Monday, July 4, 2011
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
The burnt AC.
So I suck at posting. But it's okay because I figure whoever is going to read this I keep in touch with anyways so I'll update them that way. Here's the brief version....
Work is more fun because there are more interns now. There is one girl who just graduated from HBS who will be working at McKinsey in the fall who is now working at Drishtee and living at the guest house with us. There is also a guy who is doing his MBA at Kellogg and he's a former Bainee and will be going back to Bain. So cool new people. Work is good but getting busier. I'm not the biggest fan of my boss but it's still pretty chill.
I went to Pune last weekend to visit family. Everyone was so welcoming and amazing. And I shopped! Overall wonderful wonderful time. Wish I could've been there for longer. Also makes me sad that they are so far.
This weekend going to Agra and then going to shop in Delhi on Sunday. Should be fun. Less than a month left... time is flying!
Now for the more interesting stuff. So I wake up yesterday morning and come outside for my morning chai. It smells a little funky but it's India so you know... I don't think much of it. Jason is sitting at the table and without saying anything just points towards the AC in the living room. There I come to see a chunk of the AC unit burnt off with ash all over the ceiling and floor (see picture below). Apparently the night before the AC short circuited and basically exploded and started a fire. Luckily, the caretaker and one of the other guests here were sitting in the living room when it happened (at like midnight) and put it out. Apparently they spent like half an hour throwing water on it and luckily there was a fire extinguisher outside. Jason, Chiara, and I did not even wake up. Imagine if no one had been awake... disaster. We all spent a good amount of time yesterday just staring at it. It's scary, but also a little funny not going to lie.
Anyways, that's all I feel like writing. If you want to know what I'm up to gchat me :)
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Mumbai
I really suck at posting...
Last week was good. No real highlights
Went to Mumbai this weekend and got to see lots of family and Aarti! It rained non-stop though so couldn't do much. I definitely want to come back on a future trip and explore Mumbai. Seems like an incredible city.
Got kinda sick towards the end of the weekend so haven't done much this week. Working from home today.
Leave you all with this picture... Ambani house as seen from my aunt's window. So ridiculous
Monday, June 6, 2011
Rishikesh = amazing!
This weekend was awesome!
Quick update of last week... we were productive at work and made a really awesome (I think) model for this fund to use when analyzing entrepreneurs. I love excel… maybe I should’ve been a banker. Not. We also saw Source Code and Ready… both good movies, go see them.
Now the weekend… me, Jason, and two of our friends from work, Rupinder and Somesh, decided to go to Rishikesh. We started at like 5am on the journey and reached Rishikesh around 12. We were going full out, camping, river rafting, the whole deal. So we got to the campsite and had lunch. Then we got ready for rafting. White water rafting in the Ganga was incredible. The rapids were tons of fun and we got to swim in the water and cliff jump. Not to mention that all the scenery was absolutely gorgeous. A quick story – when they let you out to body surf, aka swim around, in the water they have a really long rope that extends out from the raft that you are supposed to hold on to. So Jason and I go it and go out pretty far because out of the 7 people (not including the guides) on the raft we were the only 2 that could swim. Eventually the others came in too and held on for dear life to the rope. Funniest part though, Rupinder basically wrapped the rope around like 10 times and was screaming out because the raft kept coming toward her (obvi since she had the part of the rope closest to the raft). Meanwhile, the other 6 of us are holding on to about the foot of rope that she doesn’t have. We are all laughing too hard to tell her to let go of it too. Prob doesn’t sound that funny, but trust me it was hilarious. Overall, it was a 25km stretch so took about 3.5 hours. And the place where it ended was where all the temples are along the Ganga so we go to go them and shop around a little. Then we went back to the campsite where we were staying in tents. Now this was legit camping, no electricity, no running water. I didn’t think I’d be able to handle it but I was surprised because camping is actually a ton of fun. Yes the bathrooms are nasty and pretty much non-existent, but whatever. We star-gazed for like an hour at night which was beautiful. And the tents turned out to be not too bad. In the morning we went to Haridwar and then headed on back. Overall awesome experience (pictures on FB soon but below is one).
What I really learned from this trip though was a. India teaches you a lot of patience and b. I hope to keep this new impression of fun that I have. So about patience, on the drive from Rishikesh at the end of rafting back to Shivpuri (where the campsite was) the road through the mountains apparently closes at 8. This we did not know and were thus stuck in a huge traffic jam. It took us about an hour and a half till the police finally let us through. Now normally, I’d be fuming by that point but I (and everyone) was perfectly calm. In fact the traffic jam was highly amusing and I was entertained just by watching. I’ve just become so accustomed to everything being slow in some sense and there’s a certain beauty in not letting it bother me. Sadly, I think I will lose the ability to be patient the second I get to NY, but for now I like it.
