MB & J

June 2, 2006

Daily Details
Mary Barbara's office hours are something like 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM. They work those hours so that it's possible to have conference calls with the US. Bangalore is 10 1/2 hrs ahead of the central time zone. Not having to go in too early is good because MB and I get to visit in the mornings. We are trying to get into the routine of working out and then going to breakfast at the Hub together. I am playing tennis Monday, Wednesday and Friday with some of the other trailing spouses. I had forgotten how much I enjoy playing tennis. I need a bit of practice to get good again, but it's coming back to pretty quick. I'm looking to take up some other hobbies as well, at least until I find a job or a special project to work on. Finding a job looks like it may be more difficult than expected. I have heard that it is very hard to get my Visa changed over to a work Visa from a tourist Visa. I haven't done any research on it myself, but I also have not found anyone interested in hiring me. My current special project is planning our trip to see the Taj Mahal. We are going to travel with Brian and Fancher. Brian leaves the country at the beginning of July, so we are going to make the trip sometime this month.

My Afternoon Constitutional
Just about everything that I do is a new adventure. I walk up to either the Forum or to the Acropolis, which is a nice apartment building adjacent to the Forum, everyday for one thing or another. It's about 4 city blocks. I was so uncomfortable the first couple of times, but I am getting used to all the sights, sounds and smells of Bangalore. There are all kinds of different shops along the way for just about anything that you could want. Most of them are pretty run down and sort of dirty. There's one place right across the street that sells food. It's even more run down than most places and looks filthy, but the smell that comes from there is divine. I am totally scared to eat anything though. There's a pile of sand on the side of the road along the way that is the cool resting place of a cow and a dog. A cow is here everyday, just hanging out. There is a woodworking shop too. They are hand carving designs in what looks like panels to go around doors and windows. They are very nice and I stop to watch them work occasionally, also because it's next door to a nice store that sells water, juice and bakery items. It is common to see men urinating on the side of the street. You've got to watch where you are going because you don't want to step in any cow manure or human waste. The sidewalk is made from numerous stone blocks that cover a 2-3 ft hole, which, in many cases, the stones have fallen or been moved. Walking in the street can be a bit hazardous too. Motorcyles, rickshaws, big trucks and cars are always passing by and always blowing their horns. Much like the sounds of any big city, all you can hear are horns and construction. It's not necessarily relaxing to take this walk, but it's authentically Indian and I absolutely love it.

City of Bangalore
The city of Bangalore is growing at an enormous rate. New buildings are being constructed on every street and corner. With the population of the city nearing 8 million* people, there is a massive workforce available to handle this surge of growth. While it seems that most of the workers are skilled, they do not have many of the tools or equipment that you would see in large city construction in the US. I don't know if this is because of the cost, or that they are just not available. Scafolding is what made me start to notice this, they use wooden poles tied together with rope. The rapid growth in the city, and really all over the country from what I hear, has lead to a lack of infrastructure: large amounts of traffic, numerous power outages, and pollution.

*my travel book says 6 million and I read in the paper that it was 9 million, so it's somewhere in the middle