Jojo in India

Cochin

2006-12-23T03:13:00.001-08:00

The next day I was a little sore from the accident, so we took it easy.

Here we have moved the bed onto the floor of the living room in our hotel to watch football early in the morning....

Headed out later with Manu to see his hometown of Cochin...

decent shot of a family on a motorcycle(there are 4, you can just see the leg of the youngest).. I think the most I saw was 5 people on one, ut I've heard of many more...

We visited the Dutch Palace (actually built by the Portugese abt 500 years ago. There are some very well preserved murals inside that tell the story of Ramayana. I like the way this pic of the exterior came out...

Cochin has an area known as Jew Town. Jews were thought to have settled in this area as early as 700 BC. It is also home to the oldest synagogue in India, called the Paradesi Synagogue. We tried to visit but it was closed to the public for Yom Kippur

Jason was a little upset!

The synagogue and Jason in front of the gates...

And one of my fav shots... schoolkids walking through the streets of Jew Town

Later, Manu took us to the beach a little before sunset, where we walked around looking at the stands and being followed by little kids wanting us to buy their homemade cards. Jason tried out some drums...

We saw the famous chinese fishing nets which you can read about here

We even lent a hand...

and saw some of the fish they caught...

Kerala backwaters, Allepey, houseboat

2006-12-23T03:12:00.000-08:00

So the next day we left our beach paradise and Manu drove us north to Alleppey, the starting point for the famous Kerala backwater tours...

We arrived at our starting point to this...

You can see in the 2nd pic the "living room" in the front of the boat.. behind that is a private bedroom with bathroom. So onboard was me, Jason, the cook, and the driver (more on him later...)

We chilled for a while... (notice how high the ceiling is above my head... will be important shortly...

So after an hour or so we pulled over on the banks to have lunch made for us by the cook...

Jason asked the cook what kind of fish this was, and the cook looked at us like we were crazy and said "lake fish", meaning fish from the lake we were on!

Shortly after lunch I got sick (must have been the "lake fish"!
I was sitting in the front of the boat to get some fresh air and Jason was directly behind me. The captain went to turn from the wide canal into a much smaller narrow canal. He seriously misjudged the angle of the turn and ended up hitting on of these concrete pillars... All of those metal rods were vertical before the crash

The canopy came down right across my back. The seat in the front right was where I was sitting

Side view, including all the local villagers who came to see what the fuss was about...

And our story ends when I was taken to the local hospital to get Xrays ($3.20) and a pain shot ($1.75). This is the washup sink in the "surgery room"!

Varkala

2006-11-13T23:32:00.000-08:00

On our way to Varkala, we saw these people protesting against the soft drink ban read about it here

Couple other shots on the way..

men wearing short skirts (dotis)

rim shop!!

Varkala has very dramatic cliffs next to the beach..

lava-like red rocks next to the smooth beach rocks..

more beach shots...

day 3 (Kovolam)...

2006-11-01T17:48:00.000-08:00

We fly Jet Airways to Trivandrum... which is slightly misleading b/c we are not on a jet, but a prop plane... exciting!

We arrive around noon and our fantastic driver Manu picks us up.

(pic of Manu coming)

On the way we have to stop at the mobile police station and court. One of the guards stands by our car while our driver is in there to make sure no one messes with us.

Before we go to the hotel he stops at a beach to let us have a look (& I like what I see)..

While we're there this guy harrasses us until we give him some rupees to climb a coconut tree

We go on to our hotel, the Travancore Heritage (Jason in the pool, our room is top right balcony)

We check in and hang out on our balcony looking out onto the ocean for awhile..

view from our hotel..

took a walk on the beach and saw all of the fishing boats...

men pushing the boats ahore for the night (Jason helped push one!)

catch of the day...

some adorable schoolgirls trying to get us to buy "schoolpens"

some huge Jesus statues (apparently there are alot of Christians in Kerala due to the Portugese settlers)

there was a yoga retreat next to our hotel..

Indian women working on the lawn...

maybe one of my favorite pics I've ever taken (from the yoga resort)

and finally, enjoyed some fresh-cut pineapple..

see all of the pics from Kovolam here

day 1 & 2

2006-10-30T00:34:00.000-08:00

I take him to the best & cheapest Indian food I've ever had at Ramdev Sagar. We have gobi manchurian(fried cauliflower) & veggie kurma

Jason lands in Bangalore & takes his first rickshaw ride

Jason goes to the Leela where the beat the knot out of his back.

