12.13.06, 8:45pm – CTS Offices, Chennai, India.

Kevin just cancelled the demo that was schedule for 9pm, and my hired car doesn’t get here until 9:30 at the earliest, so I have some time to kill.

Yep, hired car. I guess that’s the easiest way for me to get around out here, but it’s kind of strange. I feel a bit like a rock star. A rock star in a third world country, but a rock star none the less. My driver is nice, but doesn’t speak much English. We say times back and forth to each other “hotel 8:30, office 7 o’clock” things like that. I tried to ask him if he drives a cab all day (because I was curious if he just sat around all day or took other jobs while I’m working, etc) but he wasn’t getting it so I gave up. Quick, if someone doesn’t understand “all day”, what do you say instead? I tried “morning, afternoon, night” and “full day”, even “entire day” (like if he didn’t understand “all” he was going to understand “entire”, nice) but to no avail. That pretty much ended my attempt at conversation. It’s too bad, as we’re going to spend quite a bit of time together.

I must say, I’m glad I have the car. All of the buses I’ve seen are PACKED, with the windows open, etc. I wouldn’t know the first thing about using them. I guess I’d figure it out, but, yeah…

Finally broke one of the bills I’ve been carrying. The poor cashier at the store had to go in the back and get an envelope full of bills to break my 500 Rs note. Of course, I was only buying 24 Rs of bottled water, but, really, I had to break the thing at some point. She just happened to be the unlucky victim. I don’t know how I’m going to break these 1000 Rs notes. Maybe the hotel can do it for me.

Work is going well. I spend a lot of time talking to these guys about the app. Honestly, I don’t know how I ramped up the other crew without visiting them. These guys have so many questions and the explanations can be so complex…no wonder I spend half my days writing emails to my testers.

It’s funny the things that remind you of home. When I was up in the early morning watching soccer, one of the graphics they used on TV had a sound effect every time it came and went. The sound effect sounded just like Finn’s cough when he drinks water too fast.

I’m feeling better today, sleep-wise and adjustment-wise. It was good to IM with the wife for a while. It was also good to go shopping on my own. Just a little affirmation that, yes, I can take care of things. Still haven’t eaten anywhere outside the hotel yet, though. Baby steps. It gives me more respect for what my sister and Brooke and my folks have done. Of course, they prepared a lot more than I did, but, then, they had to.

---Eric