I was reading in the newspaper about is how some companies here calculate wages. (Maybe they do this in the US too, I don’t know.) A lot companies here are getting really aggressive about trying to recruit good people, so they will try to offer job candidates the highest salary possible. They are tricky though. What happens is they offer you one salary, but they don’t mention that this amount includes the amount you would save if you borrowed several thousand dollars from the company. They put in your contract that you are allowed to borrow x amount, and that it would be at, say, 2% interest. If you were to borrow this money at the market rate, you might have to pay, say, 8%. So they calculate how much that is in ”savings,” and “add” it to your potential salary, to inflate the amount. So what you don’t realize until later is that then your take home is actually a chunk less than what you thought it was going to be. Kind of funny. (when it happens to someone else)

I was walking around today and saw a 3 year old with thick, black eyeliner on. She looked like a weird little raccoon. I can’t imagine what her parents were thinking. Who would put that crap on their kid? Because I am pretty sure the kid didn’t do that to herself. She couldn’t have. I mean, I can’t put that stuff on right, and I can’t imagine that a three year old could. The three year old’s coordination isn’t that much better than mine. I had to remind myself not to stare; she looked so strange.

Not, incidentally, that anyone pays me that courtesy. Sometimes I feel like a walking freak show, like people here have never heard of a white person before. People look at me all the time. And they don’t glance subtly, people will walk past and turn around and look at me. I feel like I should start wearing a Viking helmet or something, give people something to stare at.

Something that I think is surprising is that several people have asked if I am German. I don’t know if it is that I look German, or if it is that a lot of Germans travel to India and so the first thing people think when they see a foreigner is “hey, that’s a German” or what. Not that I am insulted or anything, I don’t care either way, I just think it is unexpected. People did that to me in Taiwan too, a lot of people thought I was German.

The guy in front of me at the grocery store yesterday bought 8 tubes of toothpaste. Why would someone need 8 tubes of toothpaste all at once? What, is he eating it?

You can buy oil by the bag here. This sounds like a bad idea, if you ask me. By the box, tin, bottle, glass, can, bowl- almost anything seems as though it would be a better than by the bag.

You can also buy huge bags of chili powder here. Chili powder in quantities that I have never seen before. I guess to eat with your toothpaste.

A lot of the food here is really fattening. I don’t know why more Indians aren’t fat. Some are, but why not more? These are people for whom peanuts are not fattening enough. Oh no. They coat peanuts in breading and deep fry them. Then the peanuts are ready to eat.

I think it is cute that drugstores are called the chemists’ here.

Motorcycles serve as family cars here. Parents and kids all pile up and zoom along, and it scares the hell out of me.

And Saturday night is family night. You can’t get a seat in a restaurant because all the parents and kids and grandmas and grandpas and aunts and uncles and cousins are all out together having a good time. Kids run around everywhere. I have learned that unless I want to hang out at the front of a restaurant for an hour waiting, I should just plan on cooking at home on Sat night. It is nice to see families out together though.

Movies are big family events here too, especially the Bollywood stuff. Families go to shows at all times of night, little kids at late shows, doesn’t matter. There are rules about showing adult content in movies so the movies are usually pretty safe for kids. Indian kids must have crazy intense attention spans though, because the Bollywood movies are 3 to 3 and a half hours long with lots of big song numbers. But the movies always have an intermission. They even cut the American movies awkwardly around the middle to put in an intermission. Then everyone gets up and buys snacks.

The snacks are fun at the theaters. I can get all sorts of vegetarian stuff, like a veggie burger, vegetable sandwiches, samosas, mini pizzas, and other stuff that I couldn’t identify. I wish American theaters had stuff like that, but really I guess it would cost 2-3 times as much if they did and I wouldn’t buy it.

I went to one theater that had all big squishy armchairs to sit in for the movie.

Because of some bombings a couple of years ago, the theaters have started playing the national anthem at the beginning of every movie. Something about promoting national unity. So you go in and sit down, and then before the movie starts everyone stands for the anthem and watches a clip of the Indian flag waving. Then the lights go dark and the movie begins. I am unclear as to how this is supposed to prevent future bombings, since if you are the type of person who would set off a bomb blast, making you more impatient for a movie to start doesn’t seem like a good way to dissuade you from committing violence.

While I am on this movie theme, I took a walk the other evening along the beachfront near my house. When I got to the end of the walkway, I was surprised and concerned to see a huge crowd of people standing around, some policemen, and several news vans. I thought there must be some emergency. But I didn’t see any ambulances, or anything like that. Then I noticed a lot of people looking up, so I thought that maybe there was a suicide jumper or something horrible. But no, nothing. The crowd was just sort of calmly hanging out. Then I realized that the only thing the policemen were doing was crowd control, pushing the mass of people back from where the cars were driving, keeping the road clear. I couldn’t figure out what the deal was. When I got home, I ran into my neighbor’s daughter on her way out and asked if she knew what was up. She said, yeah, They’re a bunch of stupid people, people with no jobs. They gather there hoping to catch a glimpse of the Bollywood actor who lives there. They just wait there, for hours, because they have nothing better to do. Ah. Wow.

There is street shaving here. Men can get a shave on the side of the road. They sit on a crate or a stool facing a mirror hung up on a fence along the edge of the street. Cars and riks speed along in the road behind them, people walk by, dogs scamper around. And while the man sits there, facing the mirror, back to the traffic, some guy puts shaving cream on him and shaves him with an old straight razor. Then he gets a bit of water to rinse with and he’s done.

I have been reading the newspaper every few days. Favorite headline so far: “A look at some of the longest queues in India.” Riveting stuff.

I saw a sign on the train advertising tarot card readings and, enterprisingly, insurance. I think this is very clever. I can imagine what they were thinking-
Come on down! We’ll tell you what your future is; surely it won’t contain any disasters. Hmmm. Uuuuh, oh wait. Uh oh. That’s not a good card. I think that is the house gets hit by lightening card, with the minor car accident card, with a possible job lay off. But no worries! We can take care of your problems, one stop shopping! Find out about your future accidents, and take measures immediately! Just sign here! Brilliant.

I think people here are into astrology, I have been asked my birthday several times.

Another thing from the paper- a couple wrote in to ask about the paper’s financial planner for advice. They want to save for their daughter’s education and wedding. 50 lakh for her education, 50 lakh for her wedding. One lakh is 100,000 rupees, or about US$2,500, so US$125,000. But more to the point- they want to spend the same amount on her wedding as they do on her college education. Insane. I guess some people do that in the states too. They are also insane.

I saw an ad for salsa dancing. The teacher advertised himself as German trained, and made a big deal out of it. Is Germany a big center of salsa dancing expertise, and I just don’t know about it?

Some Indian chip flavors- I only know what a few of these even mean:
Indian Mint Mischief, Bingo Chatkila Nimbu Achaar, Kurkure Mast Malibari Style, Chutkule Masala Masti, Bindaas Masala Chaas, Tandoori Paneer Tikka, Hint of Roasted Red Chilly and Coriander