Little India

I am writing from a small internet cafe in Little India, with that high pitched Indian music in the background. Why is it that Indian music always sounds like its being played from a speaker system somewhere, its got a funny echo, maybe its recorded that way and intended to sound like like its coming from outside. Little India is actually really interesting to me, everything has a spicy smell, the music blaring from the shops is so distinctly Indian but very upbeat, the shops sell lots of colorful clothes. And of course the streets are full of real people from India. Their skin has a great color, but their faces seem more western to me. The men like to get perms. Nobody dyes their hair, its all a deep black color, and some men like to wear mustaches and turbans. Much of the artwork seems related to religious themes, the people or dieties are full of color and beauty.

People really do eat with their hands, I saw it with my own eyes. I saw two ladies seated at a table with a big plate in front of them. They pick up the rice with their fingers and eat it. The rice sticks to their hand. I would be going crazy to wipe it off, but they didn't seem to mind.

In other news, I will be signing the documents shortly for the new office and can start moving in next week. The hotel I have been staying in moved me into a SMALLER room (which I thought was impossible) because of high occupancy and I had only paid up until Frriday. The new room doesn't even have a window, now I can actually imagine what solotary confinement might be like, but it is cheaper than the old room. Hotels are really expensive in Singapore, expect to pay at least S$130 a night. This new room will only be S$105. Right now, one US dollar is equal to about Singapore $1.36 dollars. I use the abbreviation S$ for Singapore dollars.