Culture Shock.

Greetings,

Today, I woke up feeling a bit overwhelmed and homesick. I usually feel this way on the weekends based off of the fact that my weekends are pretty much spent by myself. In my hotel room.

I am trying different ways to to try and calm my anxiety, because as most of you know, Daniel doesn't do so well in a 48sq ft hotel room for too long by himself. Jon can attest that after spending too much time in an enclosed space, I become annoying, antsy and need to get out. Well, I have certainly found out how annoying I can become.

When there isn't someone else here to annoy, one begins to annoy themself. :)

A lot of you are probably saying to yourself, "Daniel, you are in India! Get out and explore!"

Well it's not that easy. I can have my driver come and pick me up and take me to different locations, but when you come from a city like omaha of 1 million people (including surrounding areas) and travel 7k miles to a city of 17 million people (including surrounding areas), you tend to undergo what is known as Culture Shock.

*And what I like to call tourist wallet, which means that everyone knows you are a tourist, and want to empty your wallet.

I am not saying that I am not taknig advantage of my time here, because I am, it's just taking a bit longer to get used to than I thought it would. Some days, I just want a cheeseburger and the Kardashians on E!. Is that so bad?

I think a lot of us take advantage of what we have in the States. finding a drag queen here is looking for a needle in a haystack. The freedom that we have in America is unlike anything that I have here. The ability to step outside of a hotel for a smoke is completely different here. Before I go outside, I think about what I have in my pockets, and what I can leave in the hotel room so I don't have to take it out when going through the metal detector to get back in. This is certainly NOT  a bad thing, but you think of the cultural differences from America to a foreign country.

Some of you have traveled internationally and can relate, and I certainly have it a lot easier than most, but that doesn't change the detatchement that one experiences from home. By the way, did you know that TomKat are getting a divorce? Oh, and Sharen, in case you didn't know (which I highly doubt you didn't hear already), Adele is pregnant.

Thank Buddha for Facebook.

More Americans are coming out on Wednesday this week. Looking forward to being able to carry on a conversation with someone who understands my studder and convoluted way of speaking. :)

Sense of Humor. This is not an Indian characterisitc. Don't think it is, because it isn't. My trainees laugh at my jokes as a sign of respect, not as a genuine characteristic of my hilariousness.  I think I am funny. Them, not so much. It makes for a tough crowd, and a long day.

I went and bought several pairs of shoes today, as a token of respect for gays across the world (HAPPY PRIDE), and felt much better after a quick Skype with my mommy.

I also found some very encouraging FB messages from a few friends, and a great article about culture shock. Thanks, Ashley and Josh.

I guess I never understood that culture shock goes beyond the initial thought of Sh*t it's hot here, and the traffic is awful!

I didn't realize that it comes in stages, and that I should take for granted what I have, and what I will be going home to.  I have to really thank Ashley and Josh for the words and the encouragement, and my fantastic boyfriend for being so patient with me while I continue to better myself and my career. Jon, you have been so supportive of my endeavors, and I know that sometimes my decisions are made without the thoughts of others, but you understand that these are things I need to experience, and have no problem going along with my shenanigans when it comes to continue to excel at my career. I know it can't always be easy for you, but you put on a brave face for me, and I love you for it.

My parents have been great, and so has my family. It's tough missing holidays and births of my first nephew, but I am pretty sure he will forgive me for it when he gets hold of all the fabulous clothes I am goint to buy him.  I am truly blessed to have this experience.

The rewards will ALWAYS outweigh the challenges.

Cheers.

Elevate THIS.

Hi.

So, I suppose I should start today's blog with the most interesting thing that happened today.

I was in class training some teammates, and there is this very shy girl in the class named Zuma. I always try and have fun with the shy ones because sometimes you can see their personality shine through if you pay enough attention to them.

We were working emails, and she called me over to check the email she was currently working on, and I said, as a joke, for her to get up and go help the rest of the class because  I was tired, and wanted to sit down for awhile.

