It's been a while

Hello there everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since I have written anything. I've been SUPER BUSY with everything lately. Let me give you the quick rundown of what's been going on in my life. I applied to Vanderbilt and Baylor for graduate school to their Neonatal Nurse Practitioner program, to start in August. I was accepted to both (YAY!) and have decided to go to Baylor because the program is a little less vigorous, and I need that because I am planning a wedding!

That's right, Suman and I are engaged! I will officially be Mrs. Ghosh on April 6th, 2012! I kind of knew it was coming (I saw the ring in his pocket), but it's still super exciting! We went down to Laguna beach, up on a rock overlooking the ocean. Then he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. So sweet. There was a couple on the beach getting their engagement photos taken and the photographer snapped a few of us. How lucky?! I can't post them because I'm not sure if I have permission to, but I will as soon as I can. This was the day before I moved into our new apartment, so needless to say I've been busy moving and unpacking. I really should be unpacking now, or maybe sleeping... (It's almost 3am)

My older sister (Kristen) came down to visit the week before last and we had a great time! Two days at Disneyland and we were able to go on the new Little Mermaid ride and the updated Star Tours! Also it was the best game of "harness" ever. I know I've explained this in my blog before, but it's a game I invented very similar to slug bug, except that you bunch your friend and say harness whenever you see a child in a harness. The rules are pretty simple, the child just has to have a leash on. A wrist leash is totally acceptable, we even saw a child with a dog leash wrapped around his waist. Not connected to a belt or anything, the leash was hooked to itself. I'm pretty sure that's unsafe. We also saw a child on a retractable leash. We saw 21 children on leashes in ONE DAY. There may have been some repeats, but COME ON! I understand if you have a runner and you have to restrain your kid to go places you have to go, but you don't have to go to Disneyland. If you can't trust your child to not run away from you, maybe they don't deserve to go to Disneyland. Also, we saw two kids who could barely walk in harnesses. Let's all hope, for the future of this country, that people who are that inept as parents stop at ONE CHILD. Your kid can crawl away from you that fast?

That same week I was off to Reno because my baby sister graduated from high school. (I forgot my camera of course, and can't figure out how to use facebook pics on here) Hard to believe as she was still in diapers when my dad married her mom! We used to call her stinker because she could be a bit ornery (some things never change). She also used to shake her butt back and forth when we'd say "Cassie, shake your booty" Sigh, she was so cute. Now she's the tallest of the four of us and graduated with honors. She's starting at UNR in the fall (University of Nevada), my Alma mater, and leaves tomorrow for a Mexican cruise. I hope she behaves herself. Little stinker.

Ok, I gotta get to bed. I always aspire to update these more often, but this site is fireblocked at work. So alas I have to do it in my "free time" and there isn't much of that to go around....

Indian Transport, Risky Business

There are several ways to get around in India. Trains, planes, automobiles, subway (they call it the metro) auto rickshaws, bike rickshaws, mopeds, motorcycles, ox carts, horse carts, camel carts and, of course, the almighty elephant!

Let me first tell you about driving around in the cities. Traffic laws and lights are mere suggestions. More than one vehicle can fit in a lane, and also lanes are suggestions. They get within inches of other cars, motorcycles etc. However, I didn't see single accident. One tiny motorcycle to motorcycle bump but with no damage. Imagine LA in rush hour traffic, but people managing to squeeze their way around the other cars. I will post pictures later, but it really doesn't do it justice.

Auto rickshaws- They are my favorite form of transportation. I'm sure this would not be true in the hot summer months, but for now they're perfect! It's basically a tricycle with a motorcycle engine, a backseat with a domed roof. It is open on both sides so you can get the full experience of the cities while riding in one. You hear all the noise, smell all the smells and get a better overall sense of the culture of the place than you can from inside a car. Also, they are different in different cities. In Delhi they were pretty much all the same. Black with a green stripe, back seat a plain black leather bench. In Agra (where the Taj Mahal is) they are much more ornate. Totally blinged out with embroidered leather seats, sparkles and stickers painted on and some of them even had rims! In Jaipur they were more ornate than Delhi, but not as nice as Agra, but they were longer with trunks that could fit a decent amount of luggage. Again, I will post pictures later.

Motorcycles/Mopeds Who knew you could fit people on a motorcycle? That's right, I saw a Dad driving with a kid in front of him, one behind him, then mom on the back (sitting side saddle because that's how most women ride here) holding a baby. I only saw 5 people once, but 3 and four are very common. The driver is usually the only one with a helmet (if at all) but it's not normally strapped down, so it's pretty much pointless. Also I saw a mom, dad and two kids on a bike. That's some good balancing!

Trains - Not really so different from Amtrak except for the bathroom aspect which I will go into in the next blog. Also, I saw a mouse running around on the floor of two different trains. Nice.

Metro- The running of the metro and how to navigate them is basically the same as in New York, but there aren't nearly as many lines (by this I mean different train tracks, not queues). However, they are jam packed at rush hour. You are packed in like a sardine. There are almost no women on the cars I was in probably because there are separate women's only cars. Which I was tempted to ditch Suman and go to when we were being bodyslammed on the way on and off. People do not wait for you to get off before they start trying to get on unless there's literally no room for them. It's a shoving, pushing mob of people.

