Ready for an Indian weekend

I am just finishing up on my first week of work here at IBM India and am ready for an action packed weekend. The time has flown by, actually, even though I've spend most of it in either IBM's walls or the Royal Orchid's.

Food seems to be the main topic of my India blogs, so I'll continue. I had some good stuff at the Indian food court today, this time going for something called chicken jhakta paratha. The best way to describe it is by comparing it to a chicken quesadilla, without the cheese. It came with two dipping sauces, one lentil based and one yogurt based. Along with the naan and the water I bought, it came out to about 72 rupees (~1.75), which is the most that I've spent on a lunch thus far. Again though, my favorite pet peeve to complain about came up again. I gave the cashier a 100 rupee bill and he gave me back 3 10's, then asked me for 2 rupees back. Of course, I've yet to see what 1 rupee looks like, much less 2, so I just shrugged my shoulders again and said, "I don't have anything under 10" (Why don't you just give me 2 10's and 8 rupees?) Then I got the ol' "You can pay me 2 rupees next time" routine. I think by the time I leave here, I'll owe every vendor in this place, 2-3 rupees each. I swear, 1 rupee coins are like gold around here.
Anyway, the food was very good actually, though it seems like I always run out of naan to soak up all of the sauces. I notice that Indians are quite adept at eating with their hands and have no conscience in diving into what is usually a very soupy meal. I'm not quite there yet.

Along with my rupee peeve, another unexplained phenomena that I've encountered here is in the bathrooms of IBM. The urinals are very similar to what I've seen in the states, but instead of stalls, they have what I would call closets with toilets inside. Perhaps Indians enjoy their privacy. What has been a mystery up to this point, however, is that in each of these closets, along with the toilet, is a 5 gallon bucket, a 1 pint pitcher and a hose connected to the side wall. Some times the buckets are slightly filled with water. The first thing that came to mind is a make-shift bidet, but these hoses spray quite a bit of water, which would give the user quite a shower. Mike sheepishly shook his shoulders when I asked him and like me, he's been embarrassed to ask any of the Indians. Do they use these items to clean the toilet? What's the pitcher for? As of now, these questions are unanswered.

So that's all I got: Chicken, rupees and make-shift bidets. I'm heading out for the weekend, where I'm hoping for some fun and new adventures...will come back Monday with mucho text and photos.

Until then, ciao my friends...