Turn around...

We've only just completed three of project sim at our B2 office, and I already feel like I've been there forever (in a good way!) Here's a typical day, for all you folks at home who've been pesteringImeanasking me.

We kick off the day by getting on a bus that comes right outside the B1 office/our apartment complex at 8:15 in the morning. The bus ride takes about 15 or 20 minutes, during which time I always make sure to count the number of cows I see on the streets. Tuesday was 6, Wednesday 3, and today I only saw one!

Above: View from our TWU party bus, it's relatively exciting.

Side note: O K, I always knew cows were considered sacred in India, and I'd heard distant rumors and stories about how I'd see many of them here before I came here. But I did not expect cows to hang out in highways or roam around town as they please or sit in the middle of intersections and watch cars and motorcyclists maneuver around them for twenty minutes. I am starting to feel like I am in some sort of alternate crazy Katamari Damancy world, seeing cows just appear everywhere like it's no big deal.

When we arrive at the B2 office, we grab breakfast on the partially-finished, ridiculously-red rooftop of the building. I've settled into a breakfast routine of "masala" omelet (onions, tomatoes, s&p, SPICY chile, yum!) and a PB&J sandwich.

After breakfast, we usually do a group stand-up where we go over what we did yesterday, what our plans are for the day, and discuss any concerns or issues that are relevant to us as a team. The rest of the day is spent doing "BA" things - mainly supporting developers, continuing to gather requirements, and generally staying on top/ahead of schedule for iterations. Although I enjoy what I'm doing, I'm also having to adjust to the lack of structure here during project sim - whereas our first week (and even our second, to some extent) were conveniently blocked into neat 90-minute sessions of this or that, now the only concrete item on our "schedule" is the application we need to deliver for R1. It's quite unnerving, not having that sort of set-in-stone schedule I've been used to following for as long as I can remember.

Our days end around 6:30 (we're staying later than usual to make up for the missed day on Monday, which means full speed ahead for this weekend's camping trip, woohoo!), when we do a group wrap-up (similar to the morning's stand up) and then board the bus again, all invariably spent from all our successes and frustrations and conversations throughout the day. The days really are draining. Not just mentally, but physically as well. By the time I'm on the 45-minute bus ride home (same distance as the 15-minute ride in the morning...) some days I can barely muster up the energy to put on a mixtape, open a window, and stare outside...

Above: motorcyclists in traffic, picture taken from the bus on the way home

Traffic here is incredibly frustrating. It's not uncommon to be stuck at one intersection for 10 minutes. And if that wasn't crazy enough, the entire time other drivers are honking at you, cows are amblin' by causing trouble for everyone, and TWUers are belting out "Total Eclipse of the Heart" from the back of the bus like our lives depend on it. 

It's 11:37.. I'm bent on getting eight hours of shut-eye, so I'm going to end here and try to squeeze in an update before camping on Saturday. Much love.