abeshears's Xanga

Farmville

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:07:52 GMT

A couple days ago, I was playing
Farmville on Facebook.

I don't know whether it was the change jangling in my coin account ...

Or the thrill of growing monster potatoes ...

But suddenly I thought, "Wouldn't it be fun to actually grow a tomato plant? Like, real tomatoes!?"

How weird is that?

I'm lovin' it

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:20:14 GMT

It amuses me to no end that I live in a world where McDonald's delivers. Not only that, but they deliver on motorcycles!

I haven't ordered delivery form McD's before, but since I'm not feeling well today and I think it's because of the hostel food, I neither wanted to eat in the hostel nor go all the way to Vasant Vihar to find food. So I ordered in!

Even the phone number itself is a bit of culture shock -- they'd never do this in the US! Can you guess what I'm referring to?

The website made my day. mcdonalds.india.net

Ronald is so darn happy!

And the food? Well, they don't serve hamburgers, but the fries & chicken nuggets are pretty good.

The Scooter: Suzuki Access 125

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 14:56:47 GMT

Yes, I finally have my scooter! After waiting for three years and dealing with countless auto-drivers & bus trips, I have my own transportation! I have actually had it for a couple weeks, but my internet crashed just before I got it so I haven't been able to upload pictures. And if there are not pics, then what's the point of blogging?

I bought the scooter from a dealership in Faridabad, a city just South of Delhi, as a friend of a friend was working there and could get me a small discount. The friend picked me up in Delhi & we headed off to Faridabad -- a trip of about 45 minutes. This is the longest I've ever been on a motorcycle in one ride, and I felt a lot like when we used to ride the horses all afternoon!

The showroom was decorated for a Hindu holiday (I'm not sure which one); Hindus aren't supposed to buy anything new over this holiday -- which made the dealership very happy to see me!

It was a long debate with myself whether I should buy a motorcycle itself

The Suzuki motorcycles on display

or a scooter (gearless, with a "step-over"). In this case, a Suzuki Access 125.

The Suzuki Accesses on display

I admit, one of the reasons I chose the Access was because it has a slightly bigger engine (125 cc compared to 109) than the other most popular scooter, and it has a better shock system -- believe me, am I grateful for the better shocks after driving on Indian roads! It was as close to a "real" bike as I could get without getting a motorcycle.

I didn't have a bank account yet, so the transaction was in cash. Let me tell ya', handing over cash is a lot harder than writing a check! I took a pic as I don't know when I'll ever have that many rupees in hand at one time again.

A lot of rupee notes! Boy, were these hard to let go of!

Then we signed the papers (ok, hours after arriving, then having tea, helmet shopping, checking out the bike, having tea again, waiting for everything to be put into the computer, waiting for the power to come back on, waiting for everything to be put into the computer again, having more tea) and everything was finished! The money was handed over, and the bike was 100% mine! The paperwork included full coverage insurance -- for a whopping $25 a year!

Signing the paperwork. ... I totally should have gotten a picture of myself signing!
*sigh* That's what I get for being the photographer... no pics of me!

"You'll be covered if the bike is lost or stolen," my dealer explained. I pictured the parking lots outside the train station/major venues with hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles packed in together, so close I have no idea how anyone who is parked in the middle ever gets out again. Yep, I could see the bike getting lost!

Then, I got to go back and get my bike!

My bike, with 2 km clocked on the odometer & when it still had the plastic covers.

I chose red, of course.

It was a while before I actually drove in Delhi. A group of us went back to the city, and I got to drive through the back roads, but the guys took over when we hit city traffic (& traffic laws). I would have to practice on campus for a couple weeks before I was ready to brave the roads.

And yes, I have a helmet! I also have a jacket and am looking for riding gloves, so that I can have all of the "proper gear."

Any regrets about getting a scooter rather than a motorcycle? Nope! I miss driving with gears, but I'm glad to have one less thing to worry about while figuring out Delhi traffic. And, even better, the scooter has a "boot" (trunk) under the seat large enough for my helmet or groceries. So, unlike those poor guys on motorcycles, I don't have to balance my shopping in front of me or carry it around in a backpack. :) Even better, I can tuck my helmet away & not carry it with me in the shopping mall/movie theatre/restaurant. Yay for da' boot!

