Work-out World

This e-mail was sent to my work out buddies back home to describe my initial experience with Indian fitness. It was sent on November 23 (Thankgiving).



Hope you are all doing well and enjoying Thanksgiving. Eric has today and tomorrow off since he is still working for the US, but I am here at work. The really funny thing is that at Northwestern I didn't regularly make it in early beacuse of my commute, but here since my commute is so short I am the first one in every day and I am ususally in a hour or more before the next person comes in. It is kind of nice. Anyway, I had my first Indian work-out last night and thought that I would let you know how it went. First of all, I stopped by the gym (which is right on my way home from work, so ultra-convenient) and asked about the classes and the costs. The guy told me it was 500 Rs (about $11) for membership, and then 1600 Rs ($36) a month for classes!!! Mind you, they only have 1 class a day, and no classes on weekends. I thought that the price was a bit much for what they are offering (considering I was only paying around $25 a month at Northwestern), but I asked if I could try a class out and think about it (I actually planned to try to negotiate a better price since you can barter for about anything here). Anyway, I spent all yesterday dreading the work out (which is at 6:30 PM) because I am really unaccustomed to standing out so much. As about the only Westerner around here, people notice me and stare which is a little uncomfortable. Additionally, no one wears shorts here, and I can not work out in pants, thus drawing more attention to myself. Anyway, I show up and change in a tiny little room and of course no one talks to me because I am a Westerner, whatever. So the class begins and the instructor is SO out of shape, and her teaching style is a mix of Marilyn (the militant kickboxer who yells) and Annie (who only demonstrates the move, then stops). The upside is that the class was a good workout, and was made even more intense due to the fact that the studio is in a third floor unairconditioned (no fans either) building in Bangalore, which is in India, which has a tropical climate. So I was sweating like a man, and my face was so red (which
also made me stand out as all the other participants were Indian and barely working). I was the fittest of all the people in the room, which made me feel great (dispite having not worked out in about three weeks), and was surprised that most of the other people in the class would just stop doing whatever they were doing and just sit on
the floor and take a break. I was thinking, "Gee, if you guys wore shorts maybe you wouldn't get so hot and might be able to keep going." It is really wierd. Anyway, after the class I asked the manager what the pricing was and he told me (this is a different guy than I had talked to previously about pricing) that the classes for three months are 2250 Rs (which turns out to be $13 a month instead of the $36 I was
quoted originally). I think that the price was so different because the second time I asked about the price at the same time as some of the Indian participants and was given the Indian price, not the Western, which happens pretty frequently here. So, I didn't love the class but it was a good workout and there are not many alternatives
here so I will join tonight and see how it goes over the next three months. They offer step, body sculpting, kick-boxing, and some other stuff so I think that it should be okay, it is a matter of them getting used to me and me getting used to the classes. But after the class was over a couple of the other participants came up to me who overheard me talking to the manager and said that they couldn't believe that this was my first class because I had done so well. I explained to them that I have been doing step in the US for about 6 years and that pretty much all step is alike, so they should hang in there and it will get easier. It was nice to talk to some of the other participants, most people here initially stare, but end up being very nice and engaging folks. Anyway, I don't know what class is tonight, the schedule is not set, and you don't know what it will be until you show up, which is also strange. Boy, who knew that I had so much to say about working out. So that's the story.

Turkeyless Thanksgiving

This e-mail was sent Novemeber 20, bemoaning my eating prospects for the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration...



I can't believe that Thurs. is already Thanksgiving. I am pretty sure that we will not be having any turkey... So sad. Food has probably been the hardest thing here. The things in the grocery stores (which are honestly the size of a convenient store in the US) are totally unfamiliar to me and it is impossible to get almost all of the things that we had at home. No more soy-milk for me!!! We eat almost no meat, I don't even think that I have met an Indian here who eats meat, so it is very hard to come by. I have cravings for my Mom's meat-balls and meatloaf, anything where the main ingredient is MEAT. Do you think that meatballs would make through the mail okay? Ha Ha. I also miss bread and rolls, since most people don't have ovens (isn't that just nuts???) yeast bread is not a big thing here though you can get it. Luckily this weekend we found a bakery who makes rolls, and I have bought some of those to snack on. That is the problem, no snack food, and certianly no healthy snack food. I have fantasies about coming back to the US and bringing back to India with us bags and bags full of fat-free potato chips, fat-free Ritz crackers, etc.



