Bangalore: Day 3
Jul. 19th, 2006 09:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smofbabeTried sleeping with the cervical collar, didn't help much and I was again up at around 4, which was pretty much it for the night. Tonight, I'm going to try a full tablet of Valium plus the collar.
However, enough about my medical whinging. I'm in India! While I am stuck in a typical high-tech building (well, except for the guys in uniform who open the door to the building for you and the other guy who minds the elevator queue), the drives to and from work do get me out a little bit: going from swapping SunRay monitors to seeing an ox-drawn cart in the street is a bit disconcerting. As with my previous trip here, the contrast between people living under tarps at the side of the road and glass-and-chrome high-rise office buildings is dramatic.
The domestic arrangements at my flat still puzzle me. The employee of the management company keeps coming by every morning to drop off the newspaper and chat while I wait for the driver to show up, why I don't know. I must admit that I did finally avail myself of the services of the houseboy but only as far as leaving a couple of cotton shirts draped over the ironing board: given my arm situation there's no way I could do it myself.
On the food front, I was originally going to eat at the complex's restaurant last night but calling it a restaurant is grossly overstating a small room with an Indian-food buffet. So, it was embarrasingly back to TGI Fridays, this time for fish and chips. (the fish was baked, not fried!) Today at least I had a decent lunch as they took me out for Chinese plus I had a lovely dessert called dassan. We also ducked out for about 20 minutes in the afternoon to walk to a nearby grocery store for me to get some food to keep in the flat and some herbal tea. (I'm kicking myself for not bringing any with me.) Because the new editor who accompanied me was so glad to find some in this market, I didn't have the heart to tell her that ginger and tulsi ("holy basil") tea wasn't really what I had in mind so I'm going to have to force some down tomorrow at work.
The foraging for food and drink is outweighed by the really beautiful and colorful women's clothing here. I love bright colors in clothes but tone it down because it's not really done in the US or Australia. I'm sorely tempted to bring a couple of outfits back with me but I know I'd never have occasion to wear them and clothng storage space at Stephen's is a bit tight. But at least I can look and admire.
On the work front, I had to gently and tactfully persuade one of the writers here with very good English that no, deciding to become an editor doesn't automatically make you one. And if you really did have "the soul of an editor" as you claim, the draft you just handed me for review wouldn't have inconsisent headings and proofing errors like missing spaces between words.
And for all you people in the UK and the US, I find it hugely ironic that I'm in India in July and have been experiencing very pleasant, non-humid weather with highs of about 80 while you all are sweltering.
However, enough about my medical whinging. I'm in India! While I am stuck in a typical high-tech building (well, except for the guys in uniform who open the door to the building for you and the other guy who minds the elevator queue), the drives to and from work do get me out a little bit: going from swapping SunRay monitors to seeing an ox-drawn cart in the street is a bit disconcerting. As with my previous trip here, the contrast between people living under tarps at the side of the road and glass-and-chrome high-rise office buildings is dramatic.
The domestic arrangements at my flat still puzzle me. The employee of the management company keeps coming by every morning to drop off the newspaper and chat while I wait for the driver to show up, why I don't know. I must admit that I did finally avail myself of the services of the houseboy but only as far as leaving a couple of cotton shirts draped over the ironing board: given my arm situation there's no way I could do it myself.
On the food front, I was originally going to eat at the complex's restaurant last night but calling it a restaurant is grossly overstating a small room with an Indian-food buffet. So, it was embarrasingly back to TGI Fridays, this time for fish and chips. (the fish was baked, not fried!) Today at least I had a decent lunch as they took me out for Chinese plus I had a lovely dessert called dassan. We also ducked out for about 20 minutes in the afternoon to walk to a nearby grocery store for me to get some food to keep in the flat and some herbal tea. (I'm kicking myself for not bringing any with me.) Because the new editor who accompanied me was so glad to find some in this market, I didn't have the heart to tell her that ginger and tulsi ("holy basil") tea wasn't really what I had in mind so I'm going to have to force some down tomorrow at work.
The foraging for food and drink is outweighed by the really beautiful and colorful women's clothing here. I love bright colors in clothes but tone it down because it's not really done in the US or Australia. I'm sorely tempted to bring a couple of outfits back with me but I know I'd never have occasion to wear them and clothng storage space at Stephen's is a bit tight. But at least I can look and admire.
On the work front, I had to gently and tactfully persuade one of the writers here with very good English that no, deciding to become an editor doesn't automatically make you one. And if you really did have "the soul of an editor" as you claim, the draft you just handed me for review wouldn't have inconsisent headings and proofing errors like missing spaces between words.
And for all you people in the UK and the US, I find it hugely ironic that I'm in India in July and have been experiencing very pleasant, non-humid weather with highs of about 80 while you all are sweltering.
