[Today, I have a bad cold, with a sinus headache and running nose. The amount of mucous I'm producing is pretty epic. I'm trying to at least conserve mass, so I'm drinking lots of water.] [At a pharmacy.] Do you have Eriecedamol? [I had called a local friend who pronounced this for me over the [...]
The lingua franca in India is English. If you can only know one language in India, this is the one to know. A common misconception if you’re from outside India is that the entire country is culturally and linguistically as one. This is incorrect! India is more culturally diverse than Europe! There are thousands of [...]
Indians refer to Native North Americans as Red Indians. We ordered bottled water to our table and it was…Foster’s branded. Foster’s branded water. It would seem kind of okay with, say, Coca-Cola, if they put their brand on water, but a beer company putting its brand on water is just plain suspect. An Indian told [...]
This past weekend (June 26th and 27th), me and two other ex-pats in Bangalore (French, Italian) decided to go to Cochin on the west coast of India. After spending most of my time at the 900 meter elevation of Bangalore, I was really excited to get down to sea level and touch the Indian Ocean [...]
Apparently, if you get high marks on an exam, your face gets put up on a poster in town. Indians find it hilarious and wasteful that I use toilet paper after going to the bathroom, instead of the ubiquitous squirter hose in every toilet. (As we’re leaving a Chinese restaurant to go on a weekend [...]
So this past weekend, I went on a visit to Kodaikanal, a hill station in Tamil Nadu south of Bangalore. 2100 metres elevation baby! (minus the snow I’m used to expecting at that elevation). The air was amazing. I went with the same three other students from France and Switzerland I visited Hampi the previous [...]
As I think I’ve already said, it is hot in India. Bangalore is known for having the nicest weather. In fact, it was recently rated the nicest place to live for ex-pats. However, it is still crazy hot. There isn’t a day for the next few weeks that has a high forecast under 30 degrees [...]
“You are Christian, yes?” “Well, no…I’m not really anything.” “Oh. What are your parents?” “I think my Mom was Lutheran a long time ago, which is a type of Christianity.” “So who do you pray to?” “Uh, no one?” “Indians are very religious.” “Drinking is part of your culture, yes?” “Well, I wouldn’t say its [...]
After I got off the plane in Bangalore on May 3rd, 2010, I followed emailed instructions to look for a certain “Mr. Manas” at the gate. Exiting from the air-conditioned airport into the outside world was the usual tropical shock. It’s as if you are remembering again what hot is really like. When I recovered [...]
This was too entertaining not to share: A combination of jet lag and a cold had me pretty shell-shocked after I took this trip the first time. But, now it has simply become amusing. For extra-awesome fans, you can follow along on this finely-crafted Google Map embedding with directions. I can definitely guarantee that the [...]