Welcome to our shiny new blog! We have been in Kolkata for 5 days now and I thought I would share some of my first impressions to get this blog started :)
The traffic is terrifying; there are no rules on the road. Each time I get into a cab, I reach for the seatbelt only to discover there is none. There are no lanes used on the road, instead, it is like a game to see how many other vehicles you can squeeze past. Occasionally there are some lanes on the road which get ignored and perhaps a traffic light. Stopping is not an option as it would greatly increase the chance of an accident, however there is a lot of speeding up and slowing down involved. It is still monsoon season meaning the roads have been flooded everyday since we’ve been here but that has stopped no one. Even the people on bikes peddle through the ankle deep puddles.
Being from Vancouver, I thought I knew rain. If you are from Vancouver: imagine the heaviest, most intense rain you have experienced and then imagine that lasting for hours in the middle of the afternoon. To make matters worse, the lack of irrigation system means the water logging takes days to come down. We waded to the front door of our place last night.
Before arriving, I had imagined that it would be difficult to get around or find the items that we need. On the first night, we were introduced to Spencers, which is a heavenly department store with everything from groceries to clothing to shampoo. Bonus: it's air conditioned. We have been cleaning and cooking and fixing up our place thanks to this wonderful store. Then we discovered South City Mall. As soon as we stepped inside, we were instantly transported off the muggy, crowded streets of Kolkata and into the huge, spacious, cool, funky mall. We fell in love with the colourful clothing in Pantaloons and immediately picked out our outfits for the next day. There is also The Body Shop, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Pizza Hut, Subway, and KFC. I know where we'll be going when we get homesick...
The clothing here is awesome. In fact, I wish we dressed more like in India in Canada. It is normal to wear bright colours and patterns from head to toe. Long shirts, loose, comfy pants, scarves, and of course saris. I was extremely worried about what clothing to bring but I am already happy that I hardly brought any outfits because clothes are 1) way cooler than anything I brought from home 2) inexpensive 3) everywhere.
That's all for now... stay tuned for more about us settling into a new workplace and new city!
The traffic is terrifying; there are no rules on the road. Each time I get into a cab, I reach for the seatbelt only to discover there is none. There are no lanes used on the road, instead, it is like a game to see how many other vehicles you can squeeze past. Occasionally there are some lanes on the road which get ignored and perhaps a traffic light. Stopping is not an option as it would greatly increase the chance of an accident, however there is a lot of speeding up and slowing down involved. It is still monsoon season meaning the roads have been flooded everyday since we’ve been here but that has stopped no one. Even the people on bikes peddle through the ankle deep puddles.
Being from Vancouver, I thought I knew rain. If you are from Vancouver: imagine the heaviest, most intense rain you have experienced and then imagine that lasting for hours in the middle of the afternoon. To make matters worse, the lack of irrigation system means the water logging takes days to come down. We waded to the front door of our place last night.
Before arriving, I had imagined that it would be difficult to get around or find the items that we need. On the first night, we were introduced to Spencers, which is a heavenly department store with everything from groceries to clothing to shampoo. Bonus: it's air conditioned. We have been cleaning and cooking and fixing up our place thanks to this wonderful store. Then we discovered South City Mall. As soon as we stepped inside, we were instantly transported off the muggy, crowded streets of Kolkata and into the huge, spacious, cool, funky mall. We fell in love with the colourful clothing in Pantaloons and immediately picked out our outfits for the next day. There is also The Body Shop, Tommy Hilfiger, Nike, Pizza Hut, Subway, and KFC. I know where we'll be going when we get homesick...
The clothing here is awesome. In fact, I wish we dressed more like in India in Canada. It is normal to wear bright colours and patterns from head to toe. Long shirts, loose, comfy pants, scarves, and of course saris. I was extremely worried about what clothing to bring but I am already happy that I hardly brought any outfits because clothes are 1) way cooler than anything I brought from home 2) inexpensive 3) everywhere.
That's all for now... stay tuned for more about us settling into a new workplace and new city!
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