originally i had as a goal to post once a week so that i could keep a record of what the heck is going on...does it count if the past month has flown by like a week? Even though it had enough packed into it to be a year? My little sister is on a plane right now and when I sign off I'm going to go pick her up and for some reason that put my butt in gear to finally write something.
The work is challenging. As much as people made cracks about how most consular toured officers are well overqualified for the work, I can see absolutely the logic in starting out here and getting the lay of an overseas tour land. No one part of the job is terribly difficult but there is a constant barrage of tasks to be juggled, a ton of detail and lots of judgment calls along the way. They really did hire us for our judgment...uh oh me.
Being in a post with so many ELOs is wonderful because I can draw on their help and have a built in social network but it also presents difficulties. Some really great opportunities come up and it is hard to not be chosen sometimes. There is more than enough opportunities to be able to keep constantly busy and know that I'm doing important work but because of the high stress level certain tensions arise that I overreact to in the moment. Overall though I am incredibly lucky to work with such amazing people and also lucky to have managers who make sure opportunities abound.
Life in India can also be challenging. But immensely rewarding. Again no one thing is terribly difficult to adjust to but all the little things add up. The pace of life is just different. The idea of customer service is nonexistent - oh there are tons of people milling around in any hospitality environment but none actually seem capable of listening fully to an order, asking a question if they don't understand so that the order will be correct and completing it in a timely manner. Most of the time I can see humor in it but sometimes the 30 minute wait for a drink or the 20 minutes it takes to get a spoon for the ice cream which is then melted really gets to me.
But this place is amazing. One night after dinner me and two friends decided to try out this bar called 10 Downing Street. We talked with a few different autorickshaw drivers to no avail. Finally a man on his evening stroll took pity and explained where it was. Success...until all the rickshaw drivers got up front and the three of us in back...it was one full rickshaw. When we got to the bar the manager took us right away and said "Come, come" as they are wont to do. He led us to the other table of white people and then seemed perturbed/amazed that we did not in fact know the other whities nor did we want to sit with them. We got our own table and the place was a strange and hellish version of an english pub with crazy red walls and wildly dancing men. The hell vision became clearer when people came to our table and lit it on fire trying to sell us flaming shots. Egads. On the way home we took two autorickshaws...and the friend I was with told our driver to race the other one...I had no idea those things could go that fast!!!!! Nor did I know that three wheelers can in fact take turns on two wheels.
Today I walked to the spa for a massage and a cow was in my way. A big black one just sitting taking up the road with a "You want some of this" look...sadly yes, yes I do want some of that, medium rare with some mashed potatoes...ah Thsiland I can't wait to eat my way through you. Oh which reminds me of another spa...Temple Bay is a beautiful resort with an amazing infinity pool and hammocks and a lot of beauty...just don't get a "massage". I went in for mine and was taken in a room and told to get naked. When I asked for a robe the woman looked at me quizzically. I tried to walk out but the manager told me to take a towel. Decided to give it a whirl, toweled up and went into massage room. Oh goodie look at that table. Wait why do you want me to sit on this stool? Um, okay. Eeeek why are you pouring copious amounts of burnt coffee smelling oil over my head? And just moving it around? Um, will I get to be on the table and be massaged if I put up with it? Apparently not, because the next thing the lady wanted me to do was just lay naked face up on table...and I could tell there was a lot more getting oil poured over me without any rubbing in store...I walked out. Yes, I walked out on a "massage". Sigh. Oh I better go get my Natalie!!! Yippee!
