My AIESEC Internship in India

Men holding hands

2010-02-21T14:44:00.005+02:00

I remember that in my first month in India something huge happened, both politically and socially! Homesexuality became legal! As in, before that moment, one could have been jailed for being proven to be gay. It was all over the newspapers, front page and everything :) I really felt I was witnessing an important event though I didn't hear people chit chatting about it. One morning, before going to work, while having my usual breakfast (aka coffee) with my flat mates there it was, the subject of the day.

For us it was kind of amusing. What if one of the trainees were gay? He/she would have been an outlaw before that day? Coming from such different cultural background it was a bit astonishing. Then I noticed something "cute" on the dusty streets of A'bad: men holding hands! I thought it was so brave of them, displaying affection and bringing forward the new legal rights that they obtained. It was also surprising to me that no one gave them weird looks, instead people around looked as if they were totally ignoring it. I thought at least some elders would look disapproving. My grandma would!

Then I noticed it once between two colleagues at work. We were going out to have a smoke break and they held hands while crossing the street. Hmmm! That was intriguing as I knew one of them was married! Unconsciously I tried to find the reasons behind that gesture. I looked carefully, they weren't just taking each others hand and running away from cars, they had a firm grip that they kept till we settled under the shadow of a tree.

I guess it took a couple of days more for me to get the point as I was asimilating the cultural shock wave: in India it is common for male friends to hold hands in public and it has no sexual connotation! Furthermore, when they do that, men take a kind of a pose as though this showcases their masculinity somehow. Being stared at - I was used to it (as a white foreigner - I hate this racist phrase too - in A'bad one gets that). But being stared at by some "mademoiselle" looking guys holding hands it is unique indeed! And the thing that doesn't help at all with clearing their image is that they either wear extremely tight jeans/trousers or a dress like kurta (shirt).

My Indian-Canadian fav comedian, Russel Peters, says it best:

I guess that's why they call them "cultural differences"! In some cultures men kiss on the cheeks when they meet. In some gangs even on the mouth at times! When I was 2nd and 3rd grade our teacher made us walk in a row, two by two, girls with girls, boys with boys, hand in hand. This cultural body language can make you go nuts trying to figure out the meaning of the signals you receive.

So, you girls reading this, besides the fun and jokes about it there's a moral conclusion: don't judge a guy on who's hand he is holding in India. Even if he's extremely cute, he most likely isn't gay!

PS: I took the pic above while strolling on the streets of Agra.

Bollywood icons today

2010-02-14T17:07:00.017+02:00

I was trying to make a list of subjects about India that I didn't approach yet in my blog and guess what: the list is pretty long! I am restricted though by the distance and the fact that I don't have my own material to present: pictures, movies, personal experiences and stories.

The topic I chose for now is Bollywood movies. While living in India or even as a traveller one can't avoid getting a bit of Bollywood culture. Sure, it's not that easy, you can't just buy a movie ticket and get the experience. Most movies are at least 90% in Hindi even though they splash some English words or small phrases here and there. But the light plot and the theatric performance makes it easy to follow the story. But get ready! Don't expect it to last less than 3 hours, out of which half the time you'll follow dances and songs :) And if the cinema is not your choice then you can always buy DVDs and you will be able to find some with English subtitles as well.

But the Bollywood frenzy doesn't stop with the movies. Before officially getting released every movie is advertised through songs and videos. It's unbelievable! If you hear a nice song you can be sure it's from a movie that most likely any Indian will know. And it doesn't stop there. The icons that Bollywood created are bigger there than any of the Hollywood stars in the eyes of the fans. Walking around in India you will be overwhelmed by the pretty women and men advertising tons of things, by the posters glued in the rickshaws and by the general day by day conversations around these stars. Tip: this is a good ice breaker if you want to socialize with the locals. Everyone is more than happy to share their favourite movies, actors, songs and to give recommendations on "must see's".

