went down to see the LAN administrator this morning and he did something to my laptop which now permits me to access the internet. yay! i've uploaded my first photos to my .mac site, so you can take a look at my room, the view from the hostel, and some plants. alternately, access the index here.
i'll try to have some photos of Bangalore proper soon. at the latest, by Sunday night - after my next delicious meal.
29.11.05
28.11.05
india: first meal out (9)
i've been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to post about my first TRUE Indian meal. given that over the weekend i ate only in the dining hall, and at an Italian restaurant with my supervisor as he passed through Bangalore on Saturday night, i was looking forward to Sunday because no dinner is served on campus. necessitating the going out to find food. at first the grad students in the lab were planning to just order in, but somehow circumstances changed and i found myself crammed into the back of an auto-cab on my way to sample masala dosa (on a side note, auto-cab rides through speedy traffic = most fun).
we went to what appeared to be a family restaurant, which 'specialized' in South Indian cuisine. to distinguish, most classic Canadian-Indian food is North Indian cuisine - naan bread, tandoor, etc. in doing my background food research before coming here, i didn't recognize any of the names of the characteristic South Indian dishes... and so I was looking forward to trying all. we started with the masala dosa, which is a large crepe-like pancake made of ground lentils and some type of whole grain, allowed to ferment together, pounded out, then fried crispy on a hot cast-iron skillet. only one side is fried, which leaves the other spongey and moist and delicious. in thinking back, i MAY have had a dosa at The Roses Cafe in Ottawa at one time... but it was nowhere near as good as this dosa. folded inside was a nice helping of spiced potato and veg, plus a couple of green chiles. they melt butter on the outside of the folded pancake, which is a perfect finishing touch. dosa, by the way, refers to the pancake - while masala refers to the spices used to season the potatoes inside.
i probably could have left the restaurant after the dosa and been very nicely satisfied. fortunately, the grad students i was with are into eating more than necessary on occasion, and we ordered several other dishes. along with my dosa i had a sweet lassi. i kept assuming it would have mango in it, but was corrected that 'sweet lassi' was just yogurt blended and sweetened with sugar. only 'mango lassi' comes with mango. the lassi was much thicker than what i've had in Canada, but pleasantly tangy and perfect against the spice of the dosa.
next came rounds of naan bread to soak up the rich sauce of the vegetable kofte and of a creamy paneer. kofte i recognized from turkish cuisine, where it refers to a kebab type serving of lamb or chicken or other meat, covered in a heavily-spiced yogurt sauce. this kofte was not meat, but seemed to be a patty of lentil or chickpea paste covered in a spicy yogurt sauce. i'll have to confirm what was in the kofte. we also had a particular type of paneer which is more creamy than others (paneer refers to a cottage-type cheese, which i've most commonly had with spinach - as in saag paneer). it was flecked with veg and peas and was very tasty. again, i'll have to confirm exactly what type this paneer was.
thoroughly stuffed, i managed to make room for my newest favourite beverage: Indian filter coffee. they serve it in small cups, much like espresso. it reminds me of greek or turkish coffee - sweetened and frothy. i enjoy one of these at the coffee bar on the roof of the NCBS academic building in the mornings now.
and so ended my first TRUE Indian meal. apparently, there is a restaurant that serves MUCH better dosa - but it is a little 'rough around the edges' (i.e. squares of newspaper in lieu of napkins). i've been told that after i continue to acclimate for another week, i'll be allowed to experience it next sunday. counting down...
we went to what appeared to be a family restaurant, which 'specialized' in South Indian cuisine. to distinguish, most classic Canadian-Indian food is North Indian cuisine - naan bread, tandoor, etc. in doing my background food research before coming here, i didn't recognize any of the names of the characteristic South Indian dishes... and so I was looking forward to trying all. we started with the masala dosa, which is a large crepe-like pancake made of ground lentils and some type of whole grain, allowed to ferment together, pounded out, then fried crispy on a hot cast-iron skillet. only one side is fried, which leaves the other spongey and moist and delicious. in thinking back, i MAY have had a dosa at The Roses Cafe in Ottawa at one time... but it was nowhere near as good as this dosa. folded inside was a nice helping of spiced potato and veg, plus a couple of green chiles. they melt butter on the outside of the folded pancake, which is a perfect finishing touch. dosa, by the way, refers to the pancake - while masala refers to the spices used to season the potatoes inside.