Washington Times Quote of the Day

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 10:46:26 GMT

"While there were preliminary indications that Kashmiri may have been dead, there is now reason to believe that he could be alive," a senior U.S. official told The Washington Times on the condition of anonymity because he was discussing intelligence matters. "It's [Death's?] not always an open-and-shut case."

--Eli Lake, Washington Times

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/oct/15/dead-terrorist-surfaces-for-media/

Money

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 06:00:05 GMT

One of the strangest things about living overseas is suddenly having to become aware of money and economics. At home, of course, you have to budget and find good deals on things you need ... or decide whether or not you need them. But how much things should cost, how much a dollar is worth, and how what you buy will reflect on who and what you are is pretty instinctive. No one buys a Louis Vitton purse just because they got a good price for it and it was convenient to buy it at the shop near your house instead of finding WalMart & having to deal with the crowds there. And you certainly would never carry it while wearing $2 flip-flops from the Dollar store!

Yet, living overseas, you not only need to be aware of the fluctuation of the dollar (the rupees drop in value two years ago reduced my monthly income by almost 15% at one point) but you also have to relearn the cost of things and what people will normally pay for something. For me, it wasn't a huge deal to pay 5% extra for my laundry bucket and clothes pins in order to buy them at a store close by, air conditioned, and everything in one place. But for most Indians it is worth the trouble to find the non-AC open market, to navigate the muddy streets of Munirka, and to haggle in order to save that extra 5 or 10%. Then again, it's a lot easier for them to find the market, whereas it might have been weeks before I could wash my hair, all for the sake of saving $1!

This leads we foreigners to a weird combination of buying things that are too expensive (more than we should have paid for them or top of the line items) and things that are super cheap (so cheap that most Indians would have opted for the more costly version) . This in turn communicates a confusing message about who we are (status), where we belong in society, and how much money we have. Either we have money to throw away, or we're really cheap and stingy, or both at once! Or that, in a country where money determines whether you are middle class or living in the slums, to a foreigner money is something unimportant & trivial.

Being on campus adds a whole new element to the mix as I hob-nob once again with poor college students -- it's been a while since I fell into that category! But, as I am returning to classes after spending several years in the working world, I am not exactly the same level of "poverty" I was as a college student. The fact that I can consider moving off campus is absurd to most of my fellow students -- why pay that kind of money when I can live on campus (in the expensive hostel) for $20 per month? (See the hostel post for why!) Yet, the decision to buy a scooter seemed luxurious and a big expense to me, yet to most students it was obvious: Yes, you should have a scooter if you can afford one, even if you don't leave campus with it!

Yet, one of the students helping me with Hindi said, "But for you, buying a scooter doesn't mean anything, right? I mean, it's only a tiny bit of money for you." (He wasn't trying to be rude ... more trying to figure out these mixed signals.)

Despite the frustration of having to deal with the bus & auto-rickshaws in Bangalore, and having to wait until my third year in India to be able to buy a scooter, I was suddenly thankful that I hadn't been able to buy a bike while I was in Bangalore. Thus, I was able to tell him, "No, no! I've been saving up for nearly two years to have this bike. It was a very big deal to be able to have one, after not having one in Bangalore because I couldn't afford it!"

And suddenly, despite my mixed signals & spending too much or too little on things (when I obviously should have known better!), I made sense again.

Although I will still frown as the rupee rises & the dollar drops even as the Indians celebrate! But, even I knew that 50 rupees per dollar wouldn't last for long & we would settle back down at 45 sooner or later. Se la vie!

Shopping: A Day in the Life

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 17:05:22 GMT

Today I went exploring/shopping in Saroji Nagar. I have found a couple markets close to campus & close to where my friends live on the other side of the city, but not any really good city markets with lots of cheap stuff. Munirka (very close by) is filthy & I hate going there -- due to construction it is largely covered in mud. And Vasant Vihar has a great little market for chilling & drinking coffee, but as far as shopping goes it's very upscale. What they do have is expensive, & they have very little.