And if you want to share and exchange opinions then I made a list of some people you should know about. It's my personal list of "must see" Bollywood actors so don't shoot me for if I forgot someone important. Actually I'd appreciate if anyone takes the initiative to complete my list :)

The first 2 actors that come to my mind and I knew even before going to India are Raj Rapoor

and Shah Rukh Khan.

I'll continue with pictures of then and now of Amitabh Bachchan:

You also shouldn't miss Aamir Khan:

Salman Khan :

Young and promising Imran Khan:

Akshay Kumar :

And my favourite since I saw the movie Jodhaa Akbar is Hrithik Roshan:

Let's now forget the bautiful Indian actresses!

Kajol:

Priyanka Chopra:

Aishwarya Rai:

Katrina Kaif:

Kareena Kapoor:

Genelia D'Souza:

Deepika Padukone:

There you have it! These are the images that gave me a glimpse of the famous Bollywood stardom. I promise I'll come back with some movie names as well. And once again, feel free to complete my list!

I'm Back!

2010-02-04T14:44:00.006+02:00

Don't hate me for my 3 month vacation. Yes, it's been a while since I left India and since then I had trouble trying to find an ending to my blog. All it came to my mind was "it was an amazing experience", "you have to go and see", "incredible country", "life changing experience" bla bla bla.

And recently an interesting thought sparkled: if this is all it was then how did it change my world view and conceptions? How can I pretend I was more than just a visitor to this "amazing country" if it all ends when I get back home?! So I decided to continue my journey... from a considerable distance, though.

And as a comeback I decided to give you an insight about India through a great man's words. He is currently an Indian politician original from Kerala who has lived abroad for a big part of his life. What I like about his speech is that he shapes it around the key words that foreigners look for. His speech is patriotic but very realistic, he is an Indian deeply connected to his origin but he can easily give an objective opinion.

Shashi Tharoor about India

Restless

2009-11-05T13:44:00.003+02:00

Not young anymore... just restless.

Didn't see the movie but this song, the melody is so, so... "me" at this moment!

Pictures from Agra

2009-10-31T10:22:00.054+02:00

Taj Mahal pictures

Agra Fort pictures

Random in Agra

Ahmedabad Videos

2009-10-30T10:13:00.007+02:00

This is a movie taken while coming from the old city, crossing the bridge and heading home.

This is also taken in Ahmedabad from a rickshaw, passing children on their way to school, streets without sidewalks, shops of all kinds. The traffic was quite light as it was around noon.

Sunrise at Taj Mahal

2009-10-27T13:54:00.004+02:00

Diwali morning at Taj Mahal (around 6 am): just us and a couple of hundred tourists. I cut the sound again. Don't like how my camera tends to record my breathing or the voices around rather than the bird chirps.

That's it, you'll just have to deal with "Behka" from the movie Ghajini!

Indian Railways

2009-10-23T08:17:00.013+03:00

In my short and few trips in India I didn't get the chance to try out the Indian railways too much, especially the Sleeper Class. To begin with here there are many classes, from 1st to 3rd, AC or non-AC, seaters or sleepers. If you have to travel from one part to the other of the country you may end up spending few days on the train. So you have a wide range to choose from, according to the distance and budget.

Yeah, budget is important! So the decision should be taken according to the value for money offer. That's why I think Sleeper Class is the best. It's cheap, non-AC and you can lay for the whole journey. First of all I hate AC in small places. It would be set to a temperature of 16-17 Celsius degrees while outside there are 40! Then you end up coughing, sneezing all the time and you are damn freezing! Unless you permanently live in AC (at home, in the car, at work, in the restaurant etc.) this is extremely unhealthy. It took me one month to adjust at the beginning as I had AC only at work.