i probably could have left the restaurant after the dosa and been very nicely satisfied. fortunately, the grad students i was with are into eating more than necessary on occasion, and we ordered several other dishes. along with my dosa i had a sweet lassi. i kept assuming it would have mango in it, but was corrected that 'sweet lassi' was just yogurt blended and sweetened with sugar. only 'mango lassi' comes with mango. the lassi was much thicker than what i've had in Canada, but pleasantly tangy and perfect against the spice of the dosa.
next came rounds of naan bread to soak up the rich sauce of the vegetable kofte and of a creamy paneer. kofte i recognized from turkish cuisine, where it refers to a kebab type serving of lamb or chicken or other meat, covered in a heavily-spiced yogurt sauce. this kofte was not meat, but seemed to be a patty of lentil or chickpea paste covered in a spicy yogurt sauce. i'll have to confirm what was in the kofte. we also had a particular type of paneer which is more creamy than others (paneer refers to a cottage-type cheese, which i've most commonly had with spinach - as in saag paneer). it was flecked with veg and peas and was very tasty. again, i'll have to confirm exactly what type this paneer was.
thoroughly stuffed, i managed to make room for my newest favourite beverage: Indian filter coffee. they serve it in small cups, much like espresso. it reminds me of greek or turkish coffee - sweetened and frothy. i enjoy one of these at the coffee bar on the roof of the NCBS academic building in the mornings now.
and so ended my first TRUE Indian meal. apparently, there is a restaurant that serves MUCH better dosa - but it is a little 'rough around the edges' (i.e. squares of newspaper in lieu of napkins). i've been told that after i continue to acclimate for another week, i'll be allowed to experience it next sunday. counting down...
india: money changed (8)
mission to the state bank of india for my currency exchange was successful. my 75 USD worked out to something like 3400 Rupees (Rs-3400). to put this in perspective, at the dining hall i can get a very filling meal of 1 chapati, 1 heaping mound of lemon rice, 2 small servings of miscellaneous veg curry, 1 small dish of yogurt, and a 1 L bottle of water for Rs-30 (significantly less than 1 USD). since i only buy 1 L of water a day, i only end up spending about Rs-60 on eating per day. this also includes 2 coffee breaks and a breakfast snack/sandwich. even when we ate out last night (more on that to follow), the HUGE meal for 4 of us, including bottled water, lassi, and coffee, came to about Rs-480. eating in India is incredibly cheap! this means more Rupees leftover to buy gifts...
on a side note, despite my being a relatively intelligent person, i am continually amazed by my tendency to do fundamentally stupid things. before i left my room this morning, knowing FULLY that i was going to head to the bank to exchange my currency, i decided that it would be better to leave my passport locked in my suitcase, locked in my closet, and locked in my room than to carry it around with me in my bag (as i had been doing for the last couple of days). several of you probably know that i also brought several COPIES of my passport with me to India (one for each piece of luggage) but for some reason i neglected to transfer one of these copies to my bag. and of course, when i arrived at the foreign currency exchange counter to get my rupees, the first thing the teller asked for was MY PASSPORT or EVEN JUST A COPY of my passport. she was wielding the iron fist on the requirement, but the teller next door overheard my pleas, and saw me pulling out multiple pieces of canadian photo ID, and she let me off after taking a copy of my driver's license. with a promise to bring my passport tomorrow. sigh. i suppose next time i'll know.
