Being the procrastinator that I am, with one week left to go in Bangalore, I have a TON of work to do for the final report and two presentations to prepare. Thus this post will be rather short.
Now that I’ve been the fly on the wall in this guesthouse for over two months, I thought I’d report on what it’s like to live in Dollars Colony.
 |
| Project House balcony |
 |
| My room! |
Thinking back to my fight night in the guesthouse at the end of April, though I was drowsy and severely disoriented, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Anticipating something of similar standard to Kenya – living out of a suitcase in a concrete room with a padlock metal door and sleeping in a bug-netted cot on a mattress colonized by an aggressive army of red ants after not being able to shower for 10 straight days – I was truly shocked at where I would be living for the next few months. Much to my surprise, I was greeted by a security guard at the front of the building and then proceeded to take the elevator (?!) up to 301 and entering with a reassuring breeze of A/C in my new home. I was given a brief tour of the kitchen, laundry area, 4 bathrooms, 2 balconies… and then after taking a HOT shower, I lay in my queen bed in utter disbelief.
 |
| Monica and I |
Since that welcoming initiation to Bangalore, the KHPT project house still continues to amaze me. Though I do appreciate the bare-essentials lifestyle experienced in Kenya, having a comfortable place to come home to after a fully day of being haggled makes all the difference in the world. I now look forward to Monica’s spicy food and have grown accustomed to Dinesh planted on the couch watching a 4-day long cricket game on television. The early-morning squawks from birds that sound like humans in pain, and the unbelievably, indescribably unnatural noises unleashed by men with pushcarts no longer bother me at 6am. And I can now somewhat confidently use a sparker to light the gas stove with only fleeting premonitions of setting the building ablaze. The cockroach incident of June 2011 has been the most of my worries and I found even that to be more hilarious than upsetting. I can’t really say there is much to complain about here. On top of everything, I get to live here for FREE.
In the first post, I mentioned that there would be updates on the expected future roommates. At that point, I had no idea how many would actually come and go from this place. Since I moved in, I would guess that there have been about 30 people at an incredibly fast turnover rate. The fun part is that I never know when the next intern, family, co-worker etc is going to show up! I’ve gone to bed some nights when the project house is completely empty but wake up to all rooms full with one guy sleeping on the couch. They may stay for a few weeks or leave in a few hours….I never really know. I often have breakfast with complete strangers that arrived the night before and then they’re gone by the time I get home from work. I’ve been able to get to know so many different types of people and they always make for interesting dinner company (and travelling tips!).
The guests often work for KHPT but are also friends of KHPT employees or from other NGOs in India. Some are other interns, some just in town for a conference, and others on contract work for the Public Health Foundation of Canada. I’ve even had the opportunity to live with and get to know both officiates of the Sukshema project which I work under. This place is truly a networking hotspot (and has good internet).
 |
| Me and Andrea out for dinner (I ordered the pizza for two ....and it was GOOD!) |
 |
| Milena bargaining for her first kurta (a proud moment as her teacher) |
Occasionally, and thankfully, there will be someone around my age to hang out with. Andrea was the first and she was here for about two weeks in May. She had previously lived in Bangalore for four years throughout high school so she showed me around a bit and filled me in on some Indian customs and answered a lot of my questions. There was also a girl from New York working on some immunology nonsense I did not understand, and just last week there was someone from Winnipeg en route to an HIV-care centre internship just outside of Bangalore. I got to pay it forward and take her around the city and share my own words of acquired wisdom to her. So, as you can gather, there is never really a boring moment in the guesthouse. Though my social life is extremely transient, it keeps things interesting!
 |
| Milena and I out for traditional South-Indian thalis |
Yep, life in Dollars Colony ain’t too bad. I do confess that I must be careful to dodge enormous road kill on my street (rats the size of puppies, headless crows, dead kittens) and be weary of fellows on motorbikes who try to solicit me for sex work, but nothings perfect, right? The families of hungry cows roaming around mansions with security guards continue to make me laugh and there was even a camel wandering around one day that was evidently lost. I tried to direct the poor thing North.
Sadly, I’m nearing the end of my Bangalore Folklore but I am hoping to post once more after my last week of work and before the backpacking begins!
