The next few days passed in a blur. Pam and Claude helped me pack, which led to a number of arguments concerning what I wanted to take with me. Eric tried to buy new clothes for me but I wouldn't let him, instead I insisted we spend time together. I had spent as much time with Eric as possible, which meant I took mostly day shifts at Merlotte's. Sam wasn't too happy about how much time I spent at Eric's and a little surprised at how much time I spent talking to Terry. Terry was just a huge help in setting up things. He volunteered to check up on Claude now and again, as well as do odd jobs around the house. I was very grateful as I didn't trust Claude alone in my house.

Dermot and I arrived in Bangalore at 8:00 a.m. local time. He led me over to a car that was waiting outside the airport and helped me in.

"We will be staying away from the main city," he said. "There are certain rules you must know if you're to fit in. You will be given a lot of slack, as you aren't a local, but I imagine you would prefer to blend in as much as possible."

I nodded my head.

"The neighbors will be friendly, something you'll be used to. In fact, we're having breakfast with one of them." He caught my alarmed look. "Sookie, relax. The lady of the house insisted as she knew we'd be tired from travelling. She said she didn't want us to eat unhealthy hotel food."

"Why didn't you tell me before now? At least I'd be better prepared." I felt very tired and meeting new people, from a culture I didn't know much about, sounded like the last thing I wanted to do.

He raised an eyebrow. "When could I tell you? You spent most of your time at work, with Eric or packing. I was arranging things for the trip. I could've told you on the plane, but that would have made you more nervous."

He had a point there. I was suddenly reminded of Niall and Eric. Both of them were high-handed and Dermot was channeling them now. "So what are those rules you were talking about?"

"Most importantly, remove your footwear before you go into someone's house. They may tell you it isn't necessary, but do it all the same. Depending on how old the person is, you address them accordingly. Grandparents are called granny or granpa, or the equivalent in their native tongue. Those closer to your age but older are akka, which is older sister, or anna, which means older brother. Those are Tamil words and used commonly in the south. In the north, the Hindi equivalents, didi and bhaiya are used. Anyone in between is referred to as aunty or uncle. You may refer to those younger to you by their first name."

He paused and looked over to me, no doubt to see how well I was listening. "So I just think of everyone as part of my family?"

He smiled. "Exactly. Moving on, South India does not use the Namaste greeting but North India does. When it comes to table manners, Indians eat with their hands, but you may ask for a spoon. If you're uncomfortable eating with your hands, they'll understand. However in some instances, it is better to do so. Eating off a banana leaf with a spoon isn't advisable."

"They eat off leaves here?"

"During festivals, weddings or large gatherings. Some households still do. Many hotels, especially the smaller ones, serve on banana leaves." He paused. "The ashram we will stay at later will also serve food in that manner. Will it be difficult for you?"

I shook my head. "I'm just a bit surprised is all. I'll manage just fine."

"Good. That is all I can think of for now. One last thing though, pedestrians do not have the right of way here, so look both ways and be very careful when you cross the road. I wouldn't want your vampire to kill me if I return you with even a scratch."

Eric threatened him. Why was I not surprised? I decided to change the subject since I really didn't want to talk about Eric. I looked out the window. "So Indians drive on the left side of the road? Wow, that's a lot of traffic."

Dermot burst out laughing. "Sookie, this isn't much traffic. Not by Indian standards! Right now, you're just seeing the school children going to school. The office goers will start in a little while. Peak traffic is at four in the afternoon. Five million people live here, my dear." He looked sad. "This used to be a quiet village. Then the British set up a cantonment here. It became bigger and bigger. Once the software companies started settling here, there was no going back."

I noticed something else as well. "There is a tree growing on that sidewalk. Right in the middle. A huge tree!"

"Well, this used to be a forest. There were many Fae here, now they've moved away. Bangalore was once called the Garden City, but now it is the Silicon City of India. It still has many lakes and trees, but not anymore."

He looked very sad; I didn't know what to say. The rest of the ride was spent in silence while he brooded and I looked out the window.

Oo00oo

The house we were to stay in wasn't very big. It looked like the other houses in the city. Box shaped, painted a pale colour, with a flat terrace on top and sharing walls with the neighboring houses. I suppose if so many people lived in one small city, they would be packed like sardines in a can. The road was narrow, but then almost all roads here seemed to be. Only the main roads were big.

The inside of the house had a small living room, a dining room, kitchen, a small room off the kitchen that I didn't know the purpose of, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The bedrooms were upstairs, along with one bathroom. All the other rooms were downstairs. I couldn't find a laundry room but found a washing machine in the downstairs bathroom. The furniture looked homey. The beds were queen-sized with cotton sheets, the sofa set soft and comfortable, and the dining table and chairs made of teak wood. I peeked into the kitchen and noticed that the utensils were different from the ones I was used to back home.

We put away our luggage and had quick showers, then had to go next door. There were mango leaves over the entrance, and a design had been drawn with flour in front of it. Dermot told me it was a rangoli, upon seeing my inquiring look.

