Just starting my second week in Pune and I finally feel like I’m finding my groove here. As an army brat, I’m used to moving around and know that the first few weeks are rough as your struggle to find friends, adjust to a new culture, and discover a new routine. India, of
course, presents new challenges including language difficulties, high pollution, poor sidewalks and roads, and lots of honking. It didn’t help that during my first week here I came down with a horrible flu and lost my appetite (especially for Indian food) and most of my strength. My lungs are still struggling to adjust to the high levels of pollution, mostly from vehicle emissions. No wonder everyone spits so much here! I also couldn’t help feeling that many of my freedoms had been stripped away – it’s no longer easy just to step outside my front door and walk to the organic market or run to Rock Creek Parkway and take my dog for a run. My gluten-free diet began to seem silly to wish for here.
The best way to avoid the moving blues is to keep yourself busy and explore. First of course: food. While bigger chain grocery stores are beginning to become popular in India, most shopping is done at little stores filled with soda, chips, and candies. If you look closer though, you can find some multi-grain bread, eggs, milk, fruit juice, pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter, etc… For $4 bucks here I can get an entire loaf of bread, half a dozen eggs, shampoo, and some chocolate. Not bad! There are also tons of fruit and vegetable stands in the area. For next to nothing I can get the ingredients for a delicious banana, kiwi, papaya salad. This I can definitely get used to. Maintaining a healthy diet is starting to seem possible. Eating out is also incredibly cheap – most of my coworkers order food every day (called a tiffen service which equates to home-cooked Indian food). But lunch costs less than $0.50 so no wonder! There are also a lot of little international markets that sell a lot of European goods including Mueslix and beans. These run a bit more expensive but when you’re really craving a black bean omelette – it’ll do the trick.
Beyond exploring the food scene, I’ve been exploring my fitness options. Of course, there are plenty of yoga studios around Pune. And when in Rome….My new roommate, Max, introduced me to a studio down the street called Total Yoga. With 3 classes a week (vinyasa, hatha, and power) for less than $25 a month, and a cool, young, fit, Indian instructor – I think I can get into yoga. She also tries to keep the class interesting by offering meditation and nettie pot sessions!
My best discovery so far is that there is capoeira in Pune that practices twice a week! The group is led by a young American woman who’s been playing for about 8 years. They also have guest instructors from Mumbai, where there’s a much bigger capoeira scene including huge weekend rodas. What I love about capoeira is that it’s an instant community no matter where you go. After my first grueling class, I went out with my classmates to get some food and chat and had an amazing time.
I’m finally expanding my exploration radius as well beyond Koregaon Park. Pune is slowly opening itself up to me and I’m realizing how lucky I am to be here. The city has an incredibly rich history which you can discover in the most random places. Today I met up with a friend of a friend from DC, Swapnil, who has lived in Pune for the past six years. Our first stop was the Pataleshvara Cave Temple next door to the Jangali Maharaj (Jungle King) temple in the Shivaji Nagar neighborhood. Pataleshvara was built around the 8thcentury and includes a shrine for Lord Shiva. What I learned today: at every temple for Lord Shiva, there is generally a bull (the Nandi bull) that waits outside (his ride of choice). The Nandi bull is supposed to bring luck to the temple and its visitors. Every time I visit a temple I’m inspired to learn more about the Hindu faith. It’s incredibly rich and complicated though so I doubt I’ll be proficient by the time I leave here. Afterwards, we decided to grab some food – Swapnil first took me to the Good Luck café – a favorite haunt for college students. So much so that we actually couldn’t get in! Will have to go back though – the bun muska bread and tea are famous and look incredible. Instead we checked out another local favorite, Vaishali restaurant. Vaishali is known for its South Indian food including masala dosa. Dosa is a fermented crepe or pancake made generally from rice and lentils. Masala dosas are filled with delicious cooked potatoe, onions, and spices. It was also served with coconut chutney and one other delicious sauce (still trying to learn all the names!). I also got my new favorite drink – an Indian milkshake. Milkshakes in India are generally made with milk, ice, fresh fruit juice, and sugar. Chikoo and chikoo-chocolate are currently my favorites. Chikoo (or chikku) is also known as sapodilla or sapotaand has a sweet, pearlike taste.
Our final stop was Pune University which I’ve been very eager to see. Sunday is a great day to visit because it’s so quiet on campus. The area is incredibly green and lush, and will make for a great running spot on the weekends. There’s also a lovely little café which serves tea, coffee, and snacks – perfect for sitting and reading or chatting.
