Housekeeping and other fun stuff.
I'm not sure when any of you will be able to see this, because apparently my web traffice allotment has been exceeded for this month. I signed up for an additional 1 GB with my ISP, but I'm not sure how soon it will processed.

Victor was saying that he has noticed an increased amount of traffic here lately. I have too. I wonder who everyone is! Thanks for taking the time to visit my little site.

Thanks also to everyone who checked up on me the last couple of days. Also thanks to those of you who talked me through the junk that was going on. Basically, my parents had some strong concerns about my moving to Dallas that they decided to bring up now. While I'm here in India. It was pretty ugly, but I think it has all cooled off for a while. My plans haven't changed, and I hope I'm not going to get disinherited or anything.

Even though the events of this weekend weren't anything as drastic as a death in the family or whatever, they still had a great effect on me. A word to the wise: if you know someone living in the third world for a while, don't drop a big ugly bomb on them unless it's absolutely necessary.

Please excuse this brief interruption
Hey guys, I'm going through some pretty intense emotional junk right now, so I might not feel like writing for a few days. I don't feel it's right to post about it here. So don't get worried that I've been carried off by some Indian prince or anything, or I've caught avian flu and am lying in some unhygenic Indian hospital. I'll get back to writing when I'm in a better mindset.

Until then, keep this lovely thought in mind... I'm coming home in two weeks!

Usually I don't care for these quizzes, but...
... I thought this one was worth doing!


You're "Let's Pretend We're Bunny
Rabbits." You aren't broken, only a bit
debilitated. (S)he misses you as much as you
miss them. And if (s)he could, (s)he'd grow
wings and fly home right away. Hang in there.
It'll work out for the best.


Which of the (Magnetic Fields) 69 Love Songs are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Can't take it no more, so I'm going on a shopping spree!
So, after getting home from work this morning, I couldn't sleep. No matter what I tried, no matter that I'd worked a twelve-hour day. So I got up and went down the road to some shops that K. had been to earlier this week.

The first shop was a jewellery shop which, strangely enough, not a pearl shop. This is rare in Hyderabad! It was mostly silver and gold jewellery at pretty low prices. I picked up a little something and headed to the shop next door, which sold "western" clothing. By western, I don't mean cowboys and Wranglers, but non-Indian clothing.

It was one of those places where you can find Polo shirts for $3 and stuff. I spent about $45 there, and I was able to pick up the two shirts for me, a pair of wool Banana Republic pants for about $8, and several things for Victor (including an fcuk shirt for $6, valued at about $75ish). Yay for cheap shops!!

Afterwards, I stopped by the pearl shop in the hotel to get some pricing information for some friends. While I was there, I talked myself into buying a beautiful silver and topaz set (necklace, earrings, and ring). The ring is pretty big and gaudy, which makes me so happy.

Unfortunately, I still couldn't sleep, so I think I got around 3-4 hours eventually. I feel a little like a zombie.

Saturation Level: Exceeded
Every time I come here, I manage to have a pretty good time... up to a point. That's when I start counting down the days until I get home. I'm at that point now.

Working in a foreign country can be so frustrating, especially if there are major cultural differences about how business is conducted. Even though we're speaking the same language (sort of...), the way that Americans conduct business and the way that Indians conduct business is very different.

I'm tired of people being late for everything. Or not showing up at all. I'm tired of the constant talking in my training class, and I'm sick of the sharing of answers during assessments.

Four or five of the systems in the training class don't work, and IT refuses to do anything about them. We have told them countless times, yet the computers still don't work.

Everything here is run by emotions. If a person doesn't like someone, that's considered a good reason to not work on the same team or as a group with them. That gets really difficult when people start doing someone else's job for them, even though they don't know how to do it, because they don't want to go to that person with any issues.

I could go on and on. I'm just so ready to get out of here. Come on, April 9th!

