Warren in India

Yesterday's Headlines, Blown By The Wind
It's funny: after I'd been here for only a few days, it seemed as if I'd been here for weeks already. Now, however, six hours or so after the three weeks of "proper" boot camp sessions have ended, it seems as if it's all gone by in a matter of days. We'll be spending the next two days at the Agile India 2005 Conference, followed by nine or ten days of the "Object Bootcamp" that I mentioned earlier, full-time. Then I'll either be placed on a project back in the States or on one here (most likely an internal resource- and revenue-tracking application).

As for more recent happenings, I'm getting over a bit of a cold. I actually missed most of Tuesday's camp because of it -- the only reason I went in was to take part in a group presentation that my group gave.

But enough of current events for now. I'd like to try to recap my first week here, dodgy as it may already be in my memory. My strongest memories are of the first ten hours or so after my arrival, so let's begin there.

As I walked out the door of the airport onto the street, I began to look for a friendly face -- in particular, the face in the photo I'd been sent of the boot camp coordinator, Kerri. She was nowhere to be seen. I probably looked the part of exhausted firangi (that's Hindi for foreigner, and, yes, it is apparently pronounced the same way as the name of that alien race from Star Trek), so the two ThoughtWorkers who had been dispatched in her place knew to yell the name of our company in my particular direction. After such a long journey, it was really an amazing relief to meet Kraig (curriculum coordinator) and Peter (UK camper, also one of my roommates) in the barely pre-dawn coolness. I was finally here. And ready for some sleep.

After one of the more surreal cab rides of my life (one suitcase in the trunk, the other shifting about in the luggage rack on top), the driver insisted on a new term to our agreement -- that we also pay for his parking fee at the airport. Kraig, who was paying on behalf of ThoughtWorks, decided that it wasn't worth arguing with the driver and reluctantly agreed to pay the extra amount. Since he and Peter had waited patiently outside Bangalore Airport for me from about 03:00 to 06:00, Kraig offered as a tip a clever if crude suggestion as to where the driver might decide to securely store the fee in question. The driver politely thanked Kraig (no, really!), but I don't think he tried out the suggestion for a makeshift wallet. If he had, he would without a doubt have gotten some funny looks making change for his next fare.

Kraig fed me some microwaved leftover pizza, and I returned to my flat and had a bit of a chat with Peter. It was quite tranquil sitting on our eighth-floor terrace, watching the sky grow lighter. So tranquil that Peter excused himself to head for bed. I moved my suitcases into my room, lowered the blinds (our flat faces west), and closed my eyes.

And nothing happened. I'd been more or less awake for a day and a half, and I couldn't sleep. So I unpacked and took a shower. And I wasn't tired any more.

I eventually called Kraig, and we went to Indi Joe's [sic] for some quasi-western fare. I had a garlic steak sizzler. It was quite tasty, since I'd brought plenty of that well-tested Hunger Sauce with me. (I've had a similar dish there again, and it was pretty good the second time around, too, even when I wasn't quite so famished.)

Now into 40+ hours of sleep deprivation, I returned to the flat, where I met my other two (temporary) roommates, Ian (UK) and Shane (Australia). I was beginning to think that it wasn't a coincidence that I'd gotten along so well with everyone I'd met. (I may be getting the order of things wrong here; it's possible that I met Shane and Ian before I went to lunch, but the point doesn't really matter here.)

I tried to tough it out until the scheduled 7 PM dinner, but I finally collapsed at around 16:30, setting a new Warren-record of approximately 44 hours without any significant amount of sleep. Peter called me at around 20:00, rousing me and allowing me to toddle down to the restaurant where a fairly large group of campers and other ThoughtWorkers was chatting and finishing up dinner. (Had Peter called at a less opportune time in my sleep cycle, there might have been a repeat of a conversation Stewart and I had one evening in college. "Zzzzz...hello? Groan." "Hi Warren, it's Stewart." "Oh, hi, Stew. Groan." "Were you asleep?" "No, not at all. Groan." "Why don't you call me back later?" "Okay. Groan." "Click." Why do people lie about having been called when asleep? As if the other person can't tell....)

After dinner (where I met quite a few more campers), I went back to the flat and make myself stay awake until midnight or so. As was the case for the next four or five mornings, I woke up at around 05:00 and was unable to go back to sleep. It's hard to judge for sure, but it probably took me about a week or so to get fully adjusted to the time change.

Now, I hope that it's apparent why I don't make entries very often. This entry represents about three hours of writing and editing, and I didn't even cover that much! I'm far too inefficient of a writer to be an effective blogger. (And I haven't even gotten to the caretakers yet!) I'm also far too self-conscious of a photographer to be a good photo-blogger...but I plan on making up for that this weekend and into next week. (How does that saying about the best-laid plans go? Where's the rest of the first week's happenings, anyway?)

I will be heading out on a group day-trip to Mysore on March 12, so expect lots of photos then. But for now, it's time to recharge my laptop's battery as well as my own. Until next time...keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.

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