City Market

Today we went to "City Market" with our friend Aneeta. Janet wanted to find some interesting beads with which to make a necklace and earings and we were told three things about City Market. One is that we should be able to find almost anything there because it is huge and diverse with lots of vendors and lots of people. Two is that it would be hard to actually find what we are looking for and three is that it is very crowded and dirty there. All 3 seem to be true. The night was relatively cool as was the morning. There have been more frequent rains- in the later afternoon and early evening mostly and it has been a little cooler.
We got a late start at about 12:30 and picked up Aneeta and road over to the City Market. Actually, we didn't go into the true "City Market" which appears to be a huge building. It is supposed to be mainly fruits, vegetables and flowers and we were looking for other things today, so we went to the huge warren of narrow streets and alleys around the market. We began walking and said we'd meet up with Joseph, or driver on the other end- around 3/4 of a mile away.
We took a few pictures along the way. The streets were full of people and motorbikes and 3 wheel vehicles hauling all sorts of things! They were nearly impassable in places where motorbikes parked a little carelessly or two sets of vehicles were trying to pass at the same time when there was really only room for one. However, people always seem to work these problems out and everyone eventually gets where they are aiming to go.
We stopped at one "tinker's" shop - at least I think that is what he is- he made and sold items made from galvanized sheet metal. Things like funnels, watering cans, buckets and some pointy things that we learned were essentially huge sewing needles used for sewing up huge bags of things that get hauled elsewhere. We saw lots of these bags being carried on peoples heads or on motor bikes or on the 3 wheeled vehicles, so we understood right away what they were once described. The Tinker did not want his picture taken, so we won't post one here.
Janet wanted a watering can, but we decided against carrying a heavy metal can all over the place.
We found a shop that sells plasting bags and tape and rubber bands, so we loaded up on rubber bands, ziploc style bags and kitchen trash can liners. Further along we spotted a plastic watering can- Janet is very happy! (At least until we find out it has a leak, which is quite possible, but we have some glue and tape!)
There are a number of older buildings in this area, but most seem to have been converted into tiny little shops of highly specialized nature. This was much the story in the US perhaps 70 years ago. The streets were very crowded- did we say that yet?
As we walked Jim could not help noticing the way the electrical wiring was done. Here are a couple pictures that illustrate the situation. One shows a sort of pole that has wires dangling, hanging every which way and strung in all different directions. It does not appear to have been done by professionals, well maybe by professional painters. It seems unlikely that any one will be able to sort out a problem when it occurs. It seems more likely that a new wire will be strung. Another example shows a string of wires on a pole or wall that looks like professional rats nest makers did the job. It is difficult to believe that fires don't start periodically in spots like this- and that a few people get electrocuted near them too. Remember that India uses 220 volts as standard, which is quite a bit more likely to kill than 110 Volts. Although, maybe the power is off often enough in this area that this isn't much concern.
Janet eventually found some beads she likes and there was a handmade paper shop close by too so we got some very pretty handmade paper as reasonable prices.
The walk to reach our car was long especially with the streets being very crowded. Did we mentione that the streets are very crowded? We were rather tired when Joseph picked us up and we went to a nice hotel for late lunch which also served as dinner. After that we stopped at a government run place abbreviated CKP that has art shows of various kinds. This time is was paintings and sculptures. Most works are for sale and it seems a good way to get exposure to artists. We then went home. Ziggy and Zoe are shown in closeup pictures here.