Cultural Differences
I woke up this morning and decided to order breakfast. A lot of the time, I go downstairs to the breakfast buffet, but I wanted to eat in my room today. So I got out the room service menu. In accordance with my new diet, I decided to choose something good for me and high in fiber. This is the menu option I chose:

Granola - Served with hot, cold or skimmed milk

I ordered it with hot milk (hoping the heat had killed all of the cooties floating around in the milk... I don't have cold milk here), and I added tea and a side of toast. Ten minutes later, the waiter arrived at my door.

On the serving tray was my tea, milk, and toast, and a bowl which contained two Quaker Oats Chewy Chocolate Chip granola bars.

Uh, what? Hello? How was I supposed to eat those in a bowl with milk? Did they think the bars are meant to be dissolved in milk? Well, luckily I had brought some low-fat granola from Central Market with me to snack on, so I put that in the bowl instead.

Just a small-town girl...
I went shopping today. I bought a bunch of books, since I've read the three I brought with me. I also bought some new makeup, since I haven't done that in a while. Does anyone know anything about an Italian cosmetics brand called Pupa? Unfortunate name, but the foundation I bought seems to really work well.

Right now I'm watching View from the Top, which I've been wanting to see since forever, or at least since last year. So far it's living up to my expectations ("hilariously awful").

Hey, here's a tip. If you're at the pool, and there are plenty of empty deck chairs everywhere, do not plonk your half-naked, hairy body down right next to me. That's just bad pool ettiquette. Also, if I'm obviously trying to enjoy some peace and quiet, don't loudly ask for newspapers and such to be brought to you, and don't keep sneaking peeks over at me. I'll be forced to get up and go back to my hotel room. Alone. Now you know how my morning went.

Ch-ch-ch-changes!
For a long time (well, practically ever since I was about 14), I've wanted to get into better shape and lose weight. I'm not obese or seriously overweight, but I've got fat in places where I'd rather have no fat. I've struggled for a long time with low self-esteem and whatnot, as anyone who knows me could attest to. This is stupid, because I'm smart, funny, pretty cool, and kinda cute. But, like most of us, I have a mean inner critic that is determined to get me down. In the last few years, I've done a lot of work on feeling better about myself, and it's worked for the most part. But I want to do more.

So lately I've been thinking that it's time to make a change for the better. I'd like to start taking better care of myself. Sure, I'd like to change the way I look (weigh less, wear better clothes, stop having cracked cuticles), but I'd like to feel better physically too. I want to have more energy to do stuff. I have back problems that I'd like to finally reduce by building stomach and back muscles. I want better posture so that my shoulders don't hurt. Finally, I also want to stuff a gag in the mouth of the inner critic. I know I'll never get rid of her forever, but I'd sure like the bitch to shut the hell up!

While I've been here in India, I've been trying to eat well and get plenty of sleep. I've also been doing some exercise. I'm about to kick it up to a whole different level. Also, I just joined an online diet plan called ChangeOne, which is a diet formulated by Reader's Digest. I used to love Reader's Digest when I was little, and my dad got me a subscription for Christmas a couple of years ago. I would have never picked it out for myself, but I do enjoy reading it before bed or in the bathroom (you read in the bathroom too, so stop snickering). ChangeOne apparently changes one small thing a week to ease you into a healthier lifestyle. I'm going to give it a try, though it might be weird for a few weeks while I'm still living in a hotel and working nights.

You're still laughing about Reader's Digest, aren't you?

What's keeping me awake?
I've got lots on my mind these days, and I think that's adding to my weird insomnia episodes. I talked to Victor on the phone tonight about some of it, and he brought me back to reality a bit... but here's some of the stuff that's keeping me awake.

1. Quitting my job. I've already told my bosses that I'm moving to Dallas in June. I'm not too worried about quitting this job; it's what happens afterward that scares me. Here's hoping I can find a rewarding and fulfilling job in Dallas, not too far from my apartment... yeah right!