on a side note, despite my being a relatively intelligent person, i am continually amazed by my tendency to do fundamentally stupid things. before i left my room this morning, knowing FULLY that i was going to head to the bank to exchange my currency, i decided that it would be better to leave my passport locked in my suitcase, locked in my closet, and locked in my room than to carry it around with me in my bag (as i had been doing for the last couple of days). several of you probably know that i also brought several COPIES of my passport with me to India (one for each piece of luggage) but for some reason i neglected to transfer one of these copies to my bag. and of course, when i arrived at the foreign currency exchange counter to get my rupees, the first thing the teller asked for was MY PASSPORT or EVEN JUST A COPY of my passport. she was wielding the iron fist on the requirement, but the teller next door overheard my pleas, and saw me pulling out multiple pieces of canadian photo ID, and she let me off after taking a copy of my driver's license. with a promise to bring my passport tomorrow. sigh. i suppose next time i'll know.
27.11.05
india: photo teaser (7)
here are a couple of my favourites from today.
view of the front of my hostel, from the terrace above. note the red earth and tropical foliage.
one of the outdoor 'hallways' of the hostel, where you'll see everyone hangs their laundry to dry.
view of the front of my hostel, from the terrace above. note the red earth and tropical foliage.
one of the outdoor 'hallways' of the hostel, where you'll see everyone hangs their laundry to dry.
india: money-changing (6)
after reading on every india travel web site that it is illegal to bring rupees into the country, i decided the best plan of attack was to pick up some USD in Toronto and then exchange once i got here. the travel guide i was reading told me there was an exchange counter at the airport, but it also told me to avoid using any shady-looking currency exchange services. given this is my first time travelling to India, it was hard to immediately distinguish 'shady' from 'non-shady'... and I decided to forego the airport exchange service for this reason.
thus, i was left with a bunch of american dollars and no rupees - and i hadn't really known that i would have to pay for my meals here on campus in rupees (having lived in residence at Dal for many years, I naively assumed they would have a swipe card system in place). fortunately, for the past few days i've been allowed to run a tab at the cafeteria, but i was starting to feel guilty about asking for bottles of water and things when i couldn't actually pay.
hence, my first adventure: an excursion to downtown Bangalore on the shuttle bus to exchange currency at the Thomas Cook on IISc (Indian Institute of Sciences) campus. by myself. instructions from the grad students here were very clear - the Thomas Cook is located next the the shuttle bus stop (i.e., impossible to NOT find). so off I went.
first, the shuttle bus. it was Saturday afternoon, and quite a few of the students here were heading downtown to visit family or go shopping, so the bus was crowded. I didn't realize I'd have to push ahead to get a seat, so I ended up standing for most of the journey. after living in Toronto for over a year, I've honed my TTC-riding skills enough to not hold on to the dirty poles. this shuttle ride was a) nothing like the smooth-as-velvet TTC tracks and b) required clinging to (comparably) much dirtier poles. not only was the road out of campus incredibly rocky, but the driver took it at what felt like 80 or 90 km/h. then, traffic. I had no idea what Indian highways would actually be like. trucks, buses, cars, SUVs, auto-cabs (little half rickshaw-half car type things with a seat in the back for passengers), motorbikes, scooters. no lanes. very muddy red dirt roads. huge lines of people waiting on the shoulder of the highway for a passing bus to pause and allow a few to jump on. and HORNS. constant NOISE. I get fed up with Toronto drivers who use the horn unnecessarily, but after 5 minutes on the Indian highway, it's hard to imagine being annoyed by a few isolated beeps. the constant honking and blaring quickly fades into the background.
what amazed me most was the aggression/fearlessness of the motorbike drivers. imagine you have 4 lanes of traffic moving at a good clip in the same direction. then imagine you have 5 times as many motorbikes as you do cars in a given 5 vehicle by 5 vehicle area. then imagine these motorbikes not actually occupying positions in any given lane, but rather weaving in and out of traffic, speeding up erratically, and cutting around trucks on the shoulder. only a handful wear helmets. and i was highly impressed by the number of women dressed in impeccably clean saris who managed to keep up with the chaos on their own bikes.