She did.

When I explained to her that I was just kidding, I asked, " Are you mad at me?"

Apparently, she thought I said, "Will you marry me?" To which she replied, "No, sorry Mr. Hall, I am already married."

WHAT?

She said it so nonchalantly, that I wasn't sure if she was kidding or not! When I informed her that I asked if she was mad at me, she said that she didn't know what I was saying because my accent was so bad.

Not as shy as I thought....

I also got stuck in an elevator for 15 minutes in my hotel. Yes, 15 minutes. That also might be the most interesting thing that happened to me today. :)

I couldn't believe how long 15 minutes can be when you are stuck in such a small space. I have never been one to be claustrophobic, but let me tell you, I was S-C-A-R-E-D. I got into the elevator on the first floor, and as you may remember, my hotel has frequent temporary power outages. As I got into the elevator, I pressed my floor number and the doors closed. I could begin to feel the elevator moved, when it came to a sudden halt, and while I was pounding away at my Blackberry, I made a loud, high-pitched, yip ( to those of you who have heard it, yeah, your right. It was REALLY girly). 

I proceeded to cover my mouth, and embarrassed, looked around the 2x3 meter (yes, I said meter, I am in India, after all), enclosed box to see if anyone heard me, but alas, I was alone, surrounded by mirrors. Normally, I would be in heaven, due to the amount of walls I could look at that contained a reflection that I could look into, however, my attention went straight to the lift display (yes, lift, I said it. Remember? INDIA?). 

Nothing. No floor number, no power.

I looked down at my blackberry, and didn't have any bars. It was like a really corny scary movie. Remember Redeye, with Rachel McAdams, and she was driving, and her phone happened to die at the exact moment she needed to call someone? Not only was it an awful movie, but totally predictable. That's kind of how I felt.

I felt as if I was going to have to be rescued by the Indian Rescue team, and all I could think of was how pissed at myself I was for not waking up the extra 15 minutes early so I could polish my shoes.

I am totally vain, you all knew that about me, don't act surprised.

Anyhow, the elevator started moving again, and it took me to the second floor. I stepped off, and there was a couple that stepped off the elevator to my right, with a look of death on their faces. We both looked at each other, and looked at the elevators. The lights were not lighting up again, however, the couple felt it was okay to go into my elevator and try and continue their ride. I advised against it.

We waited a few minutes and then the lights came back on on the elevator, so I took it to my floor. That sounds like that advice was given to me from the girl who decides to run upstairs instead of outside when the killer is chasing her in horror movies...

I digress-

Overall, it was an exciting day. I got turned down on a marriage proposal by a woman whom I have only known for 10 days, and made life choices only a big-chested blonde bimbo from Halloween would make. Happy Tuesday.

Cheers.

Humayun who???!!