So today I set off for a new market that a couple friends had told me about. I couldn't catch an auto, but the bus went by and I hopped on (literally. He refused to come to a complete stop since I wasn't at a proper bus stand when I flagged him down). Just as I was paying to go to the nearest place I could get an auto, I remembered that the bus goes all the way to Saroji Nagar (SN) -- for only 7 rupees! (about 14 cents). What a deal!

I have officially started Christmas shopping as of today. Unfortunately, so far it's a "two for me, one for you" kind of deal. So I will be very well outfitted & stocked up by the time I finish Christmas shopping. *grin*

I've been told that shopping is much cheaper in Delhi but tailors are more expensive. So far shopping in general is cheaper but I have yet to find the super cheap fabric. And I did find a tailor -- a little more expensive but totally worth it if he's as good as I think he is. The best part is, he really enjoys what he does. I've never met a tailor who was not only willing to do the work but excited about it. Maybe it was that I ended up spending a small fortune when all was said and done, but his "I'll just add a bit of applique here, and do some work here to tie it all together, and use this fabric to make a stripe here for good effect ...." not to mention the "you need something to make you look tall and slim. Just leave it to me!" was very heartening. If he does as well as he says he will, it's well worth the 250 rupees per set. (I know, I know. My Bangalore friends are cringing).

As I was leaving, I tallied up how much I was spending after buying matching fabric to complete a few sets, and being talked into two more sets plus stitching for those. 2500 rupees! Egads. Then again, I reminded myself, $60 for 4 pants & 5 shirts (all custom tailored) isn't too shabby. I would far rather pay the extra and get something I really like than continue being frustrated by cheap tailors who do as little as possible.

Then, per the tailor's guidance, I headed off to find some sewing materials to mend some other things (the clutz that I am, I've managed to poke holes in several garments already...). Rather than a simple thread shop, I found utopia! An arts and crafts store. They have embroidery supplies, beads, drawing & art supplies, and borders for matching an outfit (or basing an outfit on if you find one you really like!) ... as well as a whole shelf full of bronze gods, wedding decorations, underwear, and a counter of beauty products! Ok, so it isn't exactly Hobby Lobby, but you can buy the needles one at a time! How cool is that? :D Let's just say I will be back to this shop quite often. I am already making plans for what to buy next.

I left fully loaded down with a blue WalMart bag full of goodies & took the bus all the way back to campus.

THEN I talked to my scooter dealer & I am going to pick the bike up tomorrow morning! Yay! Oh, and I found out where to buy Merrell shoes in Delhi. That'll be the next shopping trip.

All in all, I would say, a very very good day. :)

Hindi

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:37:38 GMT

One of the things I was most looking forward to in moving to Delhi from Bangalore is being able to learn Hindi, and i have not been disappointed. While English is the lingua franca in Bangalore (and if it is not English then it is any one of 6 major languages), Delhi is the epicenter of standard Hindi and it is in wide use here. Within the first week of being in Delhi I had used nearly every single word of Hindi that I had learned so far. Granted, I have difficulty composing even slightly complex sentences and I only know present tense, but even this has allowed me to ask and respond to simple questions, give directions to auto drivers, and buy things at the shop.

The other thing I have realized is that it is very easy not to learn Hindi, even in Delhi. The number of people who have told me they had every intention of learning Hindi but never did far outnumbers those who even have a basic knowledge of the language. Some of them regret it but are absorbed in whatever they are doing now and don't have the opportunity to set time aside for that. Some of them are perfectly content in just using English.

It is true that you can survive in Delhi speaking only English. Knowing a few words like the numbers in your address & the names of food is enough to order from a restaurant or to tell an auto-rickshaw driver where you live. But it cuts you off from 90% of the populations, and requires that you always resort to pantomime & gesture, or wait until someone shows up who can translate for you. Some people may be content with this, but I cannot fathom being so cut off from nearly all of the people around me!