Coming back to the main subject, the Sleeper Class, I have to say that I was quite impressed how decent it was, pretty clean, not very comfortable but at least not aching and the basic fans will do enough of drought :)

Another nice thing is that at every station stop there would be people selling stuff. "Tanda pani! Tanda pani!" (cold water) is the most common that you'd hear. You can also buy snacks and for our journey from Agra to Abad there was a guy who collected orders for thali. When we stopped in Jaipur around 8 (time for dinner) someone brought the platters and we had a warm meal. Not that great (Rajhastani - not too many vegetables) but warm and way better than snacks :)

And to end up in a style that I've kept for the last few posts, I'm adding a video with the "Larkies" traveling back home :) For a change you can see other image than the Discovery channel's crowded trains where people bump into each other.

But it's not all sweet and nice, the train stations are quite filthy (someone had an unexpected encounter with some rats :P), quite jammed and people ARE bumping into each other trying to get in the train. But that wouldn't stop us from just laying on the platform.

Say Pink? Say Jaipur!

2009-10-22T15:57:00.005+03:00

Jaipur on Diwali is definitely something to see!

So here there are, 2 videos, one by day and the other by night. During the day the traffic was manageable but for the video during the night I had to cover the sound... I know that untrained ears might suffer a lot :) :) :) :) :)

By day

By night

Shocking stuff

2009-10-22T14:00:00.003+03:00

It's hard to explain one of my latest shocks. First of all cause for no one else was a shock, just for me and I think that not even most of my co-national friends would understand.

The shock began a couple of weeks ago when some friends found out about this party that was to be held in Abad, a rave party in western style. Cool, one would say... But I didn't have expectations. I will skip the part of getting to the party cause it wasn't actually in the city but in a farmhouse in Bopal, a suburb of Ahmedabad and we had to wait for about one hour some rickshaws to drive us there.

But once we got there we were very surprised. People wearing party outfits, girls in nice and quite short dresses, a swimming pool, laser show and special DJs! Hmmm, never expected it. But that was not my shock. My shock was about half an hour after we arrived when a DJ took over the mike, started encouraging the party people to dance and put on a very special song. That special song was "That's my name" and it is sung by Akcent, a trendy Romanian boy band.

Can't really describe what I felt. How was it possible? Suddenly there I was at this great party, listening Romanian music. Hmmm... I had to tape the moment and now that I played the video I'll have to ask you to excuse the squeaky voice that sings along "That's my name, that's my name, that's my naaame..."

It happened in Ahmedabad, I swear!

Navratri festival - garba nights

2009-09-30T16:28:00.006+03:00

Well, the Navratri festival ended at the beginning of this week. The celebration is dedicated to goddess Durga and her incarnations and it lasts 9 nights. There are 9 nights of crazy dancing till 3 in the morning and a huge holiday, especially in Gujarat, a region which is famous for the traditional (or lately more nontraditional) garbas.

The pics can't say too much so I've decided to share videos. Enjoy!

New Song Obsession

2009-09-23T09:32:00.001+03:00

Thanks for getting me a new song obsession, Freya! :)

Yeh doorian
This distance

In raho ki doorian
The distance between paths

Nigahon ki doorian
The distance between eyes

Humraho ki doorian
The distance between companions

Fanna ho sabhi doorian
All these distances should finish

Kyun koi paas hai,
Why someone is near,

door hai Kyun koi,
While someone is away?

jaane na koi yahan pe
Nobody knows this

Aa raha paas ya door mein Ja raha
Am I coming near or going far?

janoo na mein hu kahan pe
I don't know where I am going

Kabhi hua yeh bhi, khali rahon pe bhi
There was a time, Even on empty path

Tu tha mere saath ,
When you were with me

Kabhi tujhe milke, lauta mere dil yeh Khali khali haath
There was a time when after meeting you my heart
Returned empty handed

Yeh bhi huwa kabhi, jaise huwa abhi
This had happened
As if it has happened just now

Tujko sabhi mein paa liya
I found you in everything

Tera mujhe kar jathi hai doorian
The distances between us make's me your's

Satathi hai doorian
The distances torment me

Tarsathi hai doorian
The distances make me long

Fanna ho sabhi doorian
All these distances should finish.