Second lesson, what’s considered fun. In the last few months of college what was fun for everyone was the constant drinking and going out. Yes that is fun, dancing is fun, partying is fun. But it is so refreshing to finally do something else. I mean going to the movies, playing cards (that doesn’t involve drinking when you lose), going camping! All this awesome stuff I feel like I haven’t done in so long. And there’s so much other stuff left to do! I hope when I go to NY I don’t become lazy. I hope to go see all the things NY has to offer and do fun, non-drinking, related things. And I hope to keep up with the gym going too (questionable).
Final note – my sister has an apt in Philly!! So excited to have so many reasons to come back to Philly J. Been craving me some shoestring fries from Continental… who wants to ship some to India?? Jokes, why would I need that when I have my McSpicy Paneer burger (yep I had that for lunch).
That’s all for now!
Thursday, June 2, 2011
ATTENTION ALL PEOPLE WITH SMART PHONES!
I just realized I can use wifi on my iphone for free! GET WHATS APP SO I CAN TEXT YOU PEOPLE!
Thanks :)
Monday, May 30, 2011
Large update
Told you I suck at blogs.
Okay so, I don't really remember all that's happened but I'll try...
Wednesday our boss didn't come to work, nor had he given us anything to do. So we didn't go. Instead we went here: http://www.thegreatindiaplace.in/ and it was wonderful.
Thursday we went to work and finally got some tasks. But they were very high level and left us a little confused. We were told to make a work plan which didn't take very long but really didn't get to dive into things.
Friday our boss wasn't there again so again we did not go but "worked" from home. And then the weekend started!
Friday afternoon we went into Delhi. We were staying at this hotel that was like down an alley so looked a little shady but turned out to be awesome. We met Lali (my sister's friend) and Vivake (Varesh's brother) for dinner and I had the awesomest veggie burger. The spot was so cool too, very modern/western/chill. They had a live band that was playing jazz music. Overall very cool. That day was Lali's birthday so we went back to her place for a pregame where more people joined. Then went out to this club/bar called Mannekin which is a fav for my sis and her friends. It was a ton ton ton of fun (see FB for pictures... eventually... very behind as I am just uploading graduation pics, whoops!). And I met some random girl who graduated from Penn in 200(something can't remember) in the bathroom!
Saturday, woke up a tiny bit hungover but overall fine. We rented a cab for 8 hours and went all over Delhi. We saw Jama Masjid, Humayun tomb, a really amazing Jain temple, Birla mandir, and then went to a really cool market called Dilli Haat. Overall awesome day but so ridiculously hot outside. Got back, napped, then when to someone's house. Played some beer pong and flip cup while watching the IPL match. Then went out to this dive bar which was hilarious. They were playing electronic music and it was like 100 guys and about 10 girls. And let me tell you guys in India have some very very interesting ways of dancing.
Next day went to an all you can drink brunch at this place called Indian Accent. Food was AMAZING. Just see this:
Yes that is pani puri with various panis. And yes that is pao bhaji with pao on skewers. And yes that is a rum ball on fiiiire. Incredible.
After brunch we went back to our home in Indirapuram.
Today was a very productive day at work. We actually started doing real work. The project we are working on is microfinance like but on a larger scale. Basically the organization is trying to invest in groups of 10-15 people who want to start a business together in villages. So our task is to start determining what qualifications are necessary for a group to receive such a loan. I'm getting to use Excel a lot which is fun. And it's very much open ended so we get to use a lot of our own creativity. Overall pretty interesting.
In other news... haven't been to the gym since Wednesday.. sadness. My shower got fixed though so now there is hot water and the shower head works! Super excited for that. Catie is coming here tomorrow, can't wait to see her! Going to either Agra/Jaipur or Rishikesh next weekend, so lots more fun to come.
That's all.. probably post in another week now.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Day 2 of work
Today was another great day. Got to work around 9:30, got an intro to Drishtee and our project. Got assigned a task that probably takes 2 hour max. Got a day and a half to do it. Our boss isn't going to be at work tomorrow so we don't have to go either! Aka shopping day!! Super excited!
In other news, the gym is awesome. Personal trainer = the best. Also, to continue along the lines of my first post regarding showers here... I've misspoken. The shower at the gym is awesome. It's a hell of a lot better then my room shower and even better than my shower from Rodin. Thus the solution = shower at the gym. Given that all of like 3 other ladies come to the gym it's also super clean.