That’s it for now! Looking forward to exploring more this week and getting to know my coworkers better.
course, presents new challenges including language difficulties, high pollution, poor sidewalks and roads, and lots of honking. It didn’t help that during my first week here I came down with a horrible flu and lost my appetite (especially for Indian food) and most of my strength. My lungs are still struggling to adjust to the high levels of pollution, mostly from vehicle emissions. No wonder everyone spits so much here! I also couldn’t help feeling that many of my freedoms had been stripped away – it’s no longer easy just to step outside my front door and walk to the organic market or run to Rock Creek Parkway and take my dog for a run. My gluten-free diet began to seem silly to wish for here.
The best way to avoid the moving blues is to keep yourself busy and explore. First of course: food. While bigger chain grocery stores are beginning to become popular in India, most shopping is done at little stores filled with soda, chips, and candies. If you look closer though, you can find some multi-grain bread, eggs, milk, fruit juice, pasta and pasta sauce, peanut butter, etc… For $4 bucks here I can get an entire loaf of bread, half a dozen eggs, shampoo, and some chocolate. Not bad! There are also tons of fruit and vegetable stands in the area. For next to nothing I can get the ingredients for a delicious banana, kiwi, papaya salad. This I can definitely get used to. Maintaining a healthy diet is starting to seem possible. Eating out is also incredibly cheap – most of my coworkers order food every day (called a tiffen service which equates to home-cooked Indian food). But lunch costs less than $0.50 so no wonder! There are also a lot of little international markets that sell a lot of European goods including Mueslix and beans. These run a bit more expensive but when you’re really craving a black bean omelette – it’ll do the trick.
Beyond exploring the food scene, I’ve been exploring my fitness options. Of course, there are plenty of yoga studios around Pune. And when in Rome….My new roommate, Max, introduced me to a studio down the street called Total Yoga. With 3 classes a week (vinyasa, hatha, and power) for less than $25 a month, and a cool, young, fit, Indian instructor – I think I can get into yoga. She also tries to keep the class interesting by offering meditation and nettie pot sessions!
My best discovery so far is that there is capoeira in Pune that practices twice a week! The group is led by a young American woman who’s been playing for about 8 years. They also have guest instructors from Mumbai, where there’s a much bigger capoeira scene including huge weekend rodas. What I love about capoeira is that it’s an instant community no matter where you go. After my first grueling class, I went out with my classmates to get some food and chat and had an amazing time.
I’m finally expanding my exploration radius as well beyond Koregaon Park. Pune is slowly opening itself up to me and I’m realizing how lucky I am to be here. The city has an incredibly rich history which you can discover in the most random places. Today I met up with a friend of a friend from DC, Swapnil, who has lived in Pune for the past six years. Our first stop was the Pataleshvara Cave Temple next door to the Jangali Maharaj (Jungle King) temple in the Shivaji Nagar neighborhood. Pataleshvara was built around the 8thcentury and includes a shrine for Lord Shiva. What I learned today: at every temple for Lord Shiva, there is generally a bull (the Nandi bull) that waits outside (his ride of choice). The Nandi bull is supposed to bring luck to the temple and its visitors. Every time I visit a temple I’m inspired to learn more about the Hindu faith. It’s incredibly rich and complicated though so I doubt I’ll be proficient by the time I leave here. Afterwards, we decided to grab some food – Swapnil first took me to the Good Luck café – a favorite haunt for college students. So much so that we actually couldn’t get in! Will have to go back though – the bun muska bread and tea are famous and look incredible. Instead we checked out another local favorite, Vaishali restaurant. Vaishali is known for its South Indian food including masala dosa. Dosa is a fermented crepe or pancake made generally from rice and lentils. Masala dosas are filled with delicious cooked potatoe, onions, and spices. It was also served with coconut chutney and one other delicious sauce (still trying to learn all the names!). I also got my new favorite drink – an Indian milkshake. Milkshakes in India are generally made with milk, ice, fresh fruit juice, and sugar. Chikoo and chikoo-chocolate are currently my favorites. Chikoo (or chikku) is also known as sapodilla or sapotaand has a sweet, pearlike taste.
Our final stop was Pune University which I’ve been very eager to see. Sunday is a great day to visit because it’s so quiet on campus. The area is incredibly green and lush, and will make for a great running spot on the weekends. There’s also a lovely little café which serves tea, coffee, and snacks – perfect for sitting and reading or chatting.
That’s it for now! Looking forward to exploring more this week and getting to know my coworkers better.
RSS Feed