if any of you were worried, nothing has happened to me. I just have been fighting a head cold that flared up since I got here. I guess it's not surprising since I didn't sleep well the week leading up to the trip, I was on planes with hundreds of people, and this is a total climate change. I'm dealing with more humidity and pollution than I do with the air at home. That is not to say it is Delhi bad here. So far a mask has not been necessary.
Which brings me to where I am. I was reminded by a dear reader that I had not mentioned that! I am in Chennai, which is on the south east side of India. It is not as populated as other parts of the country and it is becoming known as the tech center of the south as Hyderabad is of the north.
How did I choose to come here? Well, it was time to step out of my comfort zone and go somewhere besides Europe. But Asia had always intimidated me--languages and alphabets for one. Plus I always try to assimilate as soon as possible which as a tall, fair, blonde/grey haired person would not work on Asia.
Since changing roles two years ago at work, I have been working with Paperflite, a vendor in India and I have become quite friendly with my contact person, Akshaya. She encouraged me to come and she would look after me. So here I am.
Working US hours in India is not fun as I anticipated. I knew this trip would give me a lot more empathy not only for my coworkers in India, but vendors I work with there as well.
Akshaya was so sweet when she had not heard from me, she made the desk clerk bring his phone to my room so she could talk to me. I went into the Paperflite office today and met some of the crew as well as the fie cat and dog--both who were rescued off the street.
They are so hospital. They even gave me a phone to use for local calls and food delivery services. So tomorrow, I'll be trying out Swiggy to order some food. They also have Zomato, but Swiggy is such a great name.
Tomorrow I hope to be up earlier and get to a nearby store to buy some local type clothing that will work much better in this climate. I tried not to bring too much with the intent on buying clothes here.
All for now.
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