Speaking of communication, I have a couple books on Hindi which I have primarily been learning from. One is conversational Hindi, which has useful phrases for being able to talk in Hindi. Soon I will be able to participate in conversations with exclamations of:

"What nonsense!"

"This is impossible!" (This one I will probably use often...)

and *ahem* ... uh ... well....

"D**m it!"

(Yes, my Hindi textbook teaches me to cuss on the second page.)

Within days, I will be able to insert complex and profound statements into any conversation, such as:

"It is difficult to become a fakir."

(fakir: A Hindu or Muslim ascetic or religious mendicant,
especially one who performs feats of magic or endurance)

"You will never find a pearl at the bottom of a puddle,

no matter how deep the water is."

Soon I will be able to insert these tidbit into nearly every conversation, whether or not I have a clue what's going on! Just think, people were amazed when I could say, "tik hai." (It's ok). Now won't they be impressed? *grin*

Hostel Life: A photostory

Fri, 11 Sep 2009 20:23:13 GMT

I had a brilliant blog all written up, but most of it got lost when the computer crashed. But, as I am determined to post at least one blog today, I will post some pictures of the hostel where I am living. (It is 2:25 am. I suppose that will have to count as "today").

P.S. Thanks Mike for the creative input. *grin*
==========================================================================

This is my bedroom.

This is the office:

And this is my living room (or "hall" as they call it in Indian/British English):

Did I mention that one of the perks of Yamuna Hostel is that I get my own room? :P (Really, it looks worse in the pictures than it actually feels).

When I moved in, I had to verify that the room had: 1 bed, 1 chair, 1 desk, 2 lamps (both attached to the wall! light fixtures we would call them) with bulbs, and a bookshelf. I had to buy my own mattress -- which, all things considered, wasn't actually a bad thing -- and my own bucket (which serves for washing clothes & bathing).

This is the desk & chair with the table lamp that Ken made me while I was living in Bangalore -- which I very carefully carried on the plane all the way to Delhi.

ABOVE: And this is my closet. Thank goodness for space in a friends' closet to store all the rest of my stuff, though I'm surprised at how much storage there actually is (there is an open shelf above the closet also). Not very good for organizing but space for a few suitcases anyway. Wow... what seemed like a LOT of laundry when washing it doesn't look like much hanging on the closet.

Above is my bookshelf, with the "clothes line" running thru the middle of the room. Forgive the poor photo stitching -- the room is too small to take a pic of the entire room at once. In fact, in order to get the first pics, I had to stand in the middle of the bathroom! Generally I only use the line in the room for "unmentionables" (which I won't mention) but since I had the bad luck of doing laundry right before it rained for three days, I had to resort to drying things in the room under the ceiling fan.

Speaking of laundry room, here 'tis:

I am fascinated with the fact that the water actually bends in this picture ... and someone has been kind enough since the picture was taken to actually remove the broken shelf and throw it away.

Oh, and these are the passive agressive notes posted above the sinks. It feels somewhat like an archeological dig getting to the ones at the bottom level.

My favorite is in the upper right which says:

WHOSOEVER IS THIS STUPID ARSE

WHO HAS LEFT THE BASIN AND
BATHROOM TAP OPEN ON FINDING
OUT THERE IS NO WATER SUPPLY
JUST GO HIT YOUR HEAD ON A
ROCK BECAUSE WHEN WATER CAME
BACK THE TAPS WERE RUNNING
FOR GOD KNOWS HOW LONG. WHOLE
OF DELHI IS FACING WATER
SHORTAGE AND YOUR ABSENT-MINDEDNESS
IS GOING TO COST ALL OF US
DEAR. STUPID! STUPID! STUPID!

While it is not ideal to share a bathroom with 18 different girls, at least they are constructed with our different tastes in mind. That is: Western? Or Indian style? I do have to carry my own TP with me, though.

Oh, and note the shower stall does actually have a shower! It is only cold water, though, so if you want a hot bath you have to heat hot water in the geyser (a small water heater which you turn on when you actually want hot water) and fill your bucket.