2. Bills, bills, bills. I hate being in so much debt. It's not as bad as I make it seem... I'm no Save Karyn, but I still owe more than I'd like to owe. Of course, upcoming unemployment and moving expenses aren't making things better.

3. Packing and moving. If there's one thing I hate, it's packing and unpacking a house! I am already dreading the actual process of packing up my stuff, and I need to start right when I get home so that I don't get behind like last time. I'm also really sad about leaving my friends. I haven't felt such a part of a group in a long time... maybe since high school. I had friends in college, but I was always on the fringe of the group, not in the middle. After college, I always had Diana (always indispensible!!!) and her friends, but they were really her friends, not mine. I guess the closest I came was in Ireland, where I did make a lot of fairly close friends... unfortunately I only keep vague contact with a couple of them now. The prospect of having to meet new people and make new friends scares me, too. I don't want to lose contact with my Austin gang, especially since we'll be so close by.

4. Where to go on vacation? This one is actually fun to think about! Victor and I both have enough frequent flier miles to get a ticket to Europe. We want to take a trip after he finishes school and before he starts work. Once he begins work, we should be able to fly standby all the time, so we can do weekend trips a lot. But we would like a more extended trip right now. The only problem is that money is very tight. We're ruling out more expensive cities like London, Paris, Rome, Milan, etc... because Victor (and probably myself as well) would be too tempted to blow money on fashion. So we're thinking maybe Ireland (I'd love to show him around) and/or the UK, bypassing Paul Smith boutiques for Portabello Market and Camden Market if we go to London. There's always Prague, too, which I've never been to... I could go on for days.

Anyway, that's what's on my mind these days. That and a whole lot more, actually. Will I ever sort it all out?

O adhere to me, for we are bound by symmetry
The weather here is averaging around a high of 104 Fahrenheit each day. If I go down to the pool, I lie there and sweat, and eventually my headphones start to burn my ears. But it's the only time I listen to music while I'm here. Even though I brought a small CD player/clock radio to listen to in my room, I never use it. The TV is always on instead. I don't know why I find it so hard to listen to music in the hotel room. I guess the TV keeps me from feeling trapped, or something.

I'm on such a weird schedule here. I work from 10:00am to 7:00am. The last two trips, my body wanted to sleep right after work, so I would sleep and then wake up and enjoy the afternoon before work. But I was getting home earlier then, like 4:00am, and it would still be dark outside. Now that it's light outside when I get home, I don't feel like sleeping. I've been trying to force myself, but I'm going to give up.

I just realized I only have three weeks left here. That's pretty cool. The other day I was worrying myself over the fact that I have to pack up my apartment when I get home. I got all worked up about it, but I guess there's nothing I can do about it while I'm here, so I should just relax.

By the way, I know I promised you some pictures, but I realized I forgot my USB cable for my camera.

Victor has been spending his spring break by seeing copious amounts of shows at SXSW, which I am missing for the third time. Yep, I have never attended a SXSW show the entire time I have lived in Austin. Considering the fact that I love music and going to shows, this is pretty sad.

A Day in the Life
One of the ways that Victor, Ryan, Mark, and I get through the day is by sending each other copious amounts of email. Usually this is low-grade humor, music news, plans for the evening, or interesting stories from the news. I thought I'd share yesterday's occurrances, which were fairly typical of us.

It all started with Mark's informing us that he did extremely well on the Filmchaw film quiz last week, coming in first. Applause (and sarcasm) all around, as evidenced by Ryan's exclamation, "ooooooh!!! can i touch you?"

Then there was some general music gossip on the happenings of KEXP, and how John in the Morning was playing the entire Pixies backcatalogue, prompting the old reliable Teasing of Mandy, in which I was made fun of for not liking the Pixies. Hey, I can't help it. We got into a discussion of being a music completist (ie. owning all of the releases of a particular artist), which led to the topic of living with your significant other: when you combine your music and film collections, how will anyone know that you are the cooler partner???

