!) Before heading home we took time to dip our toes in the reasonably warm water and watch the sun set.Getting home was the adventure of the day. We had approached the bus from the rear and did not see the destination sign which would usually be on the front window. We confirmed that the bus was going toBhubaneswarand just assumed it was going to stop at the bus depot where we had started out from. Of course nothing is that simple over here. My friend, AnnMarie got off the bus early as it passes her house, but I stayed on it until it stopped approx 300 metres further in. The driver got off and I thought maybe he’s gone out for chai – which wouldn’t be unusual. But I was completely wrong. They were changing drivers as the bus was going toCuttack, not the local bus station. When the Indians on the bus saw me patiently sitting at the back they tried in their best Hinglish to advise me to get off. At this point it was after 9pm, very dark and I had no idea where in the city I was. I then passed a shop and bought some chocolate knowing that I’d be grateful for it by the time I reached home.I then found an auto rickshaw and told him I needed to get toEkamraGardens(the local site auto drivers would know and from where I could then walk to my apartment). He quoted me Rs50 which was reasonable and off we went. He then brought me to another road and I finally worked out that he didn’t know where he was going. When it seemed to register he asked me for another Rs150. Even though he had very little English he understood the words ‘ripped off’ and ‘traffic police’ at which point I got out and walked away, not paying him a penny. He must have known he was in the wrong ashe just drove away.I then found another auto driver who told me he didn’t go to that side of the city but proceeded to flag down another auto and negotiated the trip for Rs80 for me, which considering the distance we then drove was very good. To be honest I would have paid Rs800 as I was at the point of needing that bar of chocolate.One of the good guys. And more importantly‘thank you Cadburys’.Normally I would have no issues with not knowing where I am, but over here it is rare to see a woman out after 9pm and even though it’s actually safe to be out, it just adds to the staring, which I have gotten used to in the day, but have yet to get used to in the dark.My flat mate, Anouck, returned from her Christmas break, just in time for her birthday on Monday. We had a great night out at a city restaurant. It was very reasonably priced serving a mix of Indian and Thai food. Being Monday it wasn’t a mad night out. But plenty of those to come. We’re already arranging a Valentine’s Day party, a St Patrick’s Day party (of course!) the Jens’ birthday party (there are 2 Jens here and our birthdays are one after another) and I’m sure more birthdays throughout the year. Well, you knowwhat they say ‘all work and no play makes Jen a dull girl’.And all of this on top of 30 days annual leave and 13 public holidays. Really explains why they work 6 days per week over here.