The Great Indian Dhaba

Today was my first day at work where my head was down and my heart was beating fast from 7am to 7pm. Lots of pressure, but also lots of fun! What an adrenaline rush! I'm looking now at Fenix's repayment rates for the solar kits, trying to find metrics where there are natural breakdowns that we can use to understand which of our customers are good, bad and everywhere in between. With only two weeks in the office, I'm still working to wrap my head around the analyses and data that already exist, but I'm learning fast and having so much fun getting things done in a company where my effort is directly tied to Fenix's success. I slack, the company slacks. What better motivation for work is there than to keep this wonderful endeavor rolling!

As a quick break between evening and night work, a few of us went down to Indian Dhaba. Yet another "ok" restaurant front with an AMAZING back seating area. There are lay-down lounge tables where you can grab a bite with a friend, a thatched and open-air hut where we ate at a long and elegant table, and a ton of delicious Indian food. After eating family style fish, daal, and other dishes together, Abagi and I got some paan from the bar, despite Luke's awful salesmanship. As he explained it, paan is a "stimulant" that tastes like potpourri and give you a buzz... except in large quantities, in which case you throw up. Actually - that description was pretty accurate, except we stuck to small quantities. It tastes like fennel seeds combined with potpourri or floral soap, has the texture of tree bark wrapped in a leaf (which is essentially what it is), and gives a buzz equivalent to a beer. Fun experiment, but WARNING. This would be the worst first date activity. Nothing like trying to talk it up with a guy when you have twigs in your teeth and are coughing on a piece of leaf you accidentally swallowed. Yes, I'd say this is an activity for friends only.

No, no. You're good.