Victor can't resist a good blind item, so he sent along this NY Post blind item, which led us to speculation of the people involved in the blind item. Of course, that further led us to a spirited discussion of John Galliano's fall men's collection. It's only logical, folks! Along the way, Ryan reasserted his wish that Tom Ford could be his sugar daddy.

"Can you imagine the stimulating conversation these two must have?" Victor asked about this revealing picture of Paris Hilton and Nick Carter. After several comments regarding the hotness (or not hotness... I think they're both gross) of the picture, we started discussing whether or not their sex life was good. Because of Nick Carter's friendship with Tommy Lee, Mark wondered if Nick had some of the same qualities as his friend... we're talking size here, people. The conversation took a dramatic, and probably far too personal, turn from there. I think we'll keep the rest of the conversation safely tucked away in my deleted file. Hmm, I should empty that...

Intrepid reporter Victor also sent along his pick for Mugshot of the Year, courtesy of Florida's finest news organization. Another highlight from Local 6 was a story about a self-professed "vampire slayer" who shot a Domino's Pizza employee because he looked like a vampire. Victor supplied that one, but I had already found it via the Drudge Report.

Well, that's about it. I left out some stuff about mama's boys and the Strokes, but I'll just leave that to your imagination.

Epiphany!
I may pretend to be HTML-savvy, but really, I'm way behind the times. A lot of the stuff I know was learned in 1995, and things have changed a lot since then!

I have finally realized that the website setup document from my ISP was a little misleading (and way outdated... seriously, Texas.Net, get with the program!). In my naivety, I didn't realize that I could ftp stuff to my account without an ftp client. But I can!

So, in the next couple of days, I will diligently try to upload some India pics for you folks to see. I am so happy I could dance.

I can see your undies
Yesterday we started new hire training. Class is going OK, I suppose. Indians have a much different learning style than Americans. They are more impatient to get the entire picture at once, rather than waiting for each piece to be explained fully. They are also very easily sidetracked. It makes for a somewhat difficult task of steering the class in the right direction.

I also spent nearly three hours with various coaches and managers here in a meeting where I basically told them I would no longer do their work for a particular issue. I think I managed to empower them rather than just coming off as a bossy bitch. Anyway, once they're doing this particular task themselves, as they should have been doing all the time, I will have more time to devote to my other responsibilities at work.

I'm hoping to get out into the city this weekend. I would like to go to the local bookstore and pick up a book or two, plus I want to go shoe shopping. I would like to get some sandals to wear around. My sandals from home give me blisters, plus they're a couple of years old, so they're no longer en vogue. I didn't bring them, hoping I could find some here. Anyone that knows me knows about my shoe weakness. Apparently there's this incredible new shoe store here, so of course I have to go.

This morning I couldn't sleep, so I went to the gym and then to the pool. I didn't have my glasses on, so I couldn't see very far away, but I swear that there was a girl there going topless. Absolutely unheard of in India, where even short skirts are still uncommon. Either that or there was a guy wearing a pink Speedo. After all, I only saw the person from the back. Men: please do not wear pink flowery Speedos.

I'm betting I was just having trouble seeing.

Bleary-eyed
I didn't really do anything this weekend. I kept having this problem where I would fall asleep after dawn and not wake until after sunset. So I pretty much missed out on Saturday and Sunday. Usually on the weekends I try to vary my sleeping habit so I can incorporate some shopping or sightseeing, but this weekend it was too much to bear. So I was up all night, doing nothing in the hotel room, and I slept all day.

Last night I managed to fall asleep around 2am, but unfortunately I woke up at 8am, wide awake. I watched a couple of movies, went to the pool, and puttered around until I left for work at 4:15pm. I'm doing some weird training stuff right now, as is my coworker-from-home K., so today we're working until about 2:30am. I'm done with my stuff and am just waiting for K. to finish, since we share a car and driver. I'm beat. My whole body hurts and I have a pounding headache. Also, my wisdom teeth (poor, forgotten souls!) have decided today would be a good day to remind me how much I need to get them extracted.

