Business time

Yesterday was Day 1 in the office! I was instructed to take a rickshaw to Green Park Market, where I would see the office nearby - a big white building. So I said Green Park Market. The driver did not drop me off there, but to a metro stop a few turns away. Good thing for that helpful policeman on the street and my occasionally reliable memory of building numbers, because without a phone or the written office address on me, I would have probably just had to go home if I didn't find it. Thankfully I did find the building - and like the CHAI buildings back in Boston - very incognito.
Office culture is interesting here in India - there are plenty of people here so you see a lot of job creation here that we don't see at home (e.g. if you have a cell phone, you can get a pre-pay card or do 'post-pay' where an actual person will come to you at your office/home and pick up cash for the calls you have made). Everyday we get a free Indian lunch made in the upstairs kitchen, and the 'housekeeper' will bring us water and chai throughout the day! Office hours start at 10 (I arrived at 8:45 on Day 1 and sat in the lobby reading the paper for 45 minutes) and people stay later (rush hour is between 6-8 pm). I think I will still try to get in around 8-8:30 so I can leave before rush hour hits. Sitting in a mini tripod taxi in traffic in Delhi is a bit like a sauna, but gross.
The CHAI staff I've met so far have seemed like great, hardworking, nice people. There are just a few of us expats in the office. One of them funny enough went to my same Ottawa suburb high school, though we never knew each other then!
I had my first Indian meal yesterday :) Paneer masala dosai - paper thin, crispy crepe filled with soft cheese and little side dishes - yum! And fresh mango lassi! The belly wasn't quite having it right after lunch yesterday, but Indian lunch today in the office went fine so that's a good sign of progress :)
Last night my roommates took me to a friend's goodbye dinner at a KOREAN restaurant in Delhi - talk about forgetting where I was (honestly forgot for a minute), with a fancy restaurant filled with Korean clientele and businessmen, and yes - karaoke. Not quite Delhi prices, but one of few places where you can find beef around here!
Taxi rickshaw bargaining/communication is getting a little trickier than those first couple lucky times (getting home from the office yesterday, I think only the fifth driver I approached understood what I was saying/accepted my price). It doesn't help that I don't speak Hindi, so I plan on learning some while I'm here!
Work-wise, there's plenty of work to do! A lot of moving pieces to get our nutrition pilot project off the ground this summer. Just gotta take a breath and do one thing at a time...
The mosquitoes are still winning. But it could always be worse. (Just got bit.) And it's still stupidly hot - around 45*C I believe. Luckily office and home have AC, and I need to invest in some of these popular mosquito repellent plug-ins.
There are lovely fruits and vegetables in season all year round, sold on all side streets from pushcarts! I made friends with the pushcart lady down the street, Uja, who may have also swindled me but sold me some good fresh stuff. Who knew those pumpkin looking things were honeydew melons?!
I thought I was over jetlag, but still woke up at 4 am this morning (that mosquito in my ear had something to do with it) and couldn't get back to sleep. So now, I think it's time to get some serious rest!

:)