We have a guest...

I kept calling it a salamander but we think it's actually a gecko - I think it was the lack of a British accent that was throwing me off. I noticed him yesterday afternoon at about 4:30 on the wall and proclaimed it a baby alligator. Then I said to myself, "don't be ridiculous, it's not an alligator. It's a crocodile." It's only about two inches long but still big enough that there was no way I was going to kill it. Instead, I decided I would capture it. I grabbed a Tupperware container and lid and held it against the wall. As soon as it started moving though, I flinched (and by flinch I mean, jumped and ran to the other side of the room). I tried again and failed and now it was resting behind the TV. So I decided to just watch it for a while. I got up every 10 minutes or so to check to see it was still there and it was. At some point it made it's way from behind the TV to the back of the TV where it remained until Sir came home. But he proved to be no better at animal control than I. He rushed the gecko under the TV stand where it stayed (or has since found it's way back from wherever it came. We haven't seen it since. At least, these are the only two possible scenarios I will allow myself to consider.

I am now a card carrying member of the OWC and membership does have its privileges. I didn't see Pam or the woman who got bit by the stray dog. I did give a wave to Gordon but we were on opposite sides of the room and didn't really chat. When I joined, the woman who took all my information told me about someone else who lives in our building and said she would point her out to me. So l left her and went to get some tea and to see if I could find Vanessa. On the way, I met a woman from Switzerland with a 4 year old son. The two of us were chatting when all of the sudden Amy appears, hand extended, "Hi, I'm Amy. I saw you have a US passport," she says to me, nearly breaking my pinky finger with her cobra grip. So, I say, "Yes, I'm from CT," and introduce her to the woman from Switzerland. Amy tell us that she's also new to Bangalore but she's used to moving around. She and her husband used to live in Tawain, where she is from, but they've been living in Boston because he just finished a Master's program at Harvard and we have 3 children all under the age of 3 - twins and a infant. And she's so used to have so much help that she is just aghast that she can't find a live-in nanny. "We've always had one for the children." Well, what she'd really like is a "proper governess." I'm not really sure what she meant by that but I wasn't going to ask. She and the other woman start talking about schools for their kids and Amy asks me if I have any children. I say no. She says, "So are you working?" No. "Well, so what are you going to do? I mean, I'm not working but I have three children and barely have time to go grocery shopping." I tell her I was a teacher and would be interested in part time work or volunteering but we are also looking forward to taking long weekends to travel and I can't work with my Visa right now anyway. She starts to tell me how easy it is to change your Visa status and rattles off about 4 names of schools that she's just sure are in need of "people with my skills." She kept looking at me disapprovingly, like "aren't you going to write any of this down?" Of course, she was going to look for some part-time work just as soon as things settle down. And off she went to go pick up her kids from pre-school.

Then I saw Vanessa, who just happened to be sitting where they were selling the "In and Out of Bangalore" guide that I wanted to buy so I made my way over. She was talking to a Polish woman who says she's really considers herself from New Zealand because that's where she grew up but, her family was just living in Tokyo for the past 4 years. Her name was something like, Grasha. I think she repeated it 3 times and I'm still not sure what it is. I liked her very much and hoped she couldn't tell I was having trouble looking her with her pretty, green, lazy eye. She was also a teacher but hasn't worked since she's had kids. Vanessa and I then started talking about our experiences in the park and she (Vanessa) mentioned that one of her friends goes walking with a group on Friday mornings and if I'm interested I should give her my number. Well of course, my NVBF! Then I met Vivian who lives in my building. She's from Singapore but was previously living in France with her fiance. She's been in Bangalore since April and she was so nice I think she could be my second NVBF. She's been going to yoga's in the evening and I said I was interested so taking me with her tonight! My third favorite person was a women originally from Cypress but has lived in the UK for 30 years, Androulla. She was with her daughter who was visiting from London. Her husband works in the tea business but I didn't catch for which company. She had just come back from a trip to Sri Lanka and was quite excited to talk about an elephant orphanage she visited. She wants to meet for coffee. In total, I got 5 new numbers, have one yoga date, one coffee date, one lunch date pending for next week (with Vanessa and this other woman Anne) and a potential weekly Friday morning walking date. I was quite the Casanova.

On our way to dinner last night, we past a fairly large building all lit up with rows of colored lights and lots of people milling around. We could hear what sounded like a band, though we did not actually see the band. You could see inside the building and it appeared to go back quite a bit because there were rows and rows of chairs set up. Chandan said it was a wedding. I was hoping we'd get to see the bride and/or groom but we didn't. Supposedly weddings last for multiple days and since it was near our apartment, I'm hoping we still have a chance to see them.

We had another great meal last night. They brought out our main dishes and made a motion to start serving us before they brought out our plates, or so I thought. Instead, they opened the folded banana leaf that was already on the table (I thought was just a place mat) and we ate right off the banana leaf.