As you may have read in previous posts that I take the company bus at 7 am. Sometimes it's quite difficult waking at 6 am. So maybe once a week we go by public transportation in a later time.
What me and Eduardo, my colleague and flat mate, take a rickshaw (a.k.a tok tok) pay 20 Rs. till a bus station called Halsuru. This is one of the main bus stops. A lot of buses goes to where my office is. At sometimes there could be one every 5 minutes.
Today was kinda different. We waited for like 15-20 mins and none of them came. Till came bus number 320 which goes there. It was kinda packed but do we have a choice? It came to a point that the amount of people going out were not even close to the number of people getting on. It's packed to the extent that if you try falling you won't be able to. You have people from all angles. The max that can happen is to fall on a lap of someone sitting. Ironically enough, most of the people go out only 2 stops before mine!! So that's only when I can have some space and hopefully find a seat for two more stops.
But who am I to complain?! :D I'm Egyptian!! We have buses like that back home if not worse. So I would like to thank the buses of Cairo for preparing me for stuff like this and giving me the endurance necessary to have a 1 hour ride in a crowded bus ;)
Now I need to be going to bed in order to catch the company bus. As much as I enjoy sleeping more as much as I don't enjoy being in that bus :D I can endure it. That doesn't mean at all that I like it :D
A friend of mine here in Bangalore (Sarah from Tanzania) suggested that I should write a post about the whole story of me being here. Meaning what is it exactly that I'm doing here and how did I even get here. Although I should have started with a post like that but it is important. Late better than never!! Thanks Sarah!! :)
Good night you all!!
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Have you ever been to a silent party?
Ok so it has been a few days I didn't write anything but here I go with a series of posts in one day :D. I will start with something that happened like 3 weeks ago.
So you probably read the title of the post. I have been to a silent party!! Yaaaa, that's what I said, a SILENT party. So, what's that all about? Well, I went to Goa for a long weekend with some people here from Bangalore, Mumbai and Chennai. Goa is one of the biggest touristic attractions in India cuz of its great beaches that lay on the Arabian Sea. It was a very very nice weekend for me regardless of the fact that I spent over a week my shoulders peeling!! Anywho, now comes Saturday in Goa. There's usually a big party on the beach on that day. So the party started at around 9 pm. The problem is that after 11:30 it's not allowed to have loud speakers on!! Of course that's just too early. Do they stop the party? Of course not!! It's time to go silent. What happens is that everyone purchases a wireless headphones and the DJ will start transmitting to the headphones and off with the loud speakers. So if you don't get headphones you will not hear a thing and will only see a bunch of people dancing to nothing :D Neat, huh?! Although the headphones were like 500 Rs. but it was really worth the experience!!
I would recommend anyone to go to Goa. It's not like the best beach in the world but it's really niiiice and a lot of fun!! Put it on your list!! ;)
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A day in Bangalore
Let me describe for you my normal day in Bangalore. In other words how my day is after settling down and knowing all that I need to know for basic living :D
First of all I live in a place called Frazer Town. It's a very nice place in Bangalore. For me honestly it's a big advantage living in such a place as it is a Muslim community town. There's a big mosque near my house, a lot of good super markets and shops, a few restaurants that offer "Arabian food" (at least they try to), and actually there's a lot of Arabs here. Most of them are students studying here in India. The ones I met were from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Also this is where most of the trainees are and it's close to the center of the city where everything is happenin ;). One of the good advantages of this area that the company bus passes through there!!
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment. I share it with my colleague at work, whom is also an AIESEC trainee. His name is Eduardo, he's from Brazil. So it's two bedrooms with two attached bathrooms (sweet, huh?). It's semi-furnished which means that there's only wardrobes and cupboards available in the flat. We are furnishing it bit by bit. So far each one has a mattress and we have a refrigerator now as well.
As for my day, it starts up by waking up around 6 am take a shower, have breakfast, and get dressed to catch the company bus at 7 am. With picking up all the other employees and going to the company it takes like an hour baring in mind that at this time it's not yet rush hour. Believe me, you don't wanna be experiencing rush hour in Bangalore!! I work in a place know as ITPB (http://www.intltechpark.com/home.html). My office is in one of it's buildings. It's not allowed to take pictures of the office from inside so don't ask me to take a picture of myself while being on my desk :P I'm in a training phase now which should take me about 2 months. I didn't actually start the real work. It's better that way, so I get used to the place and people by the time I get to actually work. Lunch break is anytime between 12:30 and 14:00. I finish work at around 16:45 to catch the bus at 17:00. I go back home either chill or go out if there's anything worth it :)
Tomorow is Friday, the weekend in India. There's always something happening on that day, will let you know about it for sure. Stay tuned!!
