It is now Sunday night (midnight) and I made it thru my first weekend in India! Surprisingly I have been doing pretty well considering the time difference, that's probably because I pushed myself yesterday and didn't take a nap even though I hadn't had a proper sleep in almost 48 hours.
Everyone in the group arrived throughout the day yesterday and we just hung around the homestay and got to know each other, we ate, we went for a walk, we ate again and then went to bed. It is a gorgeous homestay, like a bed and breakfast but so much more. It is run by Capt Singh and his wife Giri. He used to be a merchant ship captain and has been all over the world (those big cargo ships that you see in Savannah). You can really tell they love what they do. check out their site http://www.girisadanhomestay.com/
I have my own room on the 4th floor, I'm the only one on the floor though. It's kind of like a rooftop room, I have to walk up the 4 flights of stairs, go outside under an awning and then my room is off a little terrace. It is so nice to walk outside in the morning and to see the sun and just now I was able to see the stars right before I went to bed. And considering how I'm eating so far, good thing I'm on the top floor! There is a common area below me on the 3rd floor and another below that where we eat breakfast and dinner and such. There are 11 rooms and 11 of us in the group so we have the whole place to ourselves for the month, which is very cool. If we want to have dinner here or even have them make us a lunch to go, they will. And wi fi. This is not at all what I was expecting, this is nicer than some places we have in the states!
Now, I have always loved Indian food, the great flavors and spices, but I never thought I would enjoy eating it for every meal! For breakfast this morning we had a nice spiced rice with coconut, fresh papaya, homemade guava jam, toast, eggs (which were scrambled and white, not sure how they do that) and of course a nice chai tea. Lunch, of course rice again, lentils (dal), some sort of local Rajasthani (the name of the region) dish with tomatoes and these chickpea dumplings (awesome!), and other wonderful food. Dinner was made here by Giri and was so good and healthy, she uses very minimal oil and makes everything from scratch. It was all vegetarian but you would never miss the meat. Cauliflower and potatoes, lentils, eggplant and tomatoes, whole wheat chapati, fresh cucumber and tomatoes with fresh herbs and wonderful cured lemon chutney and this amazing pickled fresh tumeric/ginger with lemon. I am going to have to take a cooking lesson from her and have her write down these recipes. The flavors are just so fresh and different, and somehow I feel healthy eating all of the different spices. I'll just keep telling myself that as I go for seconds. The best part though was the stewed guava with vanilla ice cream that we had for dessert - yum!!
I'll try to get some pictures and actual names of dishes.
Today was sort of an orientation day, we got to know our teammates, learned where they were from, what they do and their personal interests. We are a varied and very fascinating group, coming from all over the world and having so many different experiences. Each day someone from the team will be updating our IBM blog, so please check it out to here their view of things. https://www-146.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps/node/6697 It is an extremely cumbersome site, but nice to see other folks perspective.
Finally, I created a picasa site for the team to share pictures. I've uploaded a video of the welcome ceremony (not sure what else to call it) where Giri placed a red powder on our forehead and thru flowers on us. We will start to add more pics as we get going. https://picasaweb.google.com/108504812675139412203
Tomorrow we meet with our non-profit partners for the first time, so I'll update more on what I'll be doing, once I know more :-)
Oh, finally, I just have to say how technology is really amazing. I brought a tiny webcam with a built in microphone with me and got the same one for my parents. We checked it out tonight and it is so easy and clear to use, they loved it, including Milo (their dog). 4 years ago when I was in Australia I had to struggle to keep Skype working without feedback, now it was so easy. Only works well if you have a microphone though, one sided conversations can be a bit awkward if the person on the other end can see and hear you but has to type responses (hint hint you know who you are!)
Good night from India!
Everyone in the group arrived throughout the day yesterday and we just hung around the homestay and got to know each other, we ate, we went for a walk, we ate again and then went to bed. It is a gorgeous homestay, like a bed and breakfast but so much more. It is run by Capt Singh and his wife Giri. He used to be a merchant ship captain and has been all over the world (those big cargo ships that you see in Savannah). You can really tell they love what they do. check out their site http://www.girisadanhomestay.com/
I have my own room on the 4th floor, I'm the only one on the floor though. It's kind of like a rooftop room, I have to walk up the 4 flights of stairs, go outside under an awning and then my room is off a little terrace. It is so nice to walk outside in the morning and to see the sun and just now I was able to see the stars right before I went to bed. And considering how I'm eating so far, good thing I'm on the top floor! There is a common area below me on the 3rd floor and another below that where we eat breakfast and dinner and such. There are 11 rooms and 11 of us in the group so we have the whole place to ourselves for the month, which is very cool. If we want to have dinner here or even have them make us a lunch to go, they will. And wi fi. This is not at all what I was expecting, this is nicer than some places we have in the states!
Now, I have always loved Indian food, the great flavors and spices, but I never thought I would enjoy eating it for every meal! For breakfast this morning we had a nice spiced rice with coconut, fresh papaya, homemade guava jam, toast, eggs (which were scrambled and white, not sure how they do that) and of course a nice chai tea. Lunch, of course rice again, lentils (dal), some sort of local Rajasthani (the name of the region) dish with tomatoes and these chickpea dumplings (awesome!), and other wonderful food. Dinner was made here by Giri and was so good and healthy, she uses very minimal oil and makes everything from scratch. It was all vegetarian but you would never miss the meat. Cauliflower and potatoes, lentils, eggplant and tomatoes, whole wheat chapati, fresh cucumber and tomatoes with fresh herbs and wonderful cured lemon chutney and this amazing pickled fresh tumeric/ginger with lemon. I am going to have to take a cooking lesson from her and have her write down these recipes. The flavors are just so fresh and different, and somehow I feel healthy eating all of the different spices. I'll just keep telling myself that as I go for seconds. The best part though was the stewed guava with vanilla ice cream that we had for dessert - yum!!
I'll try to get some pictures and actual names of dishes.
Today was sort of an orientation day, we got to know our teammates, learned where they were from, what they do and their personal interests. We are a varied and very fascinating group, coming from all over the world and having so many different experiences. Each day someone from the team will be updating our IBM blog, so please check it out to here their view of things. https://www-146.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps/node/6697 It is an extremely cumbersome site, but nice to see other folks perspective.
Finally, I created a picasa site for the team to share pictures. I've uploaded a video of the welcome ceremony (not sure what else to call it) where Giri placed a red powder on our forehead and thru flowers on us. We will start to add more pics as we get going. https://picasaweb.google.com/108504812675139412203
Tomorrow we meet with our non-profit partners for the first time, so I'll update more on what I'll be doing, once I know more :-)
Oh, finally, I just have to say how technology is really amazing. I brought a tiny webcam with a built in microphone with me and got the same one for my parents. We checked it out tonight and it is so easy and clear to use, they loved it, including Milo (their dog). 4 years ago when I was in Australia I had to struggle to keep Skype working without feedback, now it was so easy. Only works well if you have a microphone though, one sided conversations can be a bit awkward if the person on the other end can see and hear you but has to type responses (hint hint you know who you are!)
Good night from India!
Loved seeing and talking to you today via skype. It is truly amazing. Looking forward to having you prepare Indian food for us. We love traveling with you. Good morning, Sacha!!! I have my Oreo.
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