Kaha bhi na main ne, nahin jeena main ne
I didn't tell you, That I won't live

Tu jo na mila
If I didn't get you

Tujhe bhule se bhi na bola na mein yeh bhi
Chahu fasala
I didn't even say this by mistake
That I want distance

Bas fasala rahe,
Now there is just distance

banke kasak jo kahe
Which say's in the form of pain

Ho aur chahat yeh jawan
That love should blossom

Teri meri mit jani hai doorian
Our distance will finish

Begani hai doorian
The distance is a stranger

Hat jani hai doorian
The distance will go

Fanna ho sabhi doorian
All these distances should finish

Indian Food

2009-09-21T16:11:00.028+03:00

Some non-vegetarian people can't imagine their life without meat. Most of the people I know are like that. I thought I was like that. But strange as it may seem, I discovered that I don't even think about that. I'm just enjoying what I get.

True, I'm in a state in India where traditions and customs are very important, therefore vegetarianism is well spread. I kind of followed that (maybe in my attempt of integrating) without analyzing things too much, without any religious or "eating healthier" flash of the moment. I guess I did that because I really got to love Indian food, the spices, the smells, the sensation. And I decided to share with you the dishes that I mostly enjoy having.

Dal and rice - the basic, day by day meal that anyone has in here. It's a kind of soupy dish made of pulses. There are many kinds of dal, some are creamier, some are more liquid, some are very spicy, some are kind of sweet... it depends on the type of pulses that is used. You eat it generally with plain or jeera(=cumin seeds) rice. It can also be mixed with curd(=yogurt), it's also good if you have it with onion sprinkled with lemon juice.

Chana Puri - the term refers to the 2 main things in this dish: chick peas (chana) and the special bread (puri). I will refer later to all kinds of Indian breads that I've tried or heard of.

Bhaji Pav - is really one of my favorites, maybe cause it's similar to home food. Bhaji is a gravy, a mix of vegetables: mashed potatoes, carrots, beans, peas, cauliflower, garlic. The pav is a bun puffy bread. It is delicious with onions and lemon.

Pulao - is a rice based dish. It requires a special kind of rice called Basmati.

Palak paneer - is cottage cheese with spinach. It is extremely delicious!

Panner mutter masala - is cottage cheese with a mix of spices.

Indian-Chinese: fried noodles, soupy noodles, veg fried rice

Snacks:
Pani puri - it's a good snack. Pani means water and puri is the "basket like" bread. The puri is stuffed with a mix of potatoes and other herbs and before eating you add one or two spoons of a special pani (water + spices - mint usually).

Samosas - it's a mix of potatoes and spices wrapped in doe and fried. I can't explain it better than that.

Garlic bread - I think the name says it all.

Kinds of bread: roti, chapati, naan, puri, paratha, bhatura. All this are cooked or fried on a pan, none are baked.

The non-veg food that I mostly enjoyed: chiken barbeque, mutton kebab, chili chicken, chicken fried rice, sizzlers.

And don't forget about mouth refreshments at the end!

I got very hungry now while selecting the pictures so I'm about to order my lunch.
Yummy!

Places in Ahmedabad

2009-09-19T10:15:00.036+03:00

It's hard to say which are the places I recommend in Ahmedabad. There are so many and in the same time so few... But I will try to make a very diverse list and I'll tell you my reasons for liking them. It's not a "top best places" so don't take it in that way :)

Zen cafe - a nice, youthful place near the College of Architecture. It's an open space cafe, where people can sit around randomly and it includes also a very nice art exhibition.

Next on the list is IIM, I've already had a post about it, I liked it very much. Indeed that's a place for talented people to stay!

Shreyas Folk Museum is another interesting place to visit. Unfortunately no cameras are aloud to capture the old, precious Indian artifacts :(

Karnavati Club is great for practicing sports, for having a swim and jacuzzi :) And I was very surprised that the food there is not that expensive and they prepare it right in front of you.

There's also Kankaria lake with the zoo.

