Lounges & Discos

For the first 4 months my night time social life was non existant. Okay, so I went out a few times but I really didn't meet too many interesting people to have conversations with. I met a couple "good" friends to go out with but still even together it was hard to socialize and meet new people. I found that the group of people who go out to pubs & discos to be very exclusive. This relates back their tight, closeknit family ties. It is a very family oriented culture. This sense of family closeness is transferred easily into strong friendship ties. But as a person on the outside, it's difficult and it feels very unwelcoming at times. It seems that the whole nightlife scene here is quite the opposite from the western world. I remember back home in the States it was very easy to meet new people to chat with and even become future friends with. In fact, that's how I pretty much met everyone I know back in Portland. Here it seems, people come in their own groups and pretty much socialize within their own groups only. I've tried to chat a few times but not much success. So after a while this gets very boring and frustrating.

Then something happened! Just last weekend, my friend Meera and I decided to check out iBar, a lounge in a 4 star hotel. I thought it was time to meet some foreigners and heard that they can be seen here often. We get there and what do we see? The whole place is packed with westerners!!! JACKPOT!!!! I was very excited and so happy! We met a couple of Brits, Aussies, and So. Africans and spent whole weekend partying with them. We even raced in an autorickshaw on the way back to the hotel and cut off a vehicle. I will never forget that. It was hilarious! It was definitely the best weekend of my time here in Bangalore. It was fun learning about their culture, poking fun at each other's and they were fairly curious as to what an American was doing in Bangalore alone! I don't think they were expecting to meet an American such as me. My social life felt so revived. Another door has opened in my life. It's exciting to find that the world is still very large. I want to stay overseas now for a few years and see what else is out there.