the rest of the trip was less eventful/noteworthy. after arriving at Thomas Cook, I was told they only exchange currency at the M.G. Road (shopping district) location... but there are 2 banks on campus where I could get rupees. so I set out to find the banks, and was successful thanks to many helpful directions from passersby. unfortunately, both banks had closed before lunch, and by now it was about 2:45 pm. most businesses seem to only open for Saturday morning, then close down for the rest of the weekend. so I'll head back to IISc tomorrow, and hopefully return with enough rupees to cover meals for the remainder of my stay.
thus, i was left with a bunch of american dollars and no rupees - and i hadn't really known that i would have to pay for my meals here on campus in rupees (having lived in residence at Dal for many years, I naively assumed they would have a swipe card system in place). fortunately, for the past few days i've been allowed to run a tab at the cafeteria, but i was starting to feel guilty about asking for bottles of water and things when i couldn't actually pay.
hence, my first adventure: an excursion to downtown Bangalore on the shuttle bus to exchange currency at the Thomas Cook on IISc (Indian Institute of Sciences) campus. by myself. instructions from the grad students here were very clear - the Thomas Cook is located next the the shuttle bus stop (i.e., impossible to NOT find). so off I went.
first, the shuttle bus. it was Saturday afternoon, and quite a few of the students here were heading downtown to visit family or go shopping, so the bus was crowded. I didn't realize I'd have to push ahead to get a seat, so I ended up standing for most of the journey. after living in Toronto for over a year, I've honed my TTC-riding skills enough to not hold on to the dirty poles. this shuttle ride was a) nothing like the smooth-as-velvet TTC tracks and b) required clinging to (comparably) much dirtier poles. not only was the road out of campus incredibly rocky, but the driver took it at what felt like 80 or 90 km/h. then, traffic. I had no idea what Indian highways would actually be like. trucks, buses, cars, SUVs, auto-cabs (little half rickshaw-half car type things with a seat in the back for passengers), motorbikes, scooters. no lanes. very muddy red dirt roads. huge lines of people waiting on the shoulder of the highway for a passing bus to pause and allow a few to jump on. and HORNS. constant NOISE. I get fed up with Toronto drivers who use the horn unnecessarily, but after 5 minutes on the Indian highway, it's hard to imagine being annoyed by a few isolated beeps. the constant honking and blaring quickly fades into the background.
what amazed me most was the aggression/fearlessness of the motorbike drivers. imagine you have 4 lanes of traffic moving at a good clip in the same direction. then imagine you have 5 times as many motorbikes as you do cars in a given 5 vehicle by 5 vehicle area. then imagine these motorbikes not actually occupying positions in any given lane, but rather weaving in and out of traffic, speeding up erratically, and cutting around trucks on the shoulder. only a handful wear helmets. and i was highly impressed by the number of women dressed in impeccably clean saris who managed to keep up with the chaos on their own bikes.
the rest of the trip was less eventful/noteworthy. after arriving at Thomas Cook, I was told they only exchange currency at the M.G. Road (shopping district) location... but there are 2 banks on campus where I could get rupees. so I set out to find the banks, and was successful thanks to many helpful directions from passersby. unfortunately, both banks had closed before lunch, and by now it was about 2:45 pm. most businesses seem to only open for Saturday morning, then close down for the rest of the weekend. so I'll head back to IISc tomorrow, and hopefully return with enough rupees to cover meals for the remainder of my stay.
