cold

Howdy!
The weekend was mostly quiet. I spent pretty much the whole Sunday in bed, eating, or watching movies. That was great. Just because you're in a foreign country, doesn't mean you have to go out and see strange things all the time.

I got a cold again. The third one now. Honestly, I expected my Immune system to adapt faster. In addition there's the strange feeling in my stomach that comes and goes every now and then. By now it feels normal not to be healthy.
Given that I decided it's time to see a doctor today. So I did, went to the hospital, was checked, seems all ok, went to work, wrote my blog. The hospital in itself is quite an experience here. Last time I was there -- accompanying a friend -- she had to go to six different desks in order to see a doctor and get a blood test. For me it was surprisingly easy today. After the registration I just had to wait for some 45 minutes and then was examined. Privacy is not a big concern here, and I met the doctor just in the waiting room. I believe the separated chambers are only used if the examination involves undressing.


Last Saturday I set out for some anthropological field work. Together with some Indian and some white friends I moved to a night club to study this part of Indian culture.
Observation 1: Going out is extremely expensive -- compared to other things. A beer in a club is Rs 100, which is four times the price of a cheap meal. Admission is Rs 200. I interpret this as an indication of the different subcultures being addressed by food and night clubs. The prices are on completely different scales, and accordingly the people going there are completely different. Well, the rich might settle for a cheap meal, but the poor will never have access to a night club. Is that similar to Germany? I'd say there's a similar trend in Germany, but to a far less extend.
Observation 2: Indian girls are hard to get -- at least for me. With determination I tried to talk to or dance with some of the natives, but I've been explicitly ignored. This is certainly not the level of general openness to be found in a comparable establishment in Germany. Furthermore I noticed that people came in groups of either boys only, girls only, or one boy with a group of girls. Balanced groups are rare.
Anyway, this was just one biased observation. I guess further study is needed before any meaningful conclusions can be made :>

Here are a few pictures:

Rickshaw

Yet Another Temple

Hitler Star