post 4

It’s been a pretty crazy last few days. I’m in Bangalore, the IT capital of India (not the financial like I said in the last post). I started my new internship tomorrow with Peak Alpha, it sounds like I’ll be creating a financial model to help them raise funds. It should be incredibly challenging, I will work at least 6 days a week and possibly seven. I am very excited about starting, I have to be there at 9:15 tomorrow morning.

My trip from Uttarakhand to Bangalore was pretty crazy. Everything I am doing is pretty off the cuff, most of you know that is very unlike me. I’m really enjoying it. I caught a bus from Dehradun to Dehli at 7 am on Wednesday. It was about a 6 hours bus ride, I wasn’t sure weather I’d take a plane or train to Bangalore, but luckily since I am a westerner I get bombarded with rickshaw drivers every time I step into the day light. My drivers took me to a very sketchy travel agent who wanted me to pay in cash and leave a ‘down payment’ while I went to get the proper amount from the ATM. I played some hardball with him and decided to look for another agent, I got taken to a government sponsored travel agent. He was very helpful, I got a flight to Bangalore at 8 pm , a driver to pick me up at the airport, and a flat to stay in for the night. The flight was about two hours and it all went very smoothly. Bangalore is completely different than anything I saw in north India. The roads are paved and it is much, much nicer. Transportation is actually bearable, it’s a very lively city and I’m excited to get to know it. On the way in we passed a few wedding halls. I don’t know if you all have heard of how extravagant Indian weddings are. Think of the biggest house you know of and the best lit house every Christmas and that’s what an Indian wedding hall looks like. Its pretty awesome. My driver showed me some important building and I got to my room around midnight. It’s overwhelming to go from north india to south india in one day. I was beginning to think that luxury did not exist in india, but apparently its all in Bangalore! There are very few similarities between the two. Economist gunner mrydal has a theory regarding the introduction of capitalism into fragmented countries such as india. He says that when you introduce it, some part of the country prosper and others get what he calls the “backwash effects”. Uttarakhand definitely suffers from ‘backwash effects’ and Bangalore seems to be one of the places that is prospering. It was cool to see that theory in action within 24 hours.
I spent the first two hours of Thursday morning trying to get my credit card unblocked. When my mom and I finally figured that out I called Shoba (the women who got me the job and a good family friend) and Mariella, Shoba’s friend who had a flat for me to stay at. Shoba told me to come to her apartment, I went outside with my bags to get a rickshaw and my driver from the night before was pulling in on his motor cycle. I got to ride on the back of his motor cycle to a rickshaw stand, it was very cool. I arrive at Shoba’s apartment around 10 and we talked for a bit. I’ve been holding off on saying this because I haven’t been here long enough to know for sure and didn’t want people to worry that I wasn’t on my guard over here. I can now say that Indian people are the nicest and most generous people in the world. Every one has been wanting to help me in some way or talk to me about the USA. It’s really been amazing. Shoba and her family have taken me in like one of their own even though we just met today. Her generosity is literally amazing and I am looking forward to getting to know her family better during my time here. Don’t worry though, I’m enjoying playing the role of hardball westerner and know there are bad people here, I just haven’t found them yet.
After Shoba and I talked a bit and caught up on family affairs she took me to my new apartment. It’s very nice and in a good location, I’m exicted about it. Around this time I started to feel very sick but ignored it until about 5 this afternoon. I took my malaria pill without any food and it really messed me up. More on that later. After I got all checked into my apartment Shoba dropped me off at a clothing store so I got buy some proper business professional wear. I had 45 minutes to get shirts, pants, ties, and shoes. It was pretty crazy, I pulled it off though. I made it back to Shoba’s apartment by 2:30 and she had ordered a misuse to come and give me a deep tissue massage. She had noticed I kept creaking me neck, like I always do, and I was not about to turn down a message after a full day of traveling. It was good massage, very painful, but I felt much better afterward. After the massage I started to feel really sick and I’m pretty sure I had a very,very high fever. I had been feeling sick all day, but it really hit me from 4-8. I had to lay down, I had an awful headache, a fever, was achy, and a few other symptoms that shall go unmentioned. I’m not all the way better, but things are looking up. Getting sick is part of the experience, and I was expecting it. It kind of snuck up on me and I can’t remember the last time I felt that sick. I’m fine now though. Shoba took great care of me, hopefully she knows how much I appreciate everything.
I met Shoba’s girls and we took her dog on a walk. She is very easy to talk to and I don’t think I have ever had such deep conversation with a person I just met that day. We had dinner with her neighbor, a very nice family from Seattle. There are a lot of young kids in their apartment, I told them I’d love to babysit for free if they ever wanted me too. After dinner I took a rickshaw back to my apartment and went to bed early. Hopefully I’ll feel all better tomorrow, we’ll see though.
I have never felt so challenged in my life. I’m being challenged in almost every aspect and I’m enjoying it thus far. I’m enjoying it because I know it’s temporary and I’m trying to learn and grow from all these experiences. I’m pretty sure when I come home from work today I’ll have a whole new list of challenges. For now, I’m going to go do a quick workout and then go drink chai on the patio. I’m excited to wear my new clothes, I got the European pointy shoes, we’ll see how that goes.
I miss everyone really bad. I’m going to make the most of my time here but I am excited to get back and see everyone. Hope all your summers are going well.

Love,
Matt