We have run into a problem getting high-speed internet at home, so we are not able to use our Vonage phone yet. Getting most things done here is much harder that at home, it is an excellent exercise in patience and self-control. There is just not the urgency associated with the tasks as we accustomed in the US. We did get mobile phones and a land-line (for our eventual internet access) so we are just waiting on high speed internet (the most important thing). We do have internet acces through a modem at home, so I guess that is better than nothing (though I would guess that Eric would disagree).

Our arrival and initial impressions...

This is an e-mail that I sent to friends and family about a week after arriving in Bangalore. It was while we were still living in the serviced apartment, just before we moved into our apartment (around Novemeber 9).



Things here are moving right along, we have rented a three-bedroom apartment, it is the second floor of a home in a nice (and quiet) neighborhood here in Banglalore. The place is completely furnished so we don't have to get anything (except a microwave, not everyone here has one) which a a relief. After going out and about for the past week, I really did not want to have to arrange to furnish an apartment, as there is no such thing as a one stop shop here. Every shop sells just a few things and stores the like of Target, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc. are unheard of here. Also to complicate things, when one rents an unfurnished apt. or house, it means that there is no refrigerator, no cook-top (people do not use ovens here, so I guess
that I won't be doing any baking), or washing machines. As most people still wash their clothes the very old fashioned way with a stick of detergent, a stone, and a brush, laundromats are not readily available so if you don't want to was your own clothes by that method or hire someone to do it, you have to buy the washing machine. It seems that drying clothes is almost always done outside so I have yet to see a dryer. And everything is so blessed small, the fridges, the washers only hold about half the amount of clothes as a standard washer in the US. Where we are staying now (since we are having an internet connection installed in our apartment and will likely not move in until this weekend as we can not bear to be without internet access) is also said to be nice (I have found that this a relative term depending on your standards) as the house that we are in is fine, but it is just off of a main road and it is quite noisy all through the day with dogs (there are a lot of dogs in the street) as well as nearly continuous honking, and the occasional train. I believe it must be a genetic trait of the Indian people to honk, toot, and blow whatever horn, bell, or whistle their particular mode of transportation is equipped with. I have honestly noticed people honking for no reason at all. It must be a consequence of the suicidal and homicidal way in which driving is approached in this city. There are absolutely no rules of the road besides survival of the fittest and looking out only for one's self. The result is that lanes are meaningless, street lights mean nothing, and the road is a very dangerous place to be. Added to this are the dogs, cows, oxen, and people (there are often either no sidewalks or they are crowded with people browsing at the shops that line them or they are a muddied mess) crossing and walking in the streets, and you have a recipe for impending disaster. In fact, I have been told that there are (not surprisingly) many accidents and due to the number of autorickshaws (auto for short here), motocycles, and bicycles, many of these are fatal. We have not been involved in an accident per say yet, though an auto we were in scraped a city bus that it was trying to squeeze past and on two other occasions were nearly hit in one case a dog, an in the other a motorcyclist. So getting around is exciting, to say the least.



Reading the previous section you may have got the impression that I do not like it here, but that could not be more untrue. There are so many nice things about Bangalore. The first is that there are some of the most helpful people (probably in the world) here. One of Eric's acquaintances has been so kind to us, she spent her entire weekend taking us around the city to look for a home and she even took part of Monday off to help us negotiate the contract. She has been invaluable to our adjustment here. Also the owner of the serviced apartments that we are staying at has been a wonderful source of information. Another nice thing about the city is also the cost of things. An auto ride into work for Eric is about $2 and a ride to MG road (like the Mag mile I guess) is also just $2. Food is also inexpensive, even at the Western restaurants (we have been to a KFC and Pizza Hut, we needed a break form curry and spices) where you would be hard-pressed to spend more than $10 altogether for three people to dine. Eric and I went to the NCBS to have lunch with Dr, Hasan and some of my other colleagues, and as it is subsidized there, the food is even cheaper. Eric and I spent $2 for both of our lunches with also included 2 1 liter bottle of water (we are trying to stay away from tap water). What a bargain. I think that after only a week we are doing quite well and I imagine that in another week's time we will be doing even better. We have been able begin the process of opening a banking account here, and as we have what is probably considered to be some money in the US, here we are treated like a different class, and at the bank we got the VIP treatment, which we would never have received back in the US. I still haven't decided about hiring servants, we of course have them at the serviced apartment, but I am not yet comfortable with the idea of someone doing my dishes or my laundry in my own home. Time will tell. Anyway, I have rambled on long enough about our lives in India, I could say so much more but I have probably bored you enough already, suffice it to say that it is DIFFERENT here, in almost every conceivable way, and in ways that are probably inconceivable as well.