Well, I made it! I've spent my first night and first day in New Delhi. Both were a success. Okay, the day maybe more so than the night. I got off the plane, got my bag, changed money, and found my driver just fine. Checking into the hotel went relatively well, except that they had me arriving yesterday (so I had to hear all about that). Sleeping, however, was as expected a little more difficult. While it made the flight go super fast, sleeping at least 8 of the 14 hours probably wasn't the best idea. I woke up every hour last night and finally around 3:30 am just got up and did some work.
The first day in the office, though, was a GREAT success. My India colleagues are fabulous. I had met a couple of them already when they came to Seattle last year, but it was so nice to interact with them here and meet the rest of the team. They are so funny... literally. HILARIOUS (and I come from a very comedic family so my standards are high)! I laughed pretty much the entire day... even after my usual "I'm nervous so I'm laughing too much at everything" phase passed. Training went well and we actually covered everything in topic number one is less than the allotted time. WOW! What a concept!
I haven't had any "free time" to explore yet (somehow a 3 hour nap this afternoon snuck up on me), and sadly no photos yet, but I do have some first impressions and somewhat ironic things to report on:
1. I knew that riding in a car here would be an experience. "Total chaos" is how it was described to me, and that's exactly it. What confuses me is why do they even have lines on the road? I mean, it clearly doesn't signify anything. Not even the center line! You know that game Chicken? You know... the one that Kevin Bacon plays on a tractor to prove his badboy status in Footloose. Well, we played that today on my way to the office. No joke. As someone whose commute is a dull 4 and a half minute walk, these 5 mins in a car between the hotel and the PATH office were quite exciting!
2. My vocabulary is greatly lacking. While I haven't had any time to go out and explore dining options, I have ordered room service a couple of times. The problem? I don't even understand the descriptions of the dishes on the menu. What the F is "clotted cream"? And what does it mean to be "redolent" in it? That does NOT sound appetizing; it sounds like something I need to ask my doctor for a Rx to clear up. Or "piquant"? That does not tell me anything about how that is going to taste, but it must be good, considering piquant is a used in several of the descriptions.
3. When I got to the office today, I found out that we were having a farewell lunch for 3 of our India staff. Ooh, yes! I bet I'll get to try some good Indian food at that.... When lunch came around, I was introduced to... wait for it, wait for it.... Pizza Hut. :) I had to laugh. And you know, it did taste a little different than at home.
4. Due to that 3 hour nap (okay, so maybe it was closer to 4 hours....), I ended up ordering room service for the second time today. And, due to my inability to decipher what any of the traditional India dishes are on the menu, I went for something simple: fried rice with chicken (apparently Chinese is a specialty here in the hotel). It was really good actually. But, I think the server thinks I'm funny (and not in the India team is hilarious kind of way). Both times I ordered just one thing and he asks "Is that all ma'am?". Yes, that's all. "Nothing to drink, ma'am?" No, I'm happy with water. And then when he brings me the rice tonight, he asks again "No dessert for you? No fruit?" No, I think I'm okay. He then notices that I have not eaten the 2 apples he left earlier for me. "Do you want oranges instead, ma'am?" No I am okay. "I will bring you oranges and something sweet later." I give up: Okay, great. I'd LOVE some oranges." An hour later, he knocks on my door with 2 cute little oranges. I'll let you know if they are anything like Hawai'i oranges. He tells me tomorrow I will get mangoes.
5. The hotel I'm staying in is quite nice and comfortable, save for one small thing. They're clearly doing some remodeling or something. Something, that is, that involves some heavy duty glue or something. Don't get me wrong, after I get through the first 30 mins of feeling somewhat lightheaded and nauseous from the smell, everything seems euphorically pleasant, and I feel so relaxed and carefree. Is it weird that I saw a neon pink tye-dyed elephant in my room?
Okay now that it's 12:30am (I know - its a miracle - I'm up past midnight... and SOBER), I better get to bed. Luckily an email just came in letting me know that my first meeting was delayed 2 hours. I might get to sleep in!
Hope you all have a piquant night!
PS... I just noticed that blogger has an added feature when you connect in India. It seems that I could, if I knew how to, type this entire thing in Hindi, Kannada, Malayam, Tamil, or Telugu. And you think its sometimes hard to figure out what I'm saying here now... :)
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