Auto Rickshaw

Hey everyone!
I'm having a lot of fun in India :)
It's currently half-past midnight here, while it's 3pm Eastern time. It's random that we're 9.5 hours into the future - I've only ever been full hours ahead or behind.


We're currently just sitting in the trainee flat - Analucia, Emily, Mathieu and Oleg - and things are winding down.
We woke up at 10, which is early enough to take full advantage of the day, but too late to go to the gym (it closes at 9 for a few hours). We messed around and chatted to Joy, who had a vacation day today. We decided to go to the store to buy a few things (we are out of toilet paper!!), including snacks and food for lunch tomorrow. We also wanted to set up new phone numbers so we don't pass ridiculous roaming fees.
However, buying a new SIM card is not as easy as in Kuwait. We had to bring passport sized pictures and a copy of our electicity bill, which is to prove you live somewhere, and for ID I think. As we didn't have either, Emily was going to get a number, which we'll put in Analucia's blackberry and share. It took a while... and we put र100(rupees) into her phone... and then the number didn't work. So we'll try again tomorrow.


The weather hasn't been as hot as yesterday, which leads me to believe we're getting acclimatized! And so quickly :)


We went to the movies today. It was about र130, and there were awesome reclining seats! It's assigned seating here, just like in Kuwait, but unlike Canada/US. I like this way better, because you can stroll in just a few minutes before the movie starts without worrying that you won't get a good seat. One thing that stuck out as amazing was the complete silence before the movie started! And the almost silence during the movie. It was so quiet that everyone felt it, and we heard someone yell LOVE! It was neat. There was a 10 minute intermission in the middle of the movie, which was just the perfect amount of time to hit the wash-room, and for Prakash to hit up some popcorn before we went inside.


We also went to the store, where things looked a lot like Kuwait stores. We bought enough food for two people for a couple of days, including cereal, soy milk, yogurt, a green coconut, pasta and sauce. We spent $17 in total. We also bought a little chocolate cake for Emily, who turned 20 today. It was hilarious, because she is not used to the non-Chinese way of celebrating birthdays - with cake, and singing, and people throwing cake in your face. I felt so bad when our flat-mate spread it all across her face and she didn't understand. But she soon recovered and threw cake at all of us!


We also had a great lunch today, at a fancier international restaurant. I was so happy to see that they had pages of veg options, including at least 8 veggie steak options! As I like coriander, I picked something with rice in spinach and coriander sauce. The portions were huge, so we shared, and even at this most expensive restaurant, my meal was under $10! I also got a (virgin) piña colada, to keep in the Kuwaiti tradition I started last week - try every  piña colada restaurants serve to find the perfect one. So far Hard Rock in Kuwait is rocking the list!


Here is a picture of an auto rickshaw. This is the way we travel around here. While it isn't nearly as fast as a car, and only fits 3 people comfortably (we usually travel in 4 - one sits on our laps) it is preferable to walking in the heat. And they're very cheap compared to taxis in Canada/US.

First picture in a google search for 'auto rickshaw'. They are all exactly this colour.