Happy Birthday Gandhi!

Today is Gandhi's birthday so it is another Indian Public Holiday. No work! We got in a great workout this afternoon at the gym and then met up with some new friends at TGIF. We planned to meet for drinks, but then quickly learned that today is a "DRY DAY" as it was posted on the door. So, milk shakes all around! There were 8 of us who got together tonight after meeting at Gurgaon Connection earlier in the week. A fun group! We had representation from Scotland, England, Norway, Germany, India, and the U.S. there tonight. We split the chicken nachos as an appetizer and then split a cheeseburger...lamb burger that is. We were so excited when we saw the word cheeseburger on the menu. Then we read the small print. It wasn't bad, but we had to send it back to get cooked all the way through. We weren't going to eat a pink lamb burger!Tomorrow morning we leave at 6 am with our driver for a day at the Taj Mahal. Sunday is brunch at the Crowne Plaza with our new friends from 12-5 pm all you can drink champagn and brunch. Everyone says it is a REALLY good time =)

Night Golf

Ben and I had an experience of a lifetime last night. We played night golf with Ben's co-worker Marty from Hebron, KY that is in town on business, and the company owner's 11 year old son Arman at DLF Country Club. It is one of the top 5 golf courses in Asia, home to the DLF Masters every year, and is where the Indian Open will be played next week. What an awesome experience! We each had a personal caddy that would pick up and throw our ball where ever we wanted to play it from. Their ruff was about 4 inches thick and if the ball landed in there you just couldn't find it unless you stepped on it. BEAUTIFUL COURSE! They had stadium lighting all around the 18 holes with security towers, barbed wire fence, and we are thinking a mine field on the other side. VERY high security even for India. We played the front 9 and then went inside for appetizers and a few drinks on our host. Life is grand!

***Cultural side note: You are asking-why does Arman have a white thing wrapped on his head? Arman is of the Sikh religion where boys never cut their hair. The grown men where turbans and the young boys where these different colored hair wraps that basically pile the hair into a bun on the top of their head. The company owner wears a turban at all times.

***Ben chose to play speed golf at the end so he didn't make the team photo. He was interested in checking on co-worker Paul from Great Britain who sat in the clubhouse and drank while we golfed.

http://dlfgolfresort.com/about-club.asp

Quirky & Different Ways of Life

1) Moth balls in sink-I believe this is to keep rodents/insects in the sewer. It makes for a great bathroom air freshner!
2) Cleaning crew of 7-they come everyday around 2 pm and completely sweep the apt. washing dishes, cleaning toilet, windows, and everthing else. I am getting used to this quickly. =)
3) Power Outages-Usually about 20 a day or so. They are very popular at certain times of day, but very unpredictable. Thank God for generators!
4) Prayer setting on Cell Phone-I got a cell phone yesterday and I can now set a reminder with Jesus wallpaper reminding me when to pray. Unique! It goes well with the Hindu lettering on the phone.
5)Animals-It feels like wild kingdom here with dogs, cattle, and camels running around everywhere!
6) Bucket in Shower-I guess this is the traditional Indian way of bathing. We just use it for laundry.
7) Sense of Direction-There is none as taxi drivers have no clue where they are going. A good road map is essential!
8) Negotiating-Don't move here if you can't hold your own. It is an essential part of life.
9) Spray Hose-They are in almost all the bathrooms next to the toilet. I guess the locals wash themselves down after their done.
10) Water-Not safe to drink, but thankfully cheap to buy!

Day 5

Today was Ben’s first day at the company and my first day to establish a schedule. This morning I went to the gym, took a one hour ABT (abs, behind, and thigh) class with Vikram. He worked us over pretty good! I met a girl from Europe who works out there everyday too. Her husband has been working here for 2.5 years. I went to Big Bazaar (India Walmart) and got a couple of bottles of water and then I took a rickshaw back to the apartment. Another resident says she pays 10 rupees for a ride so I held my own with the rickshaw bike boys. First man, I pointed out the route and said 10 rupees and he said 20. I started walking away. Next man came up to me, same thing, third man, same thing, and by this time I had walked about 20 feet when a man pulled up and pointed for me to get in. I said 10 rupees and we were good. It is all about negotiating here in India! They automatically try to charge you double because of the color of your skin. This afternoon was my first laundry experience, 3.5 hours of German Studies with Rosetta Stone, and tonight we went back to the mall to get a cell phone. Tomorrow I’m meeting up with the Gurgaon Network at the Crowne Plaza to meet a few expats and then we are golfing with the Owner of the company Ben is working at Anand Automotive. I guess it is night golf, but it should be interesting!

Vijaya Dashami

Today is a public holiday in India. Vijaya Dashami is the name of it. About all we know is that it is a Hindu holiday where you don't eat meat or drink alcohol for several days before hand. We learned this Thursday night when we had dinner with a co-worker of Ben's. Also, it appears that everyone men and women have a bindi on their forehead for the days leading up to the holiday. Our driver Arun is apparently Hindu as he asked for yesterday and today off to be with his family. How do you say no to a man who sits by the car and waits for us everyday? So, we have the keys to our Toyota SUV and it is parked out front, but do not dare try to drive around here. Driving on the left like GB would be a bit much!