Markets, Meals and Rains

Where have those people gone? They made us eat these pills in the morning and then they just left us here alone without giving any special treats! It seems a little too quiet when they leave. However, the little human like creatures came up outside our big windows today, and boy did they have fun! They poured a bottle of water on the floor out there after drinking and then they ate pieces of a bunch of the green things! Boy, that was fun to watch! Other than that it was pretty boring- like what these people write! (they want to write now.)
On Saturday May 16 we were taken by our friend Sunil to Gandhi Market. We left about 11AM- a little later than we had hoped because it was getting warm outside. We first looked for a musical instrument shop, but found they had moved. We then visited several vegetable and flower stands along the street. These are much like you see in the books- a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Because Sunil was with us, the prices were very reasonable. The prices would be reasonable even if he were not there, but they would be higher since we are not good negotiators by Indian standards. We then visited a bake shop and bought a number of items that we don't really recognize. We then visited a sweets shop and tried several kinds of things that were generally very tasty. We bought several types- including one that is a bit like chocolate fudge. The Indian sweets are clearly different from those back home. They have lots of sugar, just like at home, but then there are other things that give them a different flavor too. They taste a lot like cookie dough of various kinds of cookies. Of course we find lots of chocolate bars from Cadbury in the stores too, so these are popular too, but they are a little expensive. While in the sweets shop a cow and her calf walked up to the front door and nearly came inside until the shop keepers chased them away. A begger also came to the entrance and tried to convince us to give money. They do spend more effort to get money from westerners. He eventually left, but then later followed us to the house of a friend of Sunil where we dropped in. This fellow collects modern art by Indian artists. He was very friendly and invited us into his house where we visited for a little while and then went off. We stopped at a jewelry shop where Janet was having a something modified. Jim and Joseph waited outside and the picture showing 4 cows was taken right next to our car. We saw a lot of cows this day. They do roam pretty much all over the city, though we rarely see any near the center of the city. They have owners who keep them for milk, but then they roam freely to graze. Unfortunately, they often graze on trash and there is a big problem of cows dieing from eating too many plastic bags that come wit the trash the cows eat. Be fore we left the US last year we heard a story about this on the radio. The problem was understood, but through some of the usually odd workings of government, a law was pass that requires plastic bags to be made of thicker plastic. How this helps save cows is somewhat mysterious. One day a couple weeks back Janet went to give a cow some vegetables from a bag she had just bought and gave some to one cow, but another cow came up to her from another side and took the bag with its contents and swallowed the whole thing before she knew what happened!
We went on to do some grocery shopping. We spent a little too long at the big grocery store and were rather tired afterword.
When we returned home Janet noticed that the plastic bottle she uses for watering plants was tipped over on the balcony and several of the plants looked beat up and chewed. We figured the monkeys were at it again, and sure enough, we saw them down on some fences near the ground. They come around about once a week. They are cute, but destructive and they can be dangerous for people and pets.
We rested after returning and then Janet went out with some friends in our car while Jim stayed home trying to relax. The results of the Indian elections were tabulated Saturday and announced. Our driver was nervous for us. He said that some people get violent when the results don't go as they wish and might attack foreigners, but all was quiet. Apparently, a lot of money was spent on the election. Some say that a lot was to buy votes and if the people didn't vote as they were supposed to, then violence might result. However, as noted, it seems peaceful.
On Sunday we went with friends to breakfast at a sort of country club nearby. The Bangalore Club was started around 1868 by the british but has become the place where the old Bangalore families go to relax and meet up with other friends. They have very nice grounds in the center of the city, but the road noice is still all around. The breakfast was good. These friends have a very nice old bungalow in the city that they want to rent out. Some day the property will, undoubtedly, become an office building of apartment building, but for now its a nice house on a relatively quiet street. Some other friends came over a little later and we went to a restaurant for lunch that was quite good. While eating a cloudburst came down - pouring quite a lot of water in a short time. We walked home after it let up, but we got pretty well soaked on the last couple blocks home. Once inside we rested, but it thundered, lightninged and rained quite a bit more later. Zoe really likes to sit outside on one balcony in the evening. There are some little lizards that climb on the walls out there and she loves to watch them and fantasize about catching them.
(What do they mean about fantasize? Ymmm!!!)

