The Move, Hulking out & Mexican -- Week 7 & 8

So yes, I missed a week, but I had a good reason--I was moving into my new apartment the weekend of June 2-3 and was a little busy.  But before I share 'The Move' experience, I have some family b-day's to call out--

Happy B-day to--
My cousin Anthony (June 5), who's also getting married July 19 and unfortunately I'm missing both of these events!

'The twins'--my nephew/niece--Lucas & Loren (June 11)!

What's 'newsworthy' from the past 2 weeks --
Team offsite --
Last week I took my team to a resort not far out of Hyderabad (Leonia Resort - http://www.leonia.in/), for a 2-day offsite (May 31-June 1).  It was a really nice place and it was great to get out of the office and spend some time bonding with the team.  No crazy stories to share, just wanted to share some pics of my team so you can see who I spend the majority of my time with ;-).

This was our "serious" team pic -- Back Row (L to R): Akbar, Hari, Zubin, Dalbir (my manager), Usha; Front Row (L to R): Shwetha, Vikram, Harith, Divya, Me

 Our "crazy" team pic

My Driver & Car --

After a month and a half of using a temporary car and different drivers, with varying degrees of English skills, I finally selected my permanent driver and car.  My driver's name is Khaja.

Khaja kind of looks like a bad ass in this pic, but it was 7:30am and I'm sure he wasn't in the mood for some white dude taking his pic.  Notice the white car he's standing behind...I always wanted a mini-van!  Who would've thunk that I had to come to India to make that dream come true!!

The Move --
Following my team offsite, I spent the weekend packing up my stuff in the hotel...and believe it or not, I had actually gotten used to the idea of living in a hotel room while I was here and wouldn't have minded staying at the Westin for the whole 18 months.  Maybe it was the fact that I left in the morning with my bed not made, towels on the floor and glass/dishes just sitting around the room...and then when I returned home in the evening, everything was picked up, bed made and smelled really good--you know the 'Westin smell'.  But all good things must come to an end and as I said my good-byes to the Westin and the staff that greeted me every morning and evening, I was off to REALLY experience Hyderabad by moving into my own place.  I never thought I'd be 'that person' that before leaving a hotel room would take all the free stuff, but I filled a whole suitcase with soap, body wash, slippers, towels, bottle of water (which I had been collecting for over over a week) and even some silverware/plates.  Without a doubt, I turned into 'that person' and had no problem walking out of the hotel knowing that I had a whole suitcase filled with "gifts" from the Westin.  If I could've snuck off with the bed, I would've taken that too!

Thanks to Khaja, the move went super smooth, as I wasn't expecting him to help me with the bags up to my apartment, but he said that he'll bring the bags up, which allowed me to start unpacking things.  I know I'm going to get WAY spoiled having a driver, but I only got a driver because everyone kept telling me that I should...and honestly, not having to worry about learning my way around the city or driving on these roads, is a big relief.

The complex I'm living in has a pool, fitness, grocery store and tennis courts...AND it's walking distance to a Baskin Robbins!!

Here are some pics of my new place and the view from my balcony--

My apartment is on the 9th floor and this is the view from my balcony. You can't really see it from this pic, but just on the other side of the road is the golf course--not a bad view! 

 

My family room and dining room

Different view of family room w/ tv -- yes, I have cable and get channels in English.

This is the master bedroom with the master bath attached.  Plenty of room, but the bed is like sleeping on a concrete slab...actually, the concrete slab would probably be more comfortable.

These are the plates/pattern that was left for me in my apartment--this is more of a family inside joke because we had these exact plates...in fact, Mom, don't you still have them?? ha, ha.

Trips to HyperCity --
If anyone wants to know what it feels like to be a celebrity, or the Elephant Man, just come to India and go shopping at HyperCity and you'll feel all eyes on you as you're shopping for groceries.  First off, HyperCity is like Super KMart or Target, with food/groceries, clothes, electronics, furniture, etc. It's where I've been doing my shopping and it's located on the ground floor of Hyderabad's largest mall, which is where I go when I'm bored or just feeling a little homesick, because the mall is exactly what you'd find in any large city in the U.S.--it even has a Chili's, which I've visited a couple times for their nachos and bottomless chips-n-salsa.  I actually like going to the store and just walking up and down the aisles looking at the different types of food they have and trying to figure out how much things cost. 

So I'm getting used to people staring at me when I go out because there aren't a ton of 'cracker's' walking around the city.  But this past week was a first--I was in HyperCity shopping and this dad brings his little girl (she was 2 or 3) up to me and starts waving her hand at me and bouncing her up and down saying something to her in Hindi and pointing at me.  I essentially was some exoctic animal to them and she was just staring at me like I was not real.  Of course I felt like I needed to do something to entertain her/him, so I started making faces at her and waving...then I realized that it wasn't just the two of them watching, but there were about 6 or 7 other people standing around watching me interact with the little girl.  At that point I grabbed my shopping cart and moved along, but not before the guy with the little girl came up and handed me his girl and asked if he could take a picture of me with her...I said, "Um, ok." And then I went on my way feeling a bit like a super star...and an idiot for not realizing there was a crowd of people watching me make faces at that little girl. 

Something else I should point out, malls are a VERY big thing here and within the city of Hyderabad, there are actually 4-5 big malls, which is pretty rare from what I've been told.  So most people would get excited to go out to a nice restaurant, but people in Hyderabad seem to be very excited to go eat at the food court in the mall--check this picture out:

There were NO empty seats in the food court--it was so crazy to see!

