Now that I'm here, I can't understand why I was ever anxious about this trip. Yes, they do things differently here but I can adapt very easily and have really enjoyed every minute here.
Monday night was hard for me though. Around 1:30 am IST, my Blackberry stopped receiving/sending email, texts and Blackberry Messages. That brought me significant angst because someone very close to me at home is going to an extremely difficult time, and although there isn't much, if anything, I can do here, I want to be available, accessible, useful if the opportunity presents itself. I slept less than 3 hours and kept sending test emails wishing the network would go back on line. Although I'm a rational person, I have a hard time accepting that there are forces greater than me - specifically Blackberry networks and international wireless networks. You would think since Telecom is my business, that I would bow down to the gods that run the show. I'm too stubborn for that! :)
Mike and I kept to our schedule of working out in the morning. We found the treadmills and began to run. Although I now live in Florida, I always forget how challenging it is to run in 100% humidity. About 3/4 of a mile into my run, I was dripping with sweat and gasping for air. Again, because I'm stubborn, I kept going until a little after 2 miles when the treadmill gave up on me (thankfully).
Today was set aside to begin meeting the Telecom team in India. Wow - I was blown away by these associates. Not only are the intelligent, they are incredibly dedicated and so very kind human beings. I only met a few associates, from 3 processes within the 7 products (and many more processes) within Telecom, but I left the office with a huge grin on my face. In particular, I met the four beautiful Indian woman that work on one of our products called On Device Metering. This product is very similar to the traditional Nielsen TV ratings but is geared towards tracking, measuring and reporting how consumers use their cell phones. These woman were so warm and generous with their time. They walked me through a few examples and discussed the large quantities of work they perform each day - all with large smiles on their faces. I left the office so content. Although many people don't like that US based companies employ people outside of the US, I believe differently in that we are a global community and providing jobs to anyone is a good thing. After meeting the associates on my team in India, I feel like a better inhabitant of the planet Earth.
I have slept very little since arriving in India. I hit a wall at about 6 pm IST and had to take a nap. For one hour, I slept soundly and recharged my body for the remainder of the day. The usual suspects (Mike, Schick, Kevin) and I took motorized rickshaws to a Chinese restaurant called Mainland China.
Again, we had an amazing meal (cheap) with terrific conversation. We then made our way to Taj MaSchick to partake of bootleg beer on the roof of his apartment building where we ran into other ex-pats, Colin and Emily, from the US.
On the roof, we were removed from the hustle and bustle of the Baroda streets. We were also targets of the very, very large bats that fly high above Baroda. These bats have bodies 18-24 inches in length and wingspans of 3-4 feet. I will be completely honest when I say they are scary, creepy creatures and I wouldn't want to get too close to one - EVER.
After great conversation about philosophy, the future and other heavy topics, Mike and I returned to our hotel to retire for the night. Here's to a solid night's sleep and a new adventure tomorrow! :)
Namaste
Monday night was hard for me though. Around 1:30 am IST, my Blackberry stopped receiving/sending email, texts and Blackberry Messages. That brought me significant angst because someone very close to me at home is going to an extremely difficult time, and although there isn't much, if anything, I can do here, I want to be available, accessible, useful if the opportunity presents itself. I slept less than 3 hours and kept sending test emails wishing the network would go back on line. Although I'm a rational person, I have a hard time accepting that there are forces greater than me - specifically Blackberry networks and international wireless networks. You would think since Telecom is my business, that I would bow down to the gods that run the show. I'm too stubborn for that! :)
Mike and I kept to our schedule of working out in the morning. We found the treadmills and began to run. Although I now live in Florida, I always forget how challenging it is to run in 100% humidity. About 3/4 of a mile into my run, I was dripping with sweat and gasping for air. Again, because I'm stubborn, I kept going until a little after 2 miles when the treadmill gave up on me (thankfully).
Today was set aside to begin meeting the Telecom team in India. Wow - I was blown away by these associates. Not only are the intelligent, they are incredibly dedicated and so very kind human beings. I only met a few associates, from 3 processes within the 7 products (and many more processes) within Telecom, but I left the office with a huge grin on my face. In particular, I met the four beautiful Indian woman that work on one of our products called On Device Metering. This product is very similar to the traditional Nielsen TV ratings but is geared towards tracking, measuring and reporting how consumers use their cell phones. These woman were so warm and generous with their time. They walked me through a few examples and discussed the large quantities of work they perform each day - all with large smiles on their faces. I left the office so content. Although many people don't like that US based companies employ people outside of the US, I believe differently in that we are a global community and providing jobs to anyone is a good thing. After meeting the associates on my team in India, I feel like a better inhabitant of the planet Earth.
I have slept very little since arriving in India. I hit a wall at about 6 pm IST and had to take a nap. For one hour, I slept soundly and recharged my body for the remainder of the day. The usual suspects (Mike, Schick, Kevin) and I took motorized rickshaws to a Chinese restaurant called Mainland China.
Again, we had an amazing meal (cheap) with terrific conversation. We then made our way to Taj MaSchick to partake of bootleg beer on the roof of his apartment building where we ran into other ex-pats, Colin and Emily, from the US.
On the roof, we were removed from the hustle and bustle of the Baroda streets. We were also targets of the very, very large bats that fly high above Baroda. These bats have bodies 18-24 inches in length and wingspans of 3-4 feet. I will be completely honest when I say they are scary, creepy creatures and I wouldn't want to get too close to one - EVER.
After great conversation about philosophy, the future and other heavy topics, Mike and I returned to our hotel to retire for the night. Here's to a solid night's sleep and a new adventure tomorrow! :)
Namaste
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