25.11.05
india: arrived (5)
after 7 hours of cramped up sleeping on the flight to Heathrow, close to 10 hours of trying to sleep but instead watching the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie multiple times on the flight to Bangalore, two unfortunate plane dinners, two unfortunate plane breakfasts, and a British Starbucks latte, I am now officially in India. I arrived at approximately 4:30 this morning.. and it is now 9:48 at night. Somehow I have only slept for about 4 hours over the course of the day, but hope to compensate and sleep somewhat normal hours tonight.
first impressions?
the weather is very pleasant. definitely not hot, probably about 15 degrees celsius today. cloudy. apparently it has been raining all week, and will continue to rain forever. not driving rain, but just drizzles.
there are trees everywhere. tropical-type trees. palm trees. orange trees. mango trees. trees with flowers.
instead of pigeons on the cricket field outside my hostel, there are beautiful large white birds. i'm not sure what they are yet, but will ask next time i see one with an Indian friend close at hand.
**found out on saturday, they are egrets!
the food in the cafeteria here is apparently 'americanized' Indian cuisine, to accommodate all of the NCBS faculty who studied/grew up abroad and then returned to India. it's not spicy at all! except with generous doses of mango-lime pickle.
i think that shall be it for now. just wanted to let you all know that i am here, i am safe, i have a room to myself with a toilet that flushes, my laptop will be connected to the LAN here very soon, and i should be counting dendrites by monday. pictures will follow as soon as my laptop can access the internet.
first impressions?
the weather is very pleasant. definitely not hot, probably about 15 degrees celsius today. cloudy. apparently it has been raining all week, and will continue to rain forever. not driving rain, but just drizzles.
there are trees everywhere. tropical-type trees. palm trees. orange trees. mango trees. trees with flowers.
instead of pigeons on the cricket field outside my hostel, there are beautiful large white birds. i'm not sure what they are yet, but will ask next time i see one with an Indian friend close at hand.
**found out on saturday, they are egrets!
the food in the cafeteria here is apparently 'americanized' Indian cuisine, to accommodate all of the NCBS faculty who studied/grew up abroad and then returned to India. it's not spicy at all! except with generous doses of mango-lime pickle.
i think that shall be it for now. just wanted to let you all know that i am here, i am safe, i have a room to myself with a toilet that flushes, my laptop will be connected to the LAN here very soon, and i should be counting dendrites by monday. pictures will follow as soon as my laptop can access the internet.
23.11.05
india: pretty much packed (4)
with just under 24 hours to go, my luggage finally gave in and swallowed the 4 varieties of footwear, rain jacket, and items of clothing i deem necessary for the trip. i've succeeded in not taking advantage of my suitcase's expando-matic capabilities for the trip there. this translates to room for beautiful indian fabric, a new sari (to replace the electric green version used for a grade 11 kathakali dance piece costume), and an indian spice tray on the way home.
21.11.05
india: raspberry bicarbonate (3)
back from a trip to washington, DC for neuroscience 2005. unfortunately got plane-sick on the way home, and now planning to invest in some gravol to prevent any recurrences this week. in less than 72 hours i will be en route to bangalore! definitely have NOT fully realized this is happening yet.took my second dose of dukoral tonight (wards off cholera and E. coli nastiness). can't remember taking an oral vaccine before this. it came in a box with a little recipe sheet. the illustrated instructions told me to 'dissolve the effervescent granules in a glass of water'. then, shake up and add tiny vial of vaccine. tastes like raspberry seltzer with a heaping tablespoon of sodium bicarbonate. mmmmmmmmm.
9.11.05
Race Against Time
one more thing. tonight i was lucky to catch the second of Stephen Lewis' Massey Lectures on CBC, in which he passionately discussed the AIDS pandemic in Africa. definitely worth tuning in for the remaining two installments. the CBC Radio schedule and information on 'Race Against Time', Massey Lectures 2005 here.
india: 2 weeks to go (2)
since recovering from my multiple arm ailments, i've had the chance to meet the investigator who i will be working with in Bangalore. among other more important, research-oriented things, he confirmed for me that wireless access is to be had on the NCBS campus, as well as a hook-up in my room at the guest-house.
so it looks like i will be able to stay in very good touch. perhaps now would be the time for me to let everyone know about this little travelogue/whatever?
so it looks like i will be able to stay in very good touch. perhaps now would be the time for me to let everyone know about this little travelogue/whatever?
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