There is a shared terrace outside where we actually do the washing & hang laundry. There are about 15 lines strung criss cross between any available anchor to attach them to -- usually the bars on the windows and a few random nails, or simply wrapped around the posts. Unfortunately, much like washing your car, my doing laundry inevitably causes it to rain. It's not so bad since it rinses it extra, extra well ... but three days running is a bit much!

We do not have rats, and I haven't seen many bugs (though I have to be careful of when the windows are open as there are no screens). We do, instead, have cats. I'm not a huge fan of cats, but these are particular pests. They knock over trash cans, and climb into the ones they can't knock over, and there are far too many for them to be able to eat sufficiently. They mess in the bathrooms & none of them have shots so they don't appear to be very healthy. They also like to sneak into people's rooms, which means keeping a watchful eye or a shut door!

All in all, hostel life isn't bad. I enjoy not having to cook every day, and it's been a good chance to get to know campus better and some of the other students. Having my own room is a God-send as it not only means not having a roommate but also not having to worry about who is coming and going and whether the room is locked up, etc. And it means I can blog at 3 am and not worry about who I am keeping awake.

Still, I am intending to find a place off campus as soon as everything else is squared away, but this is certainly not a bad stop-gap in the meantime.

Better day today...

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:01:39 GMT

Today has been better than yesterday. :) Mostly because I skipped class and gave up on looking for textbooks or trying for housing. I'll go to campus tomorrow and get a room arranged (fingers crossed) and talk to the professors about where we're supposed to find textbooks.

Instead of being actually productive, today I:

* On the advice of a classmate, called the big text book stores downtown (instead of going there) and verified that they (in fact) do NOT have a single one of the books I need. Mission accomplished ... kind of. At least I only had to make several phone calls to find that out.

* I subsequently gave up on looking for textbooks and resigned myself to using photocopied copies. That is, assuming that I get a library card soon and that the library has the books. I imagine I will have to get "real" copies someday in order to maintain the impression of a professional linguistic library.

* I explored the shopping center in the next sub-division where I had an awesome, expensive Chinese lunch ($9.00), bought some new shirts (yet, lol, I still can't seem to find pants!), and

*got my hair done, which I had been avoiding until everything else was settled but desperately needed. It's amazing how good it feels to look in the mirror and not grimace!

* Found a book store, where I only bought a little cook book but I was happy to add another to my list of book shops I've discovered in Delhi. There are about 4 at the shopping center near campus.

* Came home, went to the market and bought vegetables & rice for supper, and talked to my pastor from home.

* wrote this note ...

* ... and now (at 9:29 pm ) am going to go cook supper. Green beans, rice, & papaya. Yummy!

Tomorrow there is a strike on campus, so no classes. So I am going to get my hostel room (hopefully) and not miss class! And hopefully get some other little stuff done (like buying pants!) that has been put off in favor of the major issues.

Stressed!! Part 1: Housing

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:58:28 GMT

Ok, so I really truly do try not to complain. I mean, I chose to live here. I chose to come back to India, and on top of that to try the whole Indian university thing. At the very least, I try not to write about it until I've had a chance to let things simmer ... and hopefully get better! But as the current stress of getting settled seems to be rather ongoing, that means I may not write for some time! So if you're going to be annoyed at me for complaining/whining/whatever, then please forgive me and stop reading now. :) Otherwise, just consider it "A day in the life."

My stress levels hit an all time high about Thursday -- largely because Thursday was about the time I thought things would be finished and I could settle into the more trivial matters of daily life (versus things like finding a place to live). The frustration is that I love my classes. My teachers are really great, and they are challenging but not so advanced that I don't have a pretty good basic understanding of what's going on. It's the stupid stuff that shouldn't matter which seems impenetrable!