First of all I live in a place called Frazer Town. It's a very nice place in Bangalore. For me honestly it's a big advantage living in such a place as it is a Muslim community town. There's a big mosque near my house, a lot of good super markets and shops, a few restaurants that offer "Arabian food" (at least they try to), and actually there's a lot of Arabs here. Most of them are students studying here in India. The ones I met were from Yemen, Saudi Arabia, and Syria. Also this is where most of the trainees are and it's close to the center of the city where everything is happenin ;). One of the good advantages of this area that the company bus passes through there!!
I live in a 2 bedroom apartment. I share it with my colleague at work, whom is also an AIESEC trainee. His name is Eduardo, he's from Brazil. So it's two bedrooms with two attached bathrooms (sweet, huh?). It's semi-furnished which means that there's only wardrobes and cupboards available in the flat. We are furnishing it bit by bit. So far each one has a mattress and we have a refrigerator now as well.
As for my day, it starts up by waking up around 6 am take a shower, have breakfast, and get dressed to catch the company bus at 7 am. With picking up all the other employees and going to the company it takes like an hour baring in mind that at this time it's not yet rush hour. Believe me, you don't wanna be experiencing rush hour in Bangalore!! I work in a place know as ITPB (http://www.intltechpark.com/home.html). My office is in one of it's buildings. It's not allowed to take pictures of the office from inside so don't ask me to take a picture of myself while being on my desk :P I'm in a training phase now which should take me about 2 months. I didn't actually start the real work. It's better that way, so I get used to the place and people by the time I get to actually work. Lunch break is anytime between 12:30 and 14:00. I finish work at around 16:45 to catch the bus at 17:00. I go back home either chill or go out if there's anything worth it :)
Tomorow is Friday, the weekend in India. There's always something happening on that day, will let you know about it for sure. Stay tuned!!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
I'm back for good
I have been so unfaithful to my blog. Maybe I'm just not used to documenting my day to day life. Always depending on memory. Just today I read the blog of Adham, one of my best friends, fellow AIESECer, and currently doing his internship in Brazil. He really encouraged me to go back to writing my blog
Well, it's been almost 2 months in Incredible India. 3 weeks in Mumbai and another 3 in Bangalore. Amazing is the least it can be described. Amazing in it's diversity. The diversity within the same street. A very common scene is to see a group of slums and suddenly you see a luxurious compound.
Mumbai is all about the night life. It's the capital of Bollywood. All the glamor you can find in India would be in Mumbai night life. After the club there's an after party. Does it stop there? NOOOOO!! There's an after after party. It goes on till next morning.
Mumbai is a very fast city. It's always moving. There's something well know about Mumbai and Indian told me once. In Mumbai the day is 1/3 of the day at work, 1/3 of the day sleeping, and 1/3 of the day in traffic. Traffic there is horrible in rush hours. Have you ever heared about the Mumbai local train in rush hour? Hearing about it is not even close to being in it. Here's a taste of how it could really be (http://youtube.com/watch?v=LNciAneqS58).
Then comes Bangalore. This is where my internship is gonna be for the rest of the year. It's a lot more greener than Mumbai. More pleasant to see. Smaller in area which makes it easy to cover, almost. Better traffic? NEVER :D It's even worse in Bangalore.
This is just a come back to my blog. Briefly introducing what's been goin on. All you need to know and more will come soon. I'm here for one year, many things will happen and repeated. Now the real action begins.
Tomorow is another day and another post ;)
Well, it's been almost 2 months in Incredible India. 3 weeks in Mumbai and another 3 in Bangalore. Amazing is the least it can be described. Amazing in it's diversity. The diversity within the same street. A very common scene is to see a group of slums and suddenly you see a luxurious compound.
Mumbai is all about the night life. It's the capital of Bollywood. All the glamor you can find in India would be in Mumbai night life. After the club there's an after party. Does it stop there? NOOOOO!! There's an after after party. It goes on till next morning.
Mumbai is a very fast city. It's always moving. There's something well know about Mumbai and Indian told me once. In Mumbai the day is 1/3 of the day at work, 1/3 of the day sleeping, and 1/3 of the day in traffic. Traffic there is horrible in rush hours. Have you ever heared about the Mumbai local train in rush hour? Hearing about it is not even close to being in it. Here's a taste of how it could really be (http://youtube.com/watch?v=LNciAneqS58).
Then comes Bangalore. This is where my internship is gonna be for the rest of the year. It's a lot more greener than Mumbai. More pleasant to see. Smaller in area which makes it easy to cover, almost. Better traffic? NEVER :D It's even worse in Bangalore.
This is just a come back to my blog. Briefly introducing what's been goin on. All you need to know and more will come soon. I'm here for one year, many things will happen and repeated. Now the real action begins.
Tomorow is another day and another post ;)
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