And let's not forget about the Gandhi Ashram, one of the things that Ahmedabad is most proud of.

And if you ever get to Ahmedabad you should also go to Rajwadu or Vishala.

And since we're in the food area then don't miss Barbeque Nation. Of course, that if you're nonveg.

There are a lot of other places that I like, places in the old city, restaurants, parks. I'll come back with part 2 when I'll get the pics to suit the post :)

Jaisalmer

2009-08-24T17:18:00.026+03:00

My dear friends, I'm updating on my trips, as I promised. I spent the Independence Day in the Golden City, a city famous for its desert and yellow stones' commercial activity.

The nicest part was that our group was of 20 people and we still managed to stay together somehow though with some frustrations here and there from the people delaying the plans :)

Observation: I had non-veg food but I was soooo hungry that I forgot to take pictures, but I promise that soon I'll have a post only about food :)

Jaisalmer is very nice, the fort, lakes, cenotaphs and camel safari are definitely something not to miss, but I recommend you to go on at least 1 FULL day safari and NOT wear jeans (sorry for the Romanain but: Prietenii stiu de ce!).

Now enjoy the pics!

This was the hotel Golden Haveli:

These were taken from a royal cemetery, a place where kings were burnt. The stones showed how many wives they had.

This boy was collecting coins of all kind of currencies. Actually in that place there were about 3-4 boys doing the same thing. They didn't exactly beg for money, they were just collecting. Good hobby! And they are probably very successful. I gave them the first "lei", actually "bani" :)

The fort was nice too, seen by night especially!

This must be the most informed cow ever! She eats the newspaper every day!!!!!

These pics are from the desert. If you decide to go remember not to wear jeans!

We spent one night in a camp, got our dancing show again (as we had in Rajwadu) and slept under a clear sky! The morning brought us an amazing sunrise.

On the way back to Ahmedabad, I took some more photos from the Rajhasthani region.

I got more pics and videos from Ahmedabad, including a live performance of an American artist but I think this is enough for the time being... I'll provide more updates soon!

Desert Story

2009-08-21T23:01:00.010+03:00

Warning: this post does not contain nice pictures taken by me as a tourist and this time I'll do the talking.

Since I've been here I'm trying really hard not to judge the things around me. I thought I managed to do that pretty well till one week ago when a conversation shook my arrogance. It happened somewhere near the desert, in a camping place where I landed after 15 minutes of camel ride and 4 hours of laying in the desert sand.

I slept under the clear sky, enjoying the cold air and a warm blanket. But before going to a very sound sleep I engaged in an apparently plain conversation with one of the camel "drivers" who arranged his bed near our group so we could wake him up easily if we needed anything during the night.

It started in the most uninteresting way, with me answering the same old questions.
"Mihaela... with a. Miha-ela.
I'm from Romania, that is in Eastern Europe.
No, we don't speak Russian, we have our own language, Romanian, which is a Latin based language... like Spanish, Italian, French.
No, I'm not here with my husband.
No, I'm not married.
I have only one sister.
I'm in India since May.
No, I haven't visited too much of India. I'm working here, I'm not a tourist.
At a company in Ahmedabad.
Yes, I like it here.
Food? Yeah, I like Indian food. It's spicy but I got used to it.
etc."

Usually, after half an hour of detailing my whole life to a complete stranger I find it hard to change the role and ask the same, especially if the other person's English will make me repeat each question 3 times. But I know that here this is a kind of social unwritten rule of introducing yourself. And since Joseph's (the peculiar name of the guy) English was quite good and I wasn't quite sleepy I continued the dialogue hoping to get nothing but a boring noise meant to make me fall asleep faster. I'll do my best to keep his way of expressing himself.

He told me his name and that he comes from a village near Jaisalmer. He's been in the business of camel safari for over 16 years and that this is all he's done his whole life. That was the first thing that caught my attention. I couldn't see his face in the moonlight but I had seen him during the day. By his gray hair I could swear he was at least forty! In the desert there were 10 year old kids driving the camels. He must have started when he was quite young too, that would make him maximum 30. I didn't say anything. But he understood my silence. He then explained that life in the desert, under the sun, with the sand permanently covering your face, can leave powerful marks. After that it wasn't necessary for me to ask many questions, his story went on by itself.