While talking about lines and queues, they are non existent in India. People will cut in front of you, push to the front whatever it takes to get to the front. It's not wonder so many people get trampled in Temples. The only place there was a line was at the Taj Mahal, and that's because there were several men there with guns yelling and pushing people back if they tried to cut in line. Oh, the gun situation is very common, every cop has a huge gun and they DO NOT take security lightly.

You get frisked, walk through a metal detector and get your luggage scanned every time you get on the metro. There are men stationed there with large guns, and even a couple in sand bag barricades with semi automatic weapons. Mind you, nothing was going on, they weren't on high alert. This is everyday. Gotta love terrorists. Ok. I'll write more later. We are going to the bazaars in Mumbai.

Culture Shock (I'm in India!)

I'm in Mumbai right now and Suman and I are on the last leg of our journey. I thought I'd publish a quick post on some of the cultural differences I've noticed and some other random things that amuse me about India.

When we got off the plane I noticed a lot of people didn't have suitcases, they had bundled up blankets and tied ropes around them, or used boxes to transport their personal affects. I'd never seen that before.

I get stared at, a LOT. I'm not sure if it's not considered rude, or if people just don't care, but you would swear they'd never seen a white person before. We were in major cities and tourist attractions, you'd think they'd be used to it, but no. In fact, I've caught several of them trying to take my picture, or asking if I will be in a picture with them. Suman was agreeing to this at first, (I told my sister he was charging people for it) but I kept telling him that I felt exploited and he started telling them no. He thinks it's mostly because he and I are together. Not sure.

So many people! I know this goes without saying but it's really hard to imagine it until you are here. Also, mostly men. There is a larger population of men than women in India (for reasons I will not go into right now. You can refer to Super Freakonomics for the answer) but also most of the women stay home. You do not see women working in shops, restaurants or really even driving.

Since Indians eat with their hands, they have no problem touching the parts of your silverware that you eat with. This especially bothers me, and I have to just look away and pretend it's not happening. Burying your head in the sand works to your advantage sometimes.

There's no such things as zoning laws. Farm animals wander the streets freely, even in the large cities. In the heart of Jaipor, I saw a house with a stable in their front yard and a cow tied to a pole. It's crazy.

Everything is negotiable and nobody takes no for an answer. Even if you tell them you aren't interested in what they are selling, or that you already have a taxi waiting for you, they don't give up. In almost all the shops you can negotiate a price, and Suman is great at this. I don't try because they don't take me seriously, it's discrimination. I always defer to Suman.

Ok, well I gotta take a nap. I will write more later. This is barely skimming the surface. Coming up soon Transportation and Bathrooms (trust me, it's all interesting!) Thanks for reading!

Getting to India just might kill me...

So Suman and I have been talking about going to India for at least two years, maybe longer. For any of you who may not know this, Suman descends from the people of India. At any rate, his vacation this year is in February, which is one of the best weather months in India, so we decided to go. We found a great deal on tickets and booked our trip in January. We will actually be staying in Turkey for a few days before flying to India. Our layover is there, and we thought, why not turn 5 hours into a couple of days?

AFTER booking our trip, Suman lets me know that I will need a Visa to get into India. Ok, well I'm sure there's a consulate in LA, right? Nope, it's in San Francisco. I found out I can apply online, which is great, except that I need a copy of my birth certificate. I know I had one when I applied for my passport a couple of years ago, but somehow it got lost between the moves. Now, birth certificates can be ordered online, but it's 5-10 business days to process, let alone to send to you. And the consulate will take 7-10 business days to process your visa. Add up that and the shipping time, allow for some extra days in case anything is amiss, and it's cutting it pretty close. Did I mention I have to send them my ACTUAL PASSPORT? So, we wouldn't even be able to change our trip to a European one if I don't get it back in time.

Luckily, I was born in Santa Barbara County. That's about a 3 hour drive from here (provided there's no traffic). I drove up there when I had one day off because it was really the only time could. No snafus there, got it no problem. Drove back here, sent out the info. Passport returned in plenty of time, and my visa was approved. YAY!

Now it's time to plan for vaccines and anti-malaria medication. The only vaccine I need is typhoid. So I call up the CDC to make an appointment, there aren't any available until March 26th! Who thinks to plan two months in advance to get vaccines? I guess people who have dealt with the CDC before.

MDs appointment on Friday, got a script for the anti-malaria medication AND an oral typhoid vaccine, which should be available at my local pharmacy. Not at Target, and the anti-malaria medication, it costs $243! They were going to fill out some paperwork and send it to my MD for my insurance to approve it. Well worth the money to not get malaria, but come on! Luckily, I found a cheaper way of obtaining it. AND got the typhoid vaccine at Walgreens. My insurance didn't cover that either.

So, I think I'm pretty much set to go at this point, which is great because we are leaving next week! I'm hoping for my stomach to tolerate the Typhoid (yummy!) and NO MORE SURPRISES! Did I mention that my grad school applications were due during the middle of all of this nonsense? Yep, it's been a stress free year so far...

