Settling in...right?

Ang
Jun 11, 2015
4 min read

I've been scolded for not including any photos of myself, so above is a pic of Francis, Liya, Me, Lillie and Tyler at the winery. :) Enjoy.

I've been here 3 weeks now. Exactly. Since my last post, not much has happened. I've been focused on work. W've had several new hires start over the last few weeks. The days are different here. Longer. We are 10 1/2 hours ahead of my co-workers in Dallas, so there is very little overlap in our work days. I work a little later to communicate with the team there so I've been working 12-14 hour days consistently. Most of the team here comes in between 10am and noon. We work varying hours and some into the overnight hours. For the last two days I've come in around 10am. That's about as late as I can allow myself to come to the office right now, but it certainly does make for a less exhausting day leaving at 8:30pm (early for me lately). They had about every corner of the world represented on the clock wall, but not Texas. I took care of it. I changed Tokyo toTexas with the baby post-its they allowed me to have from the stationary window and a sharpie I brought from home. DFW REPRESENTS!!!!!

Last week, our boss from Dallas was in town, and we went to dinner. He has a delicate stomach, so he had ravioli and tomato sauce and bevs with no ice. The rest of us had delicious meals of everything from veg platters to sea bass to beef tenderloin. Everyone enjoyed dinner and getting to know eachother better. So, thanks for dinner, Adam!!!!

Last weekend, we celebrated Lillie's birthday. Everyone from the office came by the hotel and brought a cake (gluten free, of course). We enjoyed cocktails and a lovely serenade by the lounge singers. Actually, it was like Happy Birthday on repeat for what seemed like half an hour. Have I not mentioned the lounge singers yet? They are FABULOUS! I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful it is to walk in every night and hear the fantastic songs of the 80s and 90s being performed live just off the lobby. It puts a smile on my face Every. Single. Time. Saturday was California Pizza Kitchen and beers by the pool, and then Sunday was the most delicious sushi! So it was a birthday weekend. Happy Lillie's Birthday to us all!

Also, over the past week, I also registered with government (as Tyler put it: Think DMV for 9 million people), finally got an Indian phone & number, ventured out a bit on my own and became a bit more independent (just a tiny bit, though). I took my first solo Uber ride. UBER IS IN INDIA! What the what??? It is fantastic! I went to the grocery store alone. I found a (kind of) western style swim skirt (because I'm old) to wear to the pool so now I don't have to wear my yoga pants (way too old for me). I shopped in Indiranagar, a lovely area with gorgeous shops. I'm learning to walk in the street. Sidewalks exist, but they aren't always in the best, most safe condition. Strange that I feel walking in the busy street is sometimes safer, isn't it? This weekend, I'm going to Uber it to a larger mall a bit further out, Phoenix Mall. The last mall trip (Forum) was too hot, too crowded and too overwhelming. I'm super excited about this one, though. Much larger, Much nicer, I'm told. I got some of my protein powder since I'm not eating much, and what I do eat is not super healthy. Today's lunch at a very surprising sit down place above the food court, however, was OUTSTANDING. The server, one of 3 or 4 for our table, came and told me I needed to have the American Chop Suey. I thought it was quite presumptious (and awesome) of him, but I opted for it. It was delightful! The buffett, American chop suey made fresh by the chef (I watched), soup, everything is Rs325 ($5). I cannot believe no one told me about this place before!

Tomorrow, I'm meeting a woman I met on a women's traveler's website. They paired me with an Indian mentor for my trip. I'm very excited to meet her. I'm also working with a travel agent to take my first weekend trip to a beautiful place called Coorg. So, yes, I'm settling in at the office. I'm settling in at the Hilton. I'm settling in to the path in between. Am I settled? Hell. No. But I'm getting there. More each day.

Photos from my adventures around Bangalore this week...

Outside Oasis Mall (close & groceries are there - not the hot, crowded mall)