He wanted to do this job for 3-4 more years and then settle down, make a house, get married, have children. His life isn't easy. He sees his family few times per year for maximum one day each time. He says he is a well respected man in the business, in time people have recommended him and now his main business is taking tourists on camel safari for 3-10 days. He barely has few hours when he comes back from a safari that he has to go again.

He learned Hindi at the beginning, but when he saw that the big bucks were made with the foreigners he started learning English. But the first thing he learned was how to cook. Because when he goes for so many days in the desert the tourist totally depends on him. He makes chapati (the Indian bread), he cooks dal and rice and any other kind of dishes. He's been told that he cooks better than many women and the foreigners love his meals because he knows not to use too many spices. Yeah, he knows that in the desert the worst thing is to get a bad stomach! He also gets the good water for them, not that one that you fill from the tap.

His camels are always well treated, he doesn't abuse them how these crazy kids do nowadays. Noooo, he feeds his camels every night, he doesn't beat them, nor rush them to run too fast. A well taken care of camel will bring a profit even after 6 months. All these things made him popular. All the hotel managers know him and send tourists every week. And all the tourists spread good words about him. He already has 3 big, full notebooks with memories and pictures and nice messages from them, sometimes he even gets letters. This is his biggest surprise when he goes home. His family doesn't know English and they don't understand. But he has his loyal "customers" that come back each year and they send friends. There's a French woman, Giselle and a German guy. They come every year. Sometimes they bring friends, but he doesn't take larger groups than 10 cause then he has to share the job with others. And the others are just looking to get more money. He doesn't want money but he likes small gifts, he has a full box of those and he remembers each one of them, who gave that to him and when.

It's funny how the desert makes people act. They come here to be alone, to meditate, to connect with nature but they end up with romantic memories. He sees it happening every now and then. A woman and a man meet in the desert, they spend the night together, they make nice memory and in the morning "Nice to meet you, goodbye!". Some have rings on their finger, sometimes they both do. But that's alright, one has to seize the moment, to enjoy life! In the end we all die, if you can have a nice memory in the desert, why not do it?

He also had a girlfriend, they used to meet only at night. They would meet only once a month and he knew that she probably met others but he didn't care. She got married when he was away. They kept seeing each other, but quite rarely. Then she had babies with her husband (they weren't his cause he knew how to avoid pregnancy) and she didn't want to meet anymore.

Occasionally he goes with women. Some ask for money, some ask him to buy them trinkets and there are also some who just want him to come back soon. He is afraid of the last category, they want marriage and he can't do that now, he still has to collect more money and then have a good life. He has a big family and him of all children is the only who can provide good money. His sisters got married far away, his 2 other brothers are too dumb to do more. His father died 2 years ago and his mother is not well either. And all these new kids with their camels know nothing about business! They are happy that they get more money today but if their camel gets sick tomorrow then what will they do?

He longs for the moment when he will get married. He will be a good husband. He doesn't drink, he doesn't smoke, he doesn't spend money. He hopes that his mother will be around to find him a good wife.

A dog started barking agressivelly around our camp. He went away to chase it and I guess that by the time he came back I already had fallen asleep. It must have been the cold air or the good inspiration I got for my dreams that made me fall asleep so fast. He woke up very early to get us breakfast, toast and jam with chai. I went back to the city with a trainee that wasn't feeling alright immediately after that. And right when the jeep was about to leave Joseph suddenly appeared near the car to shake my hand and make me promise I'll come back before I leave India.

Maybe I will...

Song Obsession

2009-08-21T16:43:00.004+03:00

This was my obsession today! I think I must have heard it for over 500 times.