Funny story from the gym today - I go to the girls locker room after my workout and pull my stuff out when in walks some guy, hot trainer, the bathroom attendant, and one of the three other ladies that comes to the gym. First, hot gym trainer apologizes profusely for walking into the bathroom unannounced. Given that I was just standing at the locked, I didn't care, but it was cute. The other lady is hysterical because she wants to use the steam room but the bathroom attendant told her she has to go in w/o clothes. The lady is like "that makes me uncomfortable, What if someone walks in, what if someone sees me!" It was quite the show.
Anyways, that's all for today
Monday, May 23, 2011
What a great day
So after work we didn't have much to do. Jason was pretty tired (he slept in the airport the night before) so Geeta told us to go home early (around 4). Jason needed some things from the store so we went there after getting home. The top floor of this mall is a gym. Now we both want to do a little exercise this summer (after a year's worth of drinking it's incredibly necessary) so we went to find out about membership. We were able to negotiate them down from about 9000 rupees to 3500 rupees for 2 months. Also included are dance classes, aerobics, spinning, yoga, and best of all A PERSONAL TRAINER!! So we get the membership and about 2 hours we go for a workout. And we meet our personal trainer. Now normally I don't find men in the motherland all that attractive. But oh my god. This guy was buff and cute! And so incredibly encouraging (as I panted and sweat throughout the workout...great). And I asked him what people do for fun in Noida and he told me about the clubs they go to. Love.
Anyways, all in all a great first day. Really looking forward to the weekend in Delhi too :) YAY
Making Progress
Jason and I went to lunch with Geeta (the lady who is the recruiter.. who we've been in contact with) and two other young people (one who's the girl sitting next to me!). Both seem very cool and said they would take us out. They want to go to Agra with us too! I said I was vegetarian and the guy got excited and was like "Me too!" Then he asked me if I boozed, when I said yes he looked disappointed and the other two girls started laughing (i.e. they clearly do too). Geeta also made a comment about finishing a bottle of Vodka. This is going to be a fun summer :)
I realize this post makes me seem like all I want to do is drink. What I really mean is good to see not everyone here is ultra conservative!
Sunday, May 22, 2011
First day of work
It is around 11:10am on my first day of work. The caretaker came to pick me up around 8:30. He started making me tea but I had already eaten my cereal. I conveyed this with hand motions as he speaks Hindi, and I do not (note to self: I should try to speak Hindi. It will probably get me far). We reached the office at like 9. Got a call from the lady that I was supposed to meet saying she was running 45 minutes late. Ah what to do for 45 minutes without internet? I should've brought a book but naturally forgot.
Anyways, then the lady came at like 9:45, we chatted, I met people, it was cool.
I am now awaiting Jason's arrival (the other Penn student that is working here).
Now for everyone's advice: The girl next to me seems young and cool (aka Westernized). I want to strike up conversation but i'm not sure how. It's been like 4 years since I've had to make new friends (read: i miss college), and I've never had to do it in another country. What do I say? How do we become friends? There are also about 5 other interns from some college in Mumbai. All boys. They seem to be a clique, but nice. How do I talk to them?
Oh the questions are flying...
Friday, May 20, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
India's Genius: The Shower
Okay so generally speaking I hate blogs. I never read them, I never write them. BUT I'm going to give it a shot. I will not be offended if you don't read it. It's guaranteed not to be entirely that interesting.
So the real stuff - Flight was good, reached here safely. Got picked up by the guest house care taker. Came to the guest house, fell asleep. Now awake. About to go look at some other guest houses, trying to figure out how to recharge our cellular. It's hot. Oh and I blew the fuse with my hairdryer. whoops
Now the cool stuff - My first post is dedicated to the showers of the motherland. Now if you have known me for long (aka Didi) I always have something to say about the showers in India. For some reason their shower heads never seems to spray in one direction. It literally goes everywhere creating the dilemma of where to stand. So I go to shower this morning and am I little confused as to how this particular one operates. First there is a bucket style faucet at the bottom. As you make your way up there are 6 sprayers at the mid-level (sprays at your butt and back). Then there is a hand sprayer (spraying all over the place as expected). And then there is a regular shower head (which sadly didn't work). So you might think this is completely inefficient and just weird. I too thought that. But then I showered and realized this is genius. I mean in America, what is ever spraying at your butt and back? Nothing! Indians are so smart.
Okay that's it :) Insightful I know. I've only been here for like 12 hours, what do you expect man? jokes. Peace
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