Work Week Groove

Monday, Nov 2^nd-Wed, Nov 4^th

With Charles off to work now, we've settled into an Indian work-week groove. Most of you know that I haven't been working beyond my part-time retail job at Bibelot since the last day of school in June. I've come to terms with my idle hours by creating some sort of routine to manage all of that free time. I'm used to teaching plus working part time, so it's been a difficult adjustment for me. Routine helps. We get up, Charles goes to the gym, we have a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, and then Deepak picks Charles up for work. I read the Deccan Herald and Times of India newspapers then head to the gym where I spend as much time as I can. It's hot in there and there aren't that many machines, and the heaviest free weight is 25lbs, but I'm doing what I can. Then I decide whether or not to go down to the restaurant for lunch, call Deepak to have him take me somewhere, or just chill here. I have a lot of time for leisure reading, reading about our surroundings and finding restaurant recommendations, keeping up on my correspondences, writing for this blog, and chatting to the guys who work at the hotel. Sometimes Deepak and I go to run errands, but not often. Everything we need is here at the hotel, so it's silly to create difficult and ultimately pointless errands. I know it will all change when we have an apartment and I'm again able to cook and need to set up a household. THEN I'll have purposeful errands and Deepak won't know what he's in for. I'm not a recreational shopper (like for clothing), so that's not fun for me, or necessary, or even easy. Getting things done here is not a simple matter. For example, my first trip to an Indian Supermarket was this week. It was essentially a scouting mission, but it taught me that I can get most of the kind of personal care items we need at these pretty convenient shops. I've been talking to other Expats and I think we're going to be able to get a lot of our American food "necessities" here too, it will just take a lot of time to find.

 

I realized this week that I absolutely must get my volunteering assignment settled. When Deepak took me to the supermarket on Tues we passed a bunch of school children going home for the day. I almost wept. I need to be productive. After almost 6 months out of the classroom, I have to teach somebody something, and soon.