006 The Asian Squat

It’s the day before the New Year! How ridiculous is this? I can’t believe we’ve been in India for almost a week. The day started with us assembling at the hotel lobby at around 3 in the morning, luggage in tow, to head to the airport. Gross. The hotel was nice enough to prepare breakfast for us knowing we wouldn’t have a chance to eat much later, and so we ate sandwiches, bananas and rolls on the bus.

Omnomnom.

A lot of our group chose not to eat though; apparently Choki Dhani’s dinner was not kind to them last night. We finally arrived at the airport only to encounter a little bit of drama. From what I gathered, because our flight from Jaipur to Bangalore was a domestic flight, it was supposed to be subject to the domestic flight luggage weight limit, which is not a lot. Most of us still had a vast majority of the luggage we had taken on the international flight from the States to India, so naturally, pretty much everyone’s luggage was overweight. Essentially, the airlines wanted us to pay for all the extra weight. Drs. Anand and Ellstrand were not pleased because apparently that had never happened before, but I think they ended up footing the bill for the lot of us. Eep. 

We practiced Asian squats while waiting for the matter to be resolved…I still don't understand why people struggle with the concept! Must be from the lack of squatty-potties in the States. 

Seth trying to master the Asian Squat.

Eventually, we all got checked in and hung out around the gate for our boarding time to arrive. Ariel, Aaron, Jarred, Kaleah and I had a journal party while waiting, we're dorks. 

We finally boarded the plane and arrived in Bangalore soon enough, and everyone was starving. I bought a chicken burger from Café Coffee Day (a class favorite!) and a bottle of water. The food wasn’t incredible, but it was edible and so I was satisfied…until I found out others had found a Subway outside and ate turkey sandwiches. 

Our bus came and picked us up, and before departing, Varun and Dr. Anand spoke with our bus drivers about getting alcohol for our New Year’s celebration. It was perfect.

Bangalore is INCREDIBLE. The weather and scenery are perfect, and remind me so much of Malaysia. There seems to be some semblance of adherence to traffic laws, and people don’t honk as much. It’s pretty safe to say that first impression-wise, Bangalore has beaten Delhi quite soundly. Architecturally, Bangalore seems to be a lot more modern than Delhi. There are little suburbs off to the side of the cities, and there are countless Western brands that many of us recognized, which was pretty cool. I saw a Bata shoe store and a poster about the dangers of dengue fever.

Oh no! Dengue!

Movies in India >>>> Movies in the States

After purchasing the alcohol somewhere in the city, the group headed off to Kabini River Lodge, which we were all incredibly excited about. Along the way, we stopped at a McDonald’s, and it was so much fun. I love visiting McDonald’s restaurants in other countries - it's always an adventure.

A welcome sight.

As expected, in order to cater to local customs, where a majority of the Indian population doesn’t eat beef, most of the menu items that we were used were replaced with chicken-based or vegetarian options.

Pro-tip: Paneer Salsa Wrap is LEGIT.

The restaurant was out of sandwiches when we got there though, so our options were even more limited. I stuck to the safe option of chicken nuggets, but ordered some of the local dipping sauces to try. It went okay.

Eventually, we arrived at Kabini, and got settled into our rooms. There are eight or nine rooms in a row to a building, considered a “bungalow”, and I absolutely love this set up. Our row has most of the undergrads, so it's going to be awesome. Real talk. The rooms are big enough, and the bathrooms are clean, so really we have nothing to complain about. 

We assembled for a movie screening near the front office, not really knowing what to expect. The movie turned out to be a short documentary about Nagarahole, the protected jungle I believe we’re currently residing in. All of us were exhausted though, and kept nodding off throughout the movie. Pretty sure I was out way before the halfway point. We gathered at the resort’s cafeteria and had dinner after the movie. The food was really, really good – another great mix of Indian and Western fare. 

Ketchup-chili fries are where it's at.

2011 CAKEEEE!!!

We soon returned to our rooms with plans to hang out around midnight for the countdown. Definitely fell asleep while waiting, but I managed to catch the countdown and spend a few more hours enjoying the New Year with some newfound friends in a beautiful country. :)