With every passing day, I fall in love with Bangalore all the more. I had read of its popularity with the Indians and even though I have not visited other parts of India, I cannot imagine a better place to be. Bangalore is an exciting mix of the new and old, offering me the comfort of certain western conveniences but also giving me the opportunity to learn of things I would never encounter in the west. Regardless of whether I have "bad" or "good" experiences, they are all ultimately worth while because I am seeing places and people my American friends will never know.

People always use the words "extreme" or "contrasts" when defining India. I confess, I would have to agree with the terms. When I walk out of the apartment in Sheshadripuram, I see children playing in a street of hay, people bathing themselves on the road, chickens and stray dogs roaming the pavement, colorful clothes that hang to dry, and it's a picture perfect shot of the "third world" India scene and I live right in the midst of it. Now, I am not naive. What I see here is probably nothing compared to what I will see in other parts of India. But even the contrast between my apartment building and what stands next to it is shocking.
And then there is MG Road. There is Brigade Road, Guruda Mall, the upper class restaurant I ate at today on Commercial Street, the huge movie theater I saw "The Last Lear" at last night. And I am in a completely different world, one dominated by western clothes, ideas, and lifestyles. That is not to say it's a complete 180 but let's just say there are about 15 Pizza Huts in this city. There is a Ruby Tuesday's, Staples, a Lush, you get the idea. But it's a very strange feeling to travel between these two extremes, to be straddling the two. There is never a dull moment here.

Just this morning, when I was leaving a shopping area to go back to the apartment (which at the moment feels like a jail cell-there is absolutely nothing in it) a couple rickshaw drivers saw us and shouted "MILLER ROAD! UTC!" I didn't recognize the men but my friend Sonja remembered these drivers had given us a ride before. There have been quite a few people (mainly shopkeepers) who instantly remember our faces and it's sort of nice. So we went with this same man who had given us a ride about a week ago, and he wanted to take us to more emporiums (like last time) so that he could get free things (I'm not totally sure, there's a weird system...if these drivers take us to specific stores, they get gifts or something). But we were like, "no no, we need to get to our destination, we're running late...no time." And for about five minutes, they keep trying to persuade us to go to the shops. We never actually say yes. They just go. So this man, named Mohammad, takes us to the same EXACT store we had been at earlier in the day, when another rickshaw driver dropped us off there. Bangalore is a large city. The chance of that happening is pretty slim and we couldn't believe it. So then he had to take us to another place, I believe on Infantry Road, and after awkwardly going in for two minutes and coming back out, we asked to go to our apartment. He wanted to go to another store. The whole thing became really frustrating, to be honest. And the only reason we finally got to the apartment was because I took down his number and told him we would call if we ever needed a ride.

I'm starting to get used to the stares. Right now I'm trying to focus on getting my apartment furnished so I have a little escape. Last night was our first night in the apartments and I barely got any sleep. This was including wearing ear plugs and a sleep mask. Noise never ceases. Lights always shine. The early morning prayer wakes me every day. In many ways I'm quite fine but my mind feels like I am in an amusement park-there is so much to see and it's all kind of strange in a sense...distractions exist everywhere. It's a constant rollercoaster...no stops...if I get sick, I have to keep going.....