Whine, moan, gripe. Is that all I do?

Blind Item: Which rising young director's film Black-eyed, after making a splash at the Austin Gay and Lesbian Film Festival last year, has now been accepted to the London Lesbian and Gay Film Festival and the Turin International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival? Also, which of your favorite bloggers was the script supervisor and an extra in the film? Inquiring minds want to know.

City and Work Update
I really haven't ventured out into Hyderabad much yet, partly because I've been here before, partly to catch up on sleep, and partly to save money. But I have been reading up in the two city magazines that are supplied in the hotel, Channel 6 and Wow! Hyderabad. The latter is the better magazine, which caters to youth culture and tourists. Both highlight some of the changes that have taken place in the city recently. There's a host of new restaurants, clubs, and shops. There are a bunch of new buildings in Hitec City, which is where all of the computer and software companys are located. This city is really growing up fast. It's becoming more westernized, I guess. There is now a Subway right down the street from the hotel, and in the last six or eight months two KFC-esque fried chicken restaurants have opened. Everywhere you look, you are bombarded with advertisements for mobile phones, newspapers, shops, restaurants... it's all too much information.

Work has changed a lot too, as the company has continued to grow by leaps and bounds here. There is now a big cafeteria, complete with a popcorn machine (oh the glory!), trendy coffee stand, and something that looks like a juice bar. They spent a huge chunk of money and put in a new gym. It's pretty big, about three times the size of the hotel gym, and it is full of brand-new equipment.

In other news, I have hooked up my Gamecube (finally found the AV channel!), and it works just fine. I also have the internet fully installed in my room - it's wireless, so I can surf in bed! Hooray.

Feels Like Home!
Well, I made it back to Hyderabad. They have put us on the 5th floor of the hotel, which I've never stayed on. It's been recently remodeled and has new hardwood floors, bathroom fixtures, furniture, and TV. It's pretty awesome and feels homey. The new TV is very nice. However, there's no AV channel available, so I'll try to figure out how I can still use my Gamecube with it.

I didn't sleep at all last night, so forgive me if I seem a little disjointed. Before leaving New Delhi, we shopped some at the hotel (I bought more jewelry), and then went to this outside handicraft market called Dilli Haat. It was amazing. I found so many good bargains there, including a super cool rug for only $25. I did try bargaining with the shopkeepers, and sometimes I was fairly successful. We had a tough time getting everything in our luggage for the flight to Hyderabad.

Oh! On the way to the airport, we saw an elephant in the traffic! We were stopping at a red light (imagine that, in India) and so was he. He was being ridden by a couple of people. I tried to get a picture, but a bus kept getting in my way.

Also, did you know they have Whole Foods in Delhi? If I was going to spend more time there, I would definitely have stopped in.

I'm now all unpacked and ready to get some sleep. I have to go in to work tomorrow. Oh, it turns out they changed my manager at work again today. I swear, how many different managers can I have?

Last night in Delhi
Well, tonight was the last night at work at the outsource partner. I have had a really good time with them. They took very good care of us. Last night, two of the people from my work in Hyderabad came up to meet with all of us. They brought us biryani, which is the specialty there. We ate it for dinner. Tonight for dinner, we went to a restaurant that had Italian, Mexican, and Indian food. The chips and salsa were good... the chips were a little weird but the salsa was perfect. I had fajitas de pollo, which were excellent. The chicken was amazing... a little different than regular fajitas but so yummy. K. and I received presents from the outsourcers. We both got a metal bowl and a silk scarf.

Tomorrow before we go to Hyderabad, we're going to go with the two guys from my work to a famous market here in Delhi. Then we're all catching a plane to Hyderabad. I wish I had more time here to go to museums and forts and whatnot, but at least I was able to come at all.