And even though I'm half way across the earth, some things are the same--this pic is of a kids b-day party at McDonald's.

If I were David Baner...
The day - Thursday, June 7th.
The situation - Had a 10am appointment with the Foreign Regional Registration Office (essentially needed to get a formal certificate from the India government stating that I can live here--forget the fact that I had to got through hell and high water to get a work visa, which is essentially saying the same thing).

Hulking out - I arrive a little before 10am and meet with my contact from the relocation company I have been working (Oscar).  He then introduces me to this guy...don't even know what his name is, and tells me that Mr. X is going to get me through the process as quickly as possible, but it will most likely take 1.5-2 hours, which I was not informed.  I say "Ok, but I do have a 12:30 meeting and was not informed it would take that long, so if we can get through things as quickly as possible, I'd appreciate it."  That was me being mild mannered David Baner.  We go inside and I give Mr. X my passport and a couple other forms.  I should mention that at 10am, it was already 100 degrees outside and the "office" was located in Hyderabad's old airport, which must have been shut down because people were baking to death inside...even with fans running, which was just blowing hot air and b.o. smells around.  Ok, back to the story....

As if what happened in the morning at the sweat box wasn't enough--Thursday evening was to be the first time that my housekeeper...yes, housekeeper, was to arrive to clean.  We had set the appointment for 6pm, which meant that I left work at 5:30 to make sure I was home in plenty of time to meet him.  6pm comes and goes...no word from the housekeeper, at 6:30 I decide to call him and I ask "where are you?  we had scheduled the appointment for 6pm."  He responds, or actually he's talking to my driver, Khaja, on the phone because my housekeeper can't speak English very well and Khaja agreed to stay and translate for me.  Anyway, he tells Khaja that he got held up at another job and he'll be over in an hour.  I figure I'll give him a break, but then come 8:15 he's still not here and I'm starting to Hulk out again.  He shows up at 8:25 with another guy, who I think is the manager because he can speak English pretty well. I open the door and just stare at them and they say "we're the housekeepers".  I respond "No fuck...do either of you have watches or phones?"  The manager says, "I apologize for being late, but we here."  I look at them and just rip into them--I tell them that they could've at least called to inform me they were running late and that I had to leave work with still a ton of shit to do and get home to sit around and wait for you to show up.   Then I tell them that they just lost a customer, and said probably one that you were going to charge double to because I'm an American.  I told them they could go home and that I didn't need a housekeeper and was done waiting for people in this country and was going to do it on my own!!  I shut the door, picked up a dust rag and mop and cleaned the fucking place myself...then when I was done, I opened the door to my balcony and yelled out "I don't need any help--I can do it all on my own!"  I really did yell that...and then I turned on the French Open and felt really content ;-).

The best damn Mexican in Hyderabad:
One of my friends told me about this place that has a Sunday brunch and all the Mexican food you can eat. I have to admit, I was a little leary about eating Mexican food in India--not to mention an all-u-can-eat taco buffet.  But I have been craving Mexican since I arrived and the restaurant (La Catina) is located at a pretty nice hotel called the Novetel. So this past Sunday, I talked a couple friends into going and we decided to meet around 2pm for brunch...but seeing I didn't have much going on in the morning, I decided to show up early and just lounge around the pool.  I arrived @ 11:30 and grabbed a couple beers and just chilled in the sun.  You have to understand that although I get a lot of stares because I'm white, there are also perks to being a "whitie", as I like to call us.  Very few people question anything I do--whether it's show up at a pool at a hotel I'm not even staying OR helping myself to a lunch buffet in the Microsoft offices...for a team of people I've never met.  I'm sure one of these days I'll be questions...probably when I get so dark from the sun that it will be hard to tell the difference between me and the locals, but until that day, I'm proud to be a whitie!

The gang at the Mexican buffet...as you can see, there is actually a whitie whiter than me--that's Steve, Roy and Roy's fiance.

Not only was it my first taste of Mexican food, but it was also my first red meat...and it was damn good.  OH, I almost forgot to mention, in addition to the all you can eat Mexican food, the price  included all the margaritas/beer you can drink...I polished about 3 pitchers of margarita's on my own--some whitie was three sheets to the wind!!  And the total price for the brunch was $20/person--HUH YEAH!!!

A few other random pics & my everyday life:

This is a co-worker of mine, Rohit, who celebrated his b-day last week and everyone got together and sang him happy birthday and got him a cake...but then they took monkey poop and smeared it all over his face, as that's the tradition in India.  If you look closely enough at the pic, you'll see that he's trying to hold his breathe--it was pretty disgusting, but didn't smell that bad.

The Microsoft campus that I work at is a good size with 3 buildings--it's large enough that there's a shuttle bus that picks/drops employees at the different buildings.  I thought I'd snap a shot on my phone of the inside of one of the shuttles.  They're not always this crowded, but the inside makes you feel like you're inside the Mystery Machine...the only thing missing is a big Hookah to smoke out of.

Just some cute kids I've seen over the past couple weeks --

'Deep-ak' Thoughts by Keith:

- He who believes everything he reads is a fool...if you believed that there's a tradition to spread monkey poop on your face for your birthday, well, invite me over for your next bday!  It was chocolate frosting.

- A true test of one's patience would be spending a day in a government office here in India AND not break a sweat OR feel like you're going to rip someone's head off.

- Pool + Golf course + Minivan + Walking distance to ice cream = Pretty damn good life!

- Whoever comes to visit me will be treated to the Sunday brunch at La Catina!!!