A plump lady dressed in a red sari opened the door as soon as we rang the bell. She was short, I had several inches over her, brown-skinned, her waist-long black hair in a braid and her face had no other makeup. She looked like she was in her thirties.

"There you are! I was getting worried. Dermot, you haven't changed a bit. You still look like a young man in his twenties after all these years! Is this your cousin?"

"Yes, this is Sookie Stackhouse. Sookie, this is Mrs. Radhika Sharma. We go back about fifteen years."

"Tell the girl all about it later. You can't stand outside! Come in, come in!" She saw me taking off my shoes. "You don't have to do that. Just come in. You must be starved."

Remembering what Dermot said I took my shoes off anyway before walking inside. The living room was small but neat. There was an entryway into the dining room, which was framed with strings of beads. There were flower arrangements around the place. As we followed Mrs. Sharma into the dining room, I noticed she had flowers in her hair. After we washed our hands we sat at the dining room table. She sat down with us and started to serve the food.

"The children have already left for school, Dermot. They wanted to see you but you arrived quite late." She placed a few round, white and soft things onto each of our plates and poured a yellow curry on the side. "I hope you still like idlis and sambhar. I made sure to put less chili powder in it."

"I still like idlis, akka. Sookie has never eaten them before, but I think she'll like them."

I followed Dermot's lead and ate what was on my plate. "Dermot hasn't told me anything about you. You said the children were at school?"

"Yes. I have two children. Sheila is in class 11, commerce stream and Rohan in class 12, science stream. He wants to be an engineer so he is attending classes. Sheila will take you around town this weekend. She knows all these new malls and can take you around Commercial Street too. Dermot said that you will be going to the gurukul tomorrow. I think after two days there, you'll enjoy some shopping."

I knew we were going to stay at an ashram. Dermot had told me that it was a supe colony, so I was looking forward to it.

"Today is a half day at school, so the children will be back for lunch. Sheila has been looking forward to meeting you."

We spent the meal talking about various topics. I learned that Mrs. Sharma's husband was a software engineer who worked in Electronic City, an area outside Bangalore where most of the software companies were located. After it was over, Mrs. Sharma showed us around her home; Dermot and I then went back to unpack. Dermot left soon, after telling me that I would be on my own until nightfall. I assumed he had friends to meet. I spent the morning unpacking, then called Eric, Sam and finally Claude. By the time I finished, it was afternoon. I heard a voice call my name from outside and went to investigate.

A young girl was looking at me over the wall, from Mrs. Sharma's house. She was brown, with jet- black, shoulder length hair.

"Hello! You must be Sookie. I'm Sheila. Mother asked me to call you as lunch is almost ready."

"I'll be right over."

Lunch consisted of rice, something called rasam and vegetables. I met both teenagers. Rohan was a quiet, nerdy boy. He wore glasses, had the same skin stone as his sister and mother, was just an inch taller than me and had prominent cheekbones. Both children had jean and t-shirts on and their accents less pronounced than their mother's.

After lunch was over, Rohan said he had to study and went upstairs while Sheila sat with me in the living room and asked me about my life. Her mother sat down as well and started to darn some clothes. Both were upset that my brother did not live with me, reminding me of amnesiac Eric's reaction. I told them I was dating someone but didn't mention how that someone wasn't human. Sheila was interested in how a date worked, but I felt I couldn't answer properly as Eric and I had never had a traditional date.

"Did you spend time alone together? And just talk about different things?" Sheila asked, and I noticed her mother look at her disapprovingly.

"Yes, we have. We do it quite often."

"Isn't that a date? Even if he doesn't take you out? Here, boys and girls can't spend time together. Not without conditions and chaperones and what not. Bangalore is liberal, but it is only a certain class that dates, and even then it doesn't seem the same as what I read and see on TV. You're lucky."

Before I could answer, Mrs. Sharma cut us off. "The children have started playing kabadi! Why don't you take Sookie outside and play? You've been on that computer too much these days; you should go out and play, child."

I spent the rest of the day playing with the neighborhood children. As there was no park for them to play in, they played on the streets, stopping the game every time a vehicle came through. I had an early dinner at Mrs. Sharma's, and then fell asleep, exhausted.

Oo00oo

Idlis, sambhar and rasam (also called pepper water) are all Indian dishes and commonly eaten in south India.

Kabadi is a version of dodge ball. Seven flat stones are selected and placed one on top of the other. Each player is given the chance to knock the tower down with a cricket ball. If they succeed, they retrieve the ball and try to hit the other players with it. Whoever is hit is out of the game and misses their turn at trying to knock over the tower (if it isn't over already). The other players try to rebuild the tower. When the tower is rebuilt, the next person tries to knock it over. The cycle repeats itself until everyone has a turn trying to knock over the tower. On the next cycle, the players who were hit can join in the game again.

A cantonment is a temporary or semi-permanent military quarters. Information on the Bangalore Cantonment can be found on Wikipedia. http : / / en . wikipedia . org / wiki / Bangalore_Cantonment