Bike Ride
Today the company van wasn’t available for the trip home, so one of the guys on the team took me home on his motorcycle. I’ve been on plenty of motorcycles before, but never in no-holds-barred traffic like Bangalore’s. Before, I thought riding in a car here was exciting… this takes it to a whole new level.
In related news, the state of Karnataka (of which Bangalore is the capital) is introducing helmet laws on July 31, making helmets mandatory for both drivers and passengers. Currently nobody has to wear a helmet, and very few do. There’s some debate as to whether it’s going to be enforced. Some in the government object on the grounds that the average middle-class family can’t afford four helmets, since they’re often all on the bike at the same time. Others want it only to be enforced on larger roads where there’s room to go fast (as if being inches from cars moving at “only” 50 km/h makes it safer). In any case, if the helmet laws are enforced to the same level as other traffic laws, it’s not going to make much of a difference.
Food & Allergies
No, not mine; as far as I know, I’m allergic only to work. Instead, one of my Japanese housemates had been looking increasingly incomfortable lately, very itchy, and finally had to visit the hospital today to get it checked out. That must have been fun. He’s to stay off eggs, meat, and fish for a week.
I wonder if it could be insect bites. Last week he changed rooms because his old one had “bugs” in the air-conditioner, and in my first week, I had thought there were fleas in my room. Once or twice a week the house gets shut up and sprayed with something nasty-smelling, but there are still things biting in the night here. That’s in addition to the mosquitos, of course, so in addition to taking anti-malarial drugs, I wear DEET to bed.
Bangalore is in the tropics, after all. One evening I caught this critter crawling on my bedroom wall. He was about four inches long.
Its a lizard. A common visitor. feeds on other insects. keep them away from your food. Reminds me of my days as a kid – driving them out banging sticks (we were not allowed kill it or anything and i would not want to try pick it up by its tail)
Oh yeah ! bike ride in india is total fun. plus, you get to beat the traffic. he he.
Well he’s cute. My brother and I used to catch chameleons that were about that size and shape in south texas. We’d use a piece of grass, looped into a noose, and wait for them to get spooked into the noose. It occasionally worked. We always let them go. I liked them. I have no idea what they ate or did, other than run around in the sand and change colors.
lor
Boy, wouldn’t the cats love to live in a place where there were sticky wall-lizards to play with.