Can't really explain how but it's somehow soothing... :)

Superstar

2009-08-11T16:39:00.008+03:00

I would like to present you a future star. I will not disclose her real name because she is very small, I care for her privacy and I believe she will become a Bollywood star and will choose her own name.

She's only 1 and a half years old and she doesn't speak yet. But she is skillful enough to compensate. For the 2-3 hours that I was in her presence she wouldn't stop dancing and moving and posing. I have never seen such an energetic child moving in this way, getting and enjoying people's attention. At least not such a tiny child!

Unfortunately I haven't been wise enough to get a video with her. But you'll have to do with the few following pictures :)

PS: Yes, I know, my mother instincts are kicking in. So what?! A prodigy child is a wonder and that is what I feel like sharing right now!

PS in Romanian: Draga mama si tata, stiu ca nu intelegeti ce cauta niste poze cu un copil indian pe blogul meu dar sunt plecata doar de 2 luni, nu are cum sa fie copilul meu! :)

IIM rules!

2009-08-01T14:14:00.024+03:00

I've recently visited a bit of the famous IIM (Indian Institute of Management) in Ahmedabad, the top business school in India and even Asia, as some have told me. It's hard to get in and it's even harder to stay in, especially in the first year. Young people all over India come to study in this prestigious place. So, I was happy when I got the chance to take a peak inside :)

As always, I'll allow the pics to do all the talking.

I have never imagined that such a quiet campus can exist. I also had the opportunity to see an exhibition while being there. All the paintings and clothes from that exhibition were handmade, using only natural colours.

Videos from Rajwadu

2009-07-30T16:22:00.015+03:00

Dim/turn off the lights in your room, close the curtains cause these videos were shot at night time with my very "professional" camera in an obscure, smoggy tent :) Enjoy!

Did I forget to tell you in the previous post that the audience was proactive enough to try the Indian moves? Go girls! Show'em!

Ahmedabad traffic short video

2009-07-29T17:02:00.004+03:00

Rajwadu

2009-07-25T10:48:00.030+03:00

Rajwadu is a great place to go "once every 6 months". It's has a special ambiance indeed. You are welcomed in with flowers in a place surrounded by plants and incents .

Before the actual meal the guests are viewing an interesting show. Dancers dressed in Rajhastani outfits catch your eyes with their curvy moves, while doing all kinds of stunts with fire, pieces of glass, nails.

Later on a man with his horse scares the women in the audience.

But the real show starts when the tamed monkey comes in the arena!

And finally, after about 1 hour we get to go to dinner, passing over small wooden bridges over an artificial lake.

Finally! We can have the whole Indian style dinner, standing around a stone table without chairs, eating from copper plates, with our hands, enjoying an incredible diversity in food!

And, of course, the 2 Romanian girls take their time to take a last photo :)

My work

2009-07-18T08:20:00.019+03:00

I'm very happy with my work and my company. I'm starting to feel more and more attached to my colleagues, to my desk, to the habits that I'm having here. And besides that I like that I have no boring, "same old" routine days :) It's been a month and a half since I'm here. I wonder if it's still early to consider myself one of the team members.

Bye-bye Party

2009-07-16T07:53:00.016+03:00

This post is about another great party, a bye-bye party for a "non-trainee", our dear friend who's been here for almost 1 year, Mr. Sebastian Britz. Again we had a lot of fun and we were very international. Just watch the pics and you'll see :)
Bye-bye Sebastian! Join AIESEC when you get home!

Udaipur Trip

2009-07-11T08:12:00.029+03:00

You're probably wondering what I've been up to in the last period. Well, last weekend I've been to Udaipur (only for one day, I spent exactly 7 hours there), a great city in Rajastan (that's another state in India). Udaipur is very touristic and "commercial", it's full of foreigners and very welcoming locals. Actually they are so welcoming that they would drag you into their stores. It's funny walking on the streets and every shop owner tells you "Hello m'am! Come into my store! Nice bangles/shoes/dresses! Where are you from?":)

It's very different from Ahmedabad, people there are more used to "fair skin" people and they are not that much curios as they are interested to rip you off (that's when you have to use your bargaining skills), there are more nonveg restaurants and alcohol is allowed.