What an exciting weekend!! Saturday I went out site seeing and went to several marvelous different places. The first stop was Humayuns Tomb. He was the first emperor of India, and apparently a pretty big deal. The site is huge, and what I found kind of funny was that in order to get in, you have to pay for a ticket. They charge the equivalent to $5 for locals, and $10 for tourists. They have no way of telling whether you or a tourist or not other than the color of your skin. Everything involved with building this tomb is so eccentric. Indians are a big believer of ensuring that when designing these tombs, everything is symmetric. So you'll find that the tomb itself is very large, and not only hold Humayun's body, but also bodies of his relatives, the royals. His wife had it built for him after he died in the 1560s.the way that they construct these tombs is amazing. So much thought and time goes into building these. They even make sure that while it is built out of marble and known to get very hot, the architect,Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, built it just right so that the breeze from the wind would keep the inside cool. It's amazing. Once you walk in, you can see in the ceiling where the design used house jewels and gems, but over time have been removed and stolen. It's been told that the queen of England's crown actually has some of the jewels from this tomb. We also visited the India Gate, which is beautiful! It's located near the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the Indian president's home. There's a long road that connects the presidents house to the India gate, which on republic day in January is filled with the army, navy, marines, etc. For a march and celebration. If you get some time, I highly recommend you google pictures of it. It's very extravagant. You can drive up right to the gate of the presidents home, but you cannot park for long. The army will ask you to move on. The Rashthrapati Bhavan was actually built by the British, so you can see some european architecture, but overtime Indians have renovated it, so it's kind of like an Indian-British mutt. It's beautiful though. At the Indian gate, there is always several guards guarding the center of it. There is an eternal flame lit in honor to the several hundred thousand Indian troops that lost their lives in the first world war and afghan wars. All the name of the fallen soldiers are inscribed in the side of the monument. They do changing of the guards, etc. It's very neat. I actually got my picture taken with one of the soldiers. :) So, we have discussed two different places that I visited Saturday. Tired? I sweated out about 15 pounds between the two places. Don't complain. Did I mention it was 114 degrees yesterday? I also visited The Holy Sacre Catholic Church, and lit candles that I bought from the cutest 4 year old Indian girl. I lit them at the st. Mary monument in front of the church. I also popped into the church to see it's beauty, but there was prayer going on, so I didn't stay long. However, I did buy 5 rosaries for a total of $15 dollars that I was told were made in Jerusalem. Don't worry, I got pictures. The last place visited yesterday was a Sikh temple. This is a very strict religion that we often see wearing turbans. In order to enter the temple, you must be wearing a turban and submit your shoes and socks. You then have to walk over and wash your feet in a fountain, as you cannot carry any dust into the temple.the top of it is lined with actual gold, and is amazing to see, however, being that the religion is so strict, I didn't get too many smiles for being there. We left rather quickly. Today (Sunday), I went to the Ambience mall to check it out, and it's six floors of fabulousness...lol, they actually have an ice skating rink on the sixth floor, which is a bit ironic seeing as how that's the hottest floor... The mall also contains a bowling alley, 10 different restaurants, a night club, movietheatre, three beer gardens, amusement rides, and a huge food court. I had an Indian BLT which consists of butter chicken, cabbage, stewed tomatoes, and a lamb and asparagus blend on naan (Indian bread). AMAZEBALLS. It's hard to eat at the food court because everything smells awful, but tastes good. Your senses pretty much kick you in your nether regions. You need to go through security checks in order to get into the building, which includes a metal detector. I don't think that there are s A lot of places where young here without security checks... Is that good or bad? There are a lot of pros and co s with each, I suppose.

BMWs are nice, but not for India.

Happy Friday!

I certainly like a nice car just as much as the next person, but never would I think of having a BMW in Delhi.

I was stressed out for this BMW owner next to us maybe just as much as he was... We came close to sideswiping him twice. As a matter of fact, we actually did sideswipe a car today on the way home... While I was on a conference call heading back to the hotel.

"Yes, absolutely, I agree 100% that we need to, holy cow, holy cow. HOLY COW! HOLY COW! HOLY COW!" I exclaimed.

No pun intended, India.

We side-swiped this car, and all Mohan did was look at the other party, who in turn, shared the same look. Then, we continued on our way.  I am slowly starting to get used to the traffic, and how close everyone drives to each other, and the amount of people that try to sell me window shades and ask for money in dead-locked traffic, but I don't think I will quite ever understand someone's ability to drive away from an accident with sharing glares as opposed to insurance information.

Mohan mentioned that the only time that police are called is when there is somone hurt, and a car is unable to move. It was broken English, but I am pretty sure that's what he said. I do a lot of nodding and laughing with him.

Can you imagine? Running into someone, and giving a wave, and continuing on your merry way. I suppose that I have not seen more serious accidents because people never go fast enough in this city to actually cause damage...

Tomorrow I am going shopping in the Delhi markets. Priyanka, my partner trainer, is taking me to see the Rasthapati Bhavan, which is the president of India's home. I am SUPER excited about it, I have seen pictures, and it looks beautfiul.

