I have no friends

Last night my friend Leah (ex AJWS volunteer and girlfried of my office mate, Jacob) slept over. She got to sleep in the living room. It was so fun for me to have a friend over and we stayed up until almost midnight! If forgot what is was like to visit with people. Most/all of the time I just go home after work and hang out by myself. There are my friends Jonathan Goldstein, Gregor Ehrlich and Howard Chakowicz, but I guess they're not really my friends because they are on a CBC Radio show called WireTap. But everyday I listen in on their phone conversations (that's the nature of the radio program, check it out www.cbc.ca/wiretap) so I feel like they're my friends. yikes, that's pathetic.

I found a yoga place near my office, so maybe i can make friends there. Also, we have a work holiday on Saturday so this weekend I'm going to Pondicherry with Jacob and Leah to watch them run in a marathon, so maybe I will make friends there. I guess my life here has gotten more settled, normalized, and i dont have to constantly think about how to do things. Now I have time for friends. It's funny, I really do like being by myself, and never really thought this would be an issue, but the more I hear about what my friends (imaginary or otherwise) are doing at home, the more I miss having friends.

The good news is that Leah told me that everyone at the office likes me (she has the inside scoop). They seem to appreciate that I take the bus, wear Indian clothes, and even my attempts at Indian cooking (another blog for another day). I have fun at the office, and I usually keep long hours here, in solidarity. But I now think it's because at the office I have friends. At the end of the day, most people in my office go home to their families. Although everyone is in their late 20s, early 30s (except for 2 older women), they are all married and have children. Also, Will (my AJWS supervisor in NYC) told me it was culturally inappropriate to hang out with members of the opposite sex outside of work. As most of my office (again, except for the 2 older women) are guys, that really limits my choices.

Oh, but wouldnt it be fun to go to happy hour with my office mates. But alas, there is no such thing as happy hour in Chennai, and I haven't really seen a bar. Hmmm....we'll have to wait and see how all this turns out. In the meantime, I'm hoping for a fun weekend in Pondicherry.