Also there are lots of places to see, lots of palaces and museums and very nice hotels. Definitely a place I'd recommend seeing in India and since I haven't had to much time I'll go back there till I leave. Enjoy the pics!

It's My Party!

2009-07-02T16:55:00.014+03:00

So I didn't get melancholic on my bday party and on this post you'll see exactly why :) Maybe I got a bit while reading and listening to this music card which my great friends here gave me.
This is the sweetest pic I ever took: me, Laura and Ugne :)

And after the first beer people started to cheer...
... and laugh...
... and make large hand gestures...
... and litter the corners of our roof ...
... and step in a nice pic and ruin it.
Not Tejas though! I swear he only had water that night! I do, I do!
But too much water makes you think the sky is such an enigma!
See the difference? Up is Tejas - only water and way on the ground is Zack - only beer :)

Yeah, it was a nice party!

Happy Bday to Me!

2009-06-25T17:08:00.006+03:00

Ahmedabad's Old City

2009-06-23T10:25:00.020+03:00

We got a rickshaw, covered our heads (this is merely a practical thing to do, to protect your hair, face, nostrils and mouth from the hot wind and the dust) and started the ride.
The Old City of Ahmedabad has a main street that strikes you by its noisiness and buzz, flashy shops and stands all over the place, bikes and rickshaws, all kinds of smells and flavours.

But from that main street there are all these narrow alleys that part and twist and turn. Some get you to dead ends, some to unbelievable quiet and peaceful neighbourhoods.

Elephant and Camel Ride

2009-06-23T10:01:00.011+03:00

Last Sunday we went to Narayani, a special club located near the airport of Ahmedabad. Among all kind of activities and spaces that were offered (plays, restaurant, playground for children etc.) it also gave us the possibility to go on a camel and elephant ride. It was night time so the pictures aren't that great.

Indian Songs

2009-06-19T09:43:00.000+03:00

If you liked the Indian music from "Slumdog Millionaire" then for sure you will also like this:

Masakalli

Genda Phool

Kabhi Kabhi Aditi Zindagi

Random pics in Ahmedabad

2009-06-18T14:14:00.000+03:00

There's a point for me starting with this pic. Please observe that the car has just passed by the cow, without stopping or giving any passing priority to the sainted animal :P

I took this in a restaurant called Honest, cool, with AC and great food.
Take a good look on what these guys are eating! It's called Sizzler. Here is mostly veg, but imagine that cabbage filled with sausages and meatloafs....
This is a night view from my room.
This is taken from the AIESEC office which is across the trainees' flat. Our flat is on the corner, right behind that red store which is Vodafone.

Life as a trainee in Ahmedabad

2009-06-18T12:53:00.001+03:00

infoAnalytica

2009-06-18T10:21:00.000+03:00

These are my new colleagues and company :)

Beginning

2009-04-11T21:33:00.000+03:00

I like beginnings. They give me thrills and a sensation of freshness. Although I'm not an optimist at all, the feeling that I get when I'm about to start something brings me a glimpse of joy. Probably because it seems more like a new chance, maybe a chance to do better or maybe to repair what I did wrong.
It's curious to watch people as they are on the point to begin with something, anything. A friend of mine starts something new every couple of years. And when he does that he practically shuts down everything in the past, everything except himself. I've been searching closer in his reasons to do that and there's one thing that I still can't define: is he actually advancing or has he been doing the same thing five times in a row, over and over again, never learning, never actually getting something new?
But there are also my parents, on the opposite corner, struggling to keep things as they are, trying to beat time and change. Most of the time new things mean changes, but this is true only if we make it happen. I can get a new job and not change my life at all if my perspective about the new thing in my life doesn't widen up.
Enough philosophy for now! I'm beginning something today and it depends only on me if it will make a change.