For only being here two full days, I feel like there are already dozens of things to tell, but I'll summarize for everyone's sake :)  Well, lets see- yesterday we had some semi-structured activities with our whole GSE group to get us oriented in Bangalore.  We started off the morning with a lovely breakfast at the apartments where we are staying, and then we were tasked with navigating the Bangalore city bus system from our apartments to the various organizations that we are working with, in my case Hippocampus Learning Centers (HLC).  My partner and I totally lucked out; a short walk, bus ride, and another short walk and we were in the middle of a lovely residential area that is home to HLC.  With more than two hours to kill until our next scheduled meet-up with the rest of the group, we had a chance to roam around the neighborhood a little, seeing some beautiful homes and finding nearby shopping areas, etc.  When we learned where we were supposed to meet the group (they didn't tell us ahead of time, since we were supposed to have to figure it out in the moment) we were so excited because we were told to look for the Sony Center in Indiranagar, and we saw the Sony Center from where we were! After a few minutes of wandering though, we realized that we were in Koramangala not Indiranagar, so we had to catch an autorikshaw to the location where we were supposed to meet (this was my first ride in an auto, and it wasn't nearly as scary as I imagined, although the haggling with the driver- called an autorikshaw wala- will take some getting used to).  We met the rest of the GSE crew for lunch and talked about how the rest of our time here is going to play out, and then we all headed out again to meet with Sattva, one of the other non-profits that two GSE groups are working with this summer.  We went to their offices to discuss social enterprises in general, what the landscape looks like in India for social enterprises, as well as to learn about what Sattva does (they are a media and consulting firm that works with other social enterprises).  Then (as we were all coping with a bit of jet lag) we made our way to dinner.

Well, at least that was the plan.  Kristen, Navee and I all got in an auto from Sattva to get to the restaurant we were going to for dinner.  The auto ride was fine, we arrived where we were supposed to, but once we got there, we weren't exactly sure how to get to the restaurant.  Then we also realized none of us knew the name of the restaurant, and that none of us had Indian phones (we had realized this earlier but didn't think it was too problematic).  So we started walking.  And walking.  And walking.  We finally realized we needed to know the name of the restaurant, so Navee called one of our advisors on her Malaysian phone to get the name of the restaurant.  But even once we had the name,  no one seemed to know where the restaurant was.  They all pointed us toward other random restaurants and businesses where they thought it was near, and so we walked back and forth and back and forth and still couldn't find it.  At this point, it is 7:30 and the rest of our group is already at dinner... yay for us.  We called our advisor back to get more landmarks as reference points, and then, after realizing that the very first direction we started walking after we got out of the auto was incorrect, we found the restaurant and the rest of our group- probably 45 minutes late.  Oh well!  We had a great dinner of Rajasthani and Gujarati food (both North Indian) but waaaayyy to much of it!  We all had a busy (and very hot!) first day, so after dinner we all headed off to bed pretty quickly.

Highlights of day one: cows in the streets, first few auto rides, sweating more than I can describe, and not totally crashing from the oh-so-lovely jet lag.

Now- today was structured a bit differently.  After breakfast, our whole group- advisors and all- were picked up by two hosts from CSIM (the Center for Social Initiative and Management) and piled onto a bus (that was actually quite cozy), to go on two site visits of other non-profits in Bangalore.  After some spectacular traffic mishaps, we arrived at the Association for People with Disabilities (APD).  APD was kind enough to show us around their entire campus, where they do everything from constructing artificial limbs, to vocational training, to physiotherapy and sign language instruction.  They have a beautiful campus and it is evident that they do quite a lot there to help the disabled in and around Bangalore.

After lunch, we then went to visit Selco, a solar lighting social enterprise that works in rural Karnataka (the state that Bangalore is a part of).  While we didn't walk around their facility, they gave us a wonderful talk on what they do at Selco.  What is most interesting to me about their organization (and is rather fundamental, but I still think its neat!) is that they are actually a for-profit enterprise with a very strong social mission and impact.  They work with banks to facilitate loans for the rural poor to install solar lighting systems in their homes, which then allows for activities such as studying, cooking, cleaning, income-generating activities, and leisure activities to occur after dark, which would not be possible without a reliable light source of some sort.  This visit was valuable not only get a better grasp on their business model, but also to better understand the challenges of energy and sustainability in Karnataka.

Once we left Selco, we had the rest of the night to ourselves.  A few of us- Laura, Navee, Kristen and I- decided to go out and get cell phones and do a little shopping.  I was the only one successful in getting a phone (which is quite a process here- you have to have passport photos and copies of your passport and visa as well as some proof of residency in India) because the shop only had one of the cheap phones left, so everyone else has to go back tomorrow.  We also went to the grocery store which was lots of fun (I get a strange kick out of looking at other brands and types of packaged foods- I just think its interesting to see all the differences), and we got ingredients for chai, pasta and sauce, and tabouli.  Then the four of us came back and made a great mess in the kitchen (which we cleaned up- don't you worry) and made tabouli and mint water and had a nice time just sitting around and visiting until about now- 2am.

None of us really have a plan for the weekend- we want to start some clothes shopping, though- and then we start work on Monday! So I guess this is the last stress free weekend for a while- lets see what it has in store  :)