still alive

3/27/08

Thought it was time to send out a quick update and let everyone know I'm still alive, in defiance of the Bangalore traffic....The driving really is quite impressive... scooters, auto rickshaws, cars, cows, buses, and ox drawn carts all crowd the same streets. No one obeys traffic signs, uses signals or pays any attention to lines on the road, so basically my driving technique fits right in, but with 8 million people it sure makes the drive to work interesting. However I love my little scooter and I'm getting more and more comfortable zipping around the city. But just to give you an idea of how crazy the driving is....I actually bought insurance within 2 weeks of trying to drive here....that says something.

I recently had a 3 day weekend (which is a luxury in a town that has a 6 day work week). The occasion was Holi, a festival of color. Apparently it was started by Lord Krishna who seemed to like a good time, and would dance around with his 16,000 girlfriends (known as Gopis) tossing color at each other in some form or merriment (or at least that's the story that was related to me).....not bad....So to celebrate I hopped a flight up to Goa, which is famous for it's beach towns, and met up with Megan and Lena who recently left me to bum around India. I spent the weekend swimming in the warm arabian sea, laying on the palm fringed beach and getting smeared with bright fuchsia paint in celebration of holi....It was a great break.

Now I'm back in Bangalore....Doing the IT thing...every time I meet a person and am asked what I do, I have to suppress a giggle when I say I work at a software company and am opening our first development office here in Bangalore...I mean i can barely turn on my computer...how in the world did i end up in the silicon valley of India? Life is funny....anyway i'm enjoying the roll. Interviewing software developers, arranging hires, researching recruitment agencies, buying computers for the office (yah i want the one with 2 gigs of whatchamacallit, ram, right that's it, ram). All good fun.

The summer is heating up, and we've had a few huge rains even though monsoon season is still a few months away (another effect of global warming is what i'm told). I'm really happy and enjoying life.....there's just one thing, I'm quickly tiring of Indian food...I've eaten over 145 indian meals in the past month and a half...curries and dosas for breakfast, lunch and dinner...every day.... I'd kill for a good burrito, pizza slice or anything that doesn't have ghee or tumeric involved. Think I just have to work through it, and I'm sure I'll regain my love of curries one day. Till then sending everyone back home lots of love.

Best from Bangalore,

Karina