America America

Finally I have landed in the place that people prefer to call as the land of dreams and land of hope. Makes me remember how people throng the city of Mumbai in search for a job or with hopes of becoming an actor. Funny how the analogy works. Makes me think that even I come under almost the same category. Except that I have no Hollywood dreams. Life in Arizona especially at Tempe is not all that bad I must say. Living in an apartment that is situated in the heart of the major Indian community does not make you feel so out of place. So basically you do not require too much time to get acclimatized to the surroundings. The first thing that I did learn after coming to Tempe is that Arizona is HOT. Lets just say that it is a direct reference to the weather and to the incredibly amazing population of the opposite gender species a.k.a Chicks. Well that is the first couple of things a normal guy would notice upon landing here. Life here is not all that bad at all. Once the initial hiccups are overcome I could say that it is a pretty smooth sailing routine. Sometimes it might just become routine and mechanical. But the degree that comes after 2 years is worth its weight in gold. Here are some of the interesting observations that I have made during my brief tenure so far.

* Pedestrians are GOD. Literally speaking they are gods, and get the first preference on road. But on the flip side they are not invincible. Get it right? You still have to look both ways to cross the roads.
* Every third person on the road greets you with a “Howdy”. It does not matter whether you know the person or not, you just say “howdy” and carry on with your work. ( I do not think that it is a greeting which says that you are openly accepted. Maybe it is just a courteous greeting. You never know maybe I am mistaken. ) There are always exceptions to everything. In fact some of them are genuinely nice people. [Honest observation and not being diplomatic. ]
* Every other guy has a very helping nature. You get all the facilities to make sure that you are not lost. As in you get maps and all. But if u are portraying an image with even the slightest bit of confusion or “ I am lost” look then trust me you will find atleast two people willing to help you out without you asking for their help.
* Most of the Americans love to talk. I have atleast spoken to more than half a dozen strangers in a span of 3 or 4 days. Spoken means having a literal conversation.
* Most of the people here have a dream of visiting India. That was really nice to hear. And guess what most of them have heard about cricket. Though half of them do not know how to play.
* Believe it or not, I play cricket nowadays. With a small guy who hails from Bangladesh, is not a fan of Tendulkar and loves Australia. I do not have a choice, since not many guys around here play cricket. A couple of Americans have tried their hand at the game and trust me they are yet to differentiate between cricket and baseball. They do try to learn the game though and thats an encouraging sign.
* The internet speed is faster than the damn auto-rickshwas back home. Beat this. In India BSNL offers 2 Mbps speeds for a net connection and we say wow thats pretty fast. Believe it or not at this very moment I am using a net connection that is offering speed 7.5 times that BSNL offers. Online streaming was never so fast. I watch movies online rather than downloading them ( which is a crime here by the way....crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! )
* The punctuality of the people here is amazing. People will keep up their time no matter what.
* Some of the kids think that we are here to kill them. Have heard kids screaming not to kill them. Sounds funny when you experience it.

Well there are so many more things that I would like to tell but at the moment mind has gone blank. I guess its time to hit the sack. Its almost 2.45 in the night here. I guess its back to square one for me. The late nights never die do they??