Mad Dogs and Americans

There is a quote from someone about "only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the mid day sun!" Here it applies to us, but a lot of other people too, really. Last weekend started with a holiday on Friday May 1. Our agreement with our driver is that he gets holidays off, unless we want him to work, in which case we pay him extra. He also has Sundays off unless we want him to work. He would normally want to work for the extra money, but we normally don't have him work on Sunday. Friday the 1st was a day off for him. Jim decided to walk to some book shops while Janet had some place to go with a friend. It was quite hot and unpleasant. Temperatures have been in the low to mid 90'sF lately, which is considered "relatively cool" compared to most of India. Bangalore is at about 3000 ft elevation, which helps. The coastal areas are hot and humid now. The inland areas in the north- like Delhi have temps in the 100's now. Jim went to the book shops and found what he was looking for, but its was still hot and very tiring. There were a lot of other people out- not just the Americans.
On Saturday the 2nd we did some errands in our A/C'd car and then went to dinner at a good Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese restaurant where we met up with an Indian couple we have come to know. The dinner was good, but due to possible rain we had our driver work late in order to drive us home. It has been raining periodically the past two weeks while it practically never rained in Dec., Jan., Feb. or Mar. We are told that Bangalore does not normally have rains that continue for hours and hours like many areas do during monsoon season (starting in June), but it probably will rain every evening around 5 -7 PM.
We mostly relaxed on Sunday the 3rd- our anniversary. Janet has had a sore throat off and on over the past week or so and did not feel that well last weekend. Plus it was hot outside. Our apartment has A/C and the electricity has generally been reliable (except during rain storms), so we have been very comfortable inside, though the electric bill this past month is 2x the previous months! Jim walked to a nearby hotel to get pizza for dinner for us. The better hotels have good restaurants. Most are rather expensive, but some are more reasonably priced.
The past work week was very hectic for Jim with Telecons with the US every night, so this weekend is meant to be a time to relax some.
Joseph, our driver, was sick the latter part of the week, but he seemed well enough and he came each day to take Jim to work and Janet on some errands and to a pool. But Thursday he seemed worse so we told him to go to a doctor. On Friday he still seemed sick- he said the doctor was away, but he would go during the day. Later on Friday he said he went and got some medications, but was not yet feeling better, so we told him to see the doctor again if he did not feel better in the morning. We also told him to take the day to rest- along with Sunday unless he felt much better. So, we did not have a driver today.
We decided to walk to a market about 20 minutes away, but we were able to touch base with Linn, one of the neighbors, who also wanted to go to the market, so she said she would give use a ride home. We walked to a hotel to have lunch and then to some shops before meeting Linn and then we went to 3 food shops. We have found several good grocery stores around Bangalore, but it is still very difficult to find everything you want in just one of them. We end up stopping at different places a few times a week to get all we are looking for. In addition, Joseph sometimes goes to a large market called "Russell Market" to get fish for us. He has a pretty good eye for fish. With the 3 stops we managed to get all we need for several days.
The walk over to the market and other shops was rather tiring- the sun is intense in a way that is unfamiliar. Perhaps it is the heat, humidity and the pollutants that make it seem more tiring.
The A/C in one bedroom leaked water all over a cabinet and the floor with generally only slight damage, but it took a week to arrange to have it fixed. Our landlord was away, but he received our SMS (text message which costs about 1 cent to send) and he called the repair people. However they did not call us until Tuesday to schedule a time (they rarely show up on time- usually much later, but sometimes not at all or earlier than planned). However, Janet later remembered another appointment at that time so we called to change the time. It seemed set, but we later found out that the repair guy needed to have the landlord call in again! Apparently, since we had to change the time that had already been scheduled, that required an whole new request for someone to come- this triggers some sort of system to issue a number. We told the landlord two possible times when we expected someone to be home. We did not hear when someone would come, but on Friday someone wanted to come when no one was home! We have cleaning women who is here most days, but she took the week off to go to her home village. She was to return Friday, but she only told us Thursday night that she wanted to stay away until Monday. So this made matters more complicated. Joseph spoke to the repair guy and he came later on Friday without need for another service request. He seems to have fixed the water problem, though the fan in the unit now makes a little noise that it did not previously! This experience is pretty typical. There is some bureaucratic silliness, the guy eventually shows up and does most of the work, but not all or else he does not clean up afterword. The latter seems common- we presume that division of labor has something to do with it- they assume someone else will clean up- usually the maid, but sometimes the messes can be big. When the Landlord had A/C installed in the living room we did some of the clean up. The guys were going to leave the boxes and packing materials just sitting on our balcony until we insisted that they take them into the hallway. They said that they thought the building electrician would take them away the next day. He may have done that, but we were not so sure. Tonight we are tired from the walk in the hot sun.
On the subject of the mobile phones- the service is pretty good in and around Bangalore and when we were up north- now 2 months ago- it costs about $11 a month for the 2 phones.
Ziggy and Zoe seem fine, and like to go outside on the balconey and watch the birds and try to ctach the little lizards that live off bugs on the walls out there.