The Heckles

The Heckles

For those of you who don't know, I work 12 hour night shifts 3-4 nights a week. Because of this, I am awake at strange times when I am off. Anyway, some new people moved in downstairs from me about 2 months ago. I haven't met these people, but shortly after they moved in the apartment people called to check in on them and how their first 30 days were. I then get a call because the lady could "hear me walking around late at night" and was wondering if anything was wrong. What?! walking around? Uh, ok. So I have been careful to keep my TV down to volume below 25 if it's after 10pm, and keep other loud activities to a minimum.

Flash forward to Friday morning at 1:08am. I was hand mixing some batter in the kitchen. The cable was out so I didn't have my TV on. Phatness was howling and doing a "show". Then, there was banging from the apartment below me, so loud it vibrated my floor. I thought they must have been hanging a picture or something because there was NO WAY I was making any noise that would be bothering them. WRONG. I got a call from the office the next day and a voicemail saying that my neighbors complained again. (For those of you who don't know the reference, Mr. Heckles lived below Monica on "Friends" and banged on their floor when they were being "loud").

I don't really know what to do. I never had a complaint from the people who lived below me before at this complex, or for the two years I lived at the other place. If these people are SO SENSITIVE to noise perhaps they shouldn't a) live on the 2nd story of a 3 story apartment complex b) live in an apartment complex AT ALL c) get a fan or earplugs or both. These people are insane. What if I had a baby that cried all the time? Would they bang on the ceiling everyday? I will not lay in my bed awake so as to not bother these whiny little Heckles.

I called the office back and explained to them what happened. They thanked me for calling back and for being quieter (TV volume down, listening to my ipod instead of music through the speakers etc.) She said she will make notes and follow up in a couple of days. She said it's possible they are hearing noise from somewhere else and think it's me. I'm waiting for them to complain about me when I'm at work. Perhaps I will buy them a gift of a fan and a set of headphones.

Fixed!

So pretty much as soon as I laid down for my nap, the cable company called me. While I was on the phone with them the maintenance guy showed up. See, the key is to do something that will make it incredibly inconvenient if they show up and Voila! There they are! Cox was unable to fix my problem via the telephone so they sent a guy out to fix it Sunday morning (they would have come Saturday, but I told them no because that's Suman's birthday).

So the maintenance guy came in (side note, he was here maybe a week ago because genius here somehow managed to leave a burner slightly on, and my place WREAKED of natural gas. So he's pretty much my new best friend because we've spent so much quality time together lately). At Any rate, he looked under the sink for a milisecond and then turned on the disposal! I was like "What did you do?! I tried resetting it to no avail." He said, "I didn't do anything" "Don't lie" Turns out he turned some screw underneath it and it started working. Just like that.

The cable guy came over yesterday. He replaced my cable box, but the other one was doing the same exact thing, so we switched it from the HDMI cable to just some regular hook up. And the HDMI cable works fine with my DVD player, so I don't know what all that was about. Weird. So alls well that ends well.

Broken

I'm starting to wonder if there's a poltergeist running around my apartment and breaking things. My kitchen sink has had some issues draining for a while now, but would clear right up when I turned on the disposal. Well you guessed it, the disposal stopped working. There's nothing stuck in it and I tried to reset it but it is completely dead. It doesn't even make noise. So I was up at 6am and put in an online work order for it to be fixed. It's 311pm right now, no maintenance guy to be seen. I just know they are going to show up at 4, not be able to fix it and I'll be without a sink for another night. I hope they plan on paying for my dinner and breakfast out. I was going to make Suman a nice breakfast tomorrow when he got here (Side note for those who don't already know- Suman was in a car accident yesterday and missed his train out here. He's ok, but we're not sure if the car is salvageable or not). The LEAST I could do is make him breakfast, but that's not likely.

Also, my cable box has stopped working. I called COX to get tech support and got the stupid automated service. The first thing it says on the recording is that Saddleback College's TV channel will not be broadcasting all month. There's really that many people who watch this channel for fun that it needs to be the first thing said?! These people need to learn how to watch TV. Seriously, watch some Friends reruns or the Daily Show for God's sake. Anyway automated Betty was unable to solve my problem so I was asked to either stay on hold or they would call me back. I choose the latter. They said they would call back in 59 minutes, which was obviously a lie because I called them over an hour ago. I just called again and they said they would receive a call within one hour and 45 minutes! You have GOT to be kidding me!! They will keep your place in line and call you back in your turn is obviously a bunch of BS. ARG! Also, why do I have to enter my phone number when they were able to identify my account by the number I called from?

So, I can't go anywhere because I have to be near my cable box for when these slackers finally decide to call me back. I obviously can't watch TV, I can't cook anything because my sink isn't working. Maybe I should clean? I don't want to vacuum in case I can't hear my phone ringing, and evidently can't clean the kitchen. My last apartment complex may have been a little ghetto, but the maintenance people were much more organized. I think I'll take a nap. That's pretty much the best way to guarantee the maintanence guys will show up. I'm sure the second I doze off they'll ring my doorbell.