First, I have decided to apply for hostel on campus -- dorms, basically. As a foreigner I was told that I would get a hostel the day that I applied. I put this off for a few days because I wanted to find a place "outside" (off-campus). Finding that a) places near to campus were a lot more expensive than I expected, b) the stress of finding classes AND finding a place to live was too much, and c) that I wasn't finding anything that was quite right, I decided to give up and live on campus for a while. A hostel room is only 2000 rupees a semester (about $50.00), so even if I only stay for a month and find a place to move to, I haven't really lost anything. Also, foreign girls can usually get into Yamuna hostel where I get my own (tiny) room. I haven't actually seen the rooms yet, so your guess as to what that means is as good as mine, but it is ok for a temporary measure.

This seems simple enough. I went to the proper office, filled out a special form for foreigners, and turned it in. It was Monday. "Come on Wednesday or Thursday," they told me. A bit longer than the one-day time I'd been told (for foreigners), but do-able.

It is not just foreigners that don't have a place to live. In fact, we are guaranteed a spot whereas students are not. Places are alloted based on a hierarchy of what year they are (older gets preference) and how far away they live. So in the meantime many students are staying with friends or bunking in empty hostel rooms in the hopes that they get a spot. The problem is that as a foreigner, I don't know the ins and outs of taking over a room and declaring it mine until the assignments are made!

I went Thursday. Long story short, when I talked to them Wednesday morning, they hadn't actually sent the paperwork and it wasn't actually waiting to be signed. Whether I annoyed someone enough to lose my paperwork for a couple days or they simply overlooked it, I don't know. But I was told, "come back Monday," a week after I'd applied. Thank God for having a place to stay in the meantime, but the travel each direction (either 1.5 - 3 hours one way) was too stressful and even causing me to miss class.

So, today I went back. After finding my forms in a box where my forms (and about 250 other students' were tossed), I turned everything in. "Come back after lunch. 2:30." So I did, and my application was actually finished!

"Now take these to Yamuna hostel." Where in Yamuna hostel? And where IS Yamuna hostel? And then do what with them? These they didn't answer. "Four o'clock."

"But... But I have class at 4:00! One that I can't miss."

He smiled at me very politely. "We've done our part. Now it's your problem."

I fought back tears, glad for my sunglasses, and thought ruefully, "I don't even have a room where I can go fall apart in peace!" It took me nearly 45 minutes in 97* heat to find Yamuna hostel -- I was quite lost. But, silly me, I hadn't wandered down the chained off forest path. Yet that's where it had been the whole time! I signed in, telling the guard, "Main Hindi Simji Nuhin." I don't speak Hindi. He nodded, spoke two sentences in English, then continued chatting away in Hindi. Basic interpretation, "Yeah, right, you'll get her to see you before 4."

I spoke to the warden's office in an attempt to get things finished so I could get to class. "If you're not here nothing will be done," the very unhelpful guy at the desk told me.

"But I have class!" I said, to which I was told, "Come back tomorrow. 4:00. That's it."

I was irate. "So I have to choose between going to class or having a place to sleep, is that it? This is a university!"

"I don't understand the problem," he said. "Either you go to class or you get a room. It's simple enough."

As I signed out the guard asked, "How did it go?" I snarled, & he laughed.

So I walked all the way back to the class buildings -- only 15 minutes this time as I wasn't lost. When I got there, a fresh bottle of water in hand, I found out that class had been cancelled! Our teacher, who had been out sick but was back in the morning, wasn't well enough to teach both the morning & afternoon class.

The linguistics department was having orientation at 4:00. I could either walk all the way back to Yamuna or go the orientation and hope that I learned something. As I was on the verge of falling apart completely, I decided against trying again at the hostel & stayed for the orientation -- tea, snacks, and introductions.

As we left, some fellow foreign students asked if I'd registered with the government yet. As an "immigrant" (albeit temporarily), I have to register. I haven't as I have to have a proof of residence ... that is, I have to have a place to live!

"But they're going to charge you 1200 rupees a day ($25.00) for being late!" they told me.

"No, they won't," I said, pretending I was sure. (I am almost sure.) Anyway, if worst comes to worse & I miss registering, it just means I'll have to leave the country after 6 months. In fact, that might be easier! Plane tickets are a lot easier than paperwork. :)

I do love my classes. I do! It's just the rest of this stuff that's breaking me. ... Tomorrow we'll talk about why I don't have text books.