Next weekend, I may or may not have agreed to a date with Mohan, his wife, and a woman he wants me to meet to go out to the "Disco". I am pretty sure that he said that gentlemen cannot go to this club unaccompanied, and that he will "show me a good time".. Sorry Jon, I may be going on a date with a woman with what I believe he said a think behind.  I don't think I am really in a place to say no to anything being that I am in India. Well, I am sure there is a few things I should say no to...

With all that said, I think the real question is, Why would you live here and think it's okay to buy a BRAND NEW BMW?

Cheers.

Boars, Bangles, and Bindis, oh my!

Boars, Bangles, and Bindis, oh my!

Today marks the first full week that I have been in India!!!

What an experience it has been so far. Just a quick update- I am going out to dinner with the some people from the center I am working at tomorrow night, and get this- They are taking me to a chinese restaurant... LOL

Anyhow, I learn so much about this culture every day. I learned that newly weds (...depending on the state of India they are from and religion) have to wear these beautiful bangles for a full year after their marriage. Some religions state that you have to wear bangles until the rest of your life, and you may not take them off.

On a side note, I am starting to see wild boars every day in the rubble piles, and they are so cute! I want to take one back to Omaha and have him live at Jon Beeck's house. I also see a large amount of stray dogs all over the place. Those I will store at Brent Winters' house.

This weekend, I am going into Delhi to find some Indian Markets. Bindi's are about 10 rupees (similar to 20 cents)for a pack of 100, so I plan on getting all sorts of different kinds to bring back for everyone. I am also going to buy some jewelry and bangles made of glass, gems, and silver. I am waiting to go to the mall next to my hotel being that its just like a regular mall. I want to ensure I get a lot of unique items while I am here.

Mohan, my driver, sideswiped a pedestrian the other day. He stopped and talked to the gentleman in hindi for a moment, before telling the pedestrian that I was a client, and the pedestrian said okay, have a good day and Mohan drove off. I told him that if we were in a America, he would be slapped with a lawsuit.

I really miss ice. And for because power is not a constant thing in Gurgaon, My hotel frequently has short power outages, which really stinks whenn I am trying to get ready for work in the morning, but as I have said since I got here, the rewards outweigh the challenges. I will be starting a blog eventually, so until then, keep looking for updates here. I hope all is well in the States!

Cheers!See More

MOOOOOveee....

So today was officially day 1 of training. What a GREAT group! Eager, and ver excited to learn. Now if the class can send some of these vibes to my newbies class in Omaha in September, I'd be one happy trainer! My driver took me to get wine after work, which was a stand by the side of the road. It cost 800 rupees for top shelf bottle. That's about $14. My hotel likes to really over charge,but that...'s the price you have to pay for staying in a five star hotel,literally. On the way to the wine stand, I saw 4 cows walking down the street, just confirming that because they are sacred here, they do whatever they want. It looked like steak to me, but I digress.

I got to experience rush hour traffic, which is scarier than "normal" traffic, and my driver, Mohan, just laughed at m y facial expressions. He told me he was my security, and nothing bad will happen. He even went up to the wine stand with me to ensure I didn't get overcharged. It's a bit ironic being that he is about four feet tall.

I confirmed that the mall next to my hotel is the biggest mall in Delhi, and there is a diesel store there. I will be buying it out by the end of the trip. One thing I am not a fan of is that the liquor tax here is 15%, but standard tipping is 8-10%. it's Fun to watch my servers face when I tip 20%, but I'm slowly going broke due to my booze habit. Less hotel wine, more roadside stand wine, I suppose. Have a great Monday!

Day 2

Hi, all!
I am on day 2, and starting to get used to the traffic and machine guns that I believe are the police that carry them... :)
I went to the center where I'm training today, and met the first class. They are AMAZING! Very respectful, and very welcoming. The partner trainer is super amazing, and gave me a list of places to visit. The office here hired me a driver that is dedicated to me 24/7. stay tuned!