See Ganesha as Santa in Herb & Spice

We see some crazy traffic and a bus decorated for Ghandi's birthday

Then we pack...

home sweet home

2006-10-17T05:04:00.000-07:00

Jason and I both made it home today & with all of our luggage!

Despite having a nasty case of jetlag/insomnia (Jason slept just fine in business class :), I am very happy to be home. Today consisted of having a turkey sandwich I've been craving for months, laying on the couch w/the dog and watching football on the big screen.

Feels great to be back, looking forward to seeing most of you soon.

Check back in a couple days for posts on our trip.

Lots of love,
jojo

a surprise at the Taj...

2006-10-07T07:33:00.000-07:00

Wanted to make sure friends and family heard it first... but I am excited to announce that Jason and I are engaged! He surprised me after a tour of the Taj Mahal, one of the living wonders of the world, and supposedly the greatest monment ever built for love.

I think the funniest part was when I thought we were just taking a picture: Jason went to go down on one knee and i said "what are you doing?" !!

I thought he was striking some weird pose for the picture!

Luckily we had a guide to capture some shots

Needless to say it was a very romantic and scenic spot and we will remember it forever.

We joke that now we are on our "engagement honeymoon"!

A tease of what's to come..

2006-10-06T04:05:00.000-07:00

We've only uploaded some of our pictures and in the interest of slow internet cafe speeds I'm going to post a couple pics from each place we've been to so far.

I plan on writing up full reports of each day probably when we get home, so this will have to do for now.

Bangalore

Kovolam

Varkala

Allepey - not uploaded yet...more on our houseboat adventures later...

Cochin - not uploaded yet

Agra

enjoy!

trip to Kerala

2006-09-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

In about 18 hours we are off to Kerala, the area in red on the map below

Sep 29: fly from Bangalore to Trivandrum, spend day on beach in Kovalam
Sep 30: head north to Varkala, more beach time
Oct 1 : head north to Alleppey, get on houseboat, spend night on boat
Oct 2 : get off houseboat, head to Cochin
Oct 3 : fly from Cochin all the way to Delhi
rest TBD

here's some pics of what we expect to see

Kovalam Beach

Varkala

houseboat

chinese fishing nets in Cochin

Jason's here!

2006-09-28T03:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we just hung out, took a nap, and then had dinner with some of the grads before they left. Today we went to the Leela where Jason got a knot in his back pounded out by the fine people at the spa. Meanwhile, I did a little shopping (just a little) :) Had lunch at a fantastic place called Herbs & Spice, and are planning to have dinner at a place called Koshy's.

Jason's lost bag should be arriving at the Bangalore airport tonight, so we'll have to go pick that up.

We just handed over a large stack of Rupees to pay for our vacation to Kerala. More on that in a little...

Jason's on his way!!

2006-09-25T23:20:00.000-07:00

He landed in London about an hour ago and will be leaving for Vienna soon.

2 out of 5 flights down, only 22 more hours of travelling!

*@#!$ mosquitoes!

2006-09-24T17:19:00.000-07:00

Despite the valiant efforts of the toxic fumes sprayed every evening..
Monsoon season has actually brought little rain to Banaglore, but it has brought...

At current count I have 23 mosquito bites... that's right 23.

Some facts about the number 23:
1. it's a prime number
2. it was Jordan's jersey number

that's all I have. But then again I'm up at 5:30 just to watch football...

These little jerks are so bold one of them just flew in front of my face as I was typing this. for real. that's how much they suck. no pun intended.

They grow up so fast....

2006-09-23T04:41:00.000-07:00

Ladies and Gentleman,
The graduating class of the 2006 Monsoon ThoughtWorks University!!!

Whew!

An incredible ThoughtWorker....

2006-09-20T22:14:00.000-07:00

Jez Humble is someone who works for my company. He's from the UK, but has come here to work in India for at least a year, at a quarter of his original salary. The story which you can read here is a very touching account about how Jez and his girlfriend Rani, helped out this little girl, Anita

I think it's amazing how much they went out of their way to help this little girl when so many other people would look the other way.

values at Leela..

2006-09-16T14:10:00.000-07:00

So Roy, our CEO arrived in India last night, here's a pic from the dinner I had with him (on the right, and my boss KP, on the left) around our company's values, Feels good to be a part of these discussions...

Samarkand...

2006-09-16T14:00:00.000-07:00

Despite an extremely stressful week, we trainers managed to get out and have a good meal at Samarkand, which I highly recommend...
The food was amazing and I love any place that gives you a bib to wear..

from left to right: Stephen, KP, Rajeev..

Football!!!

2006-09-14T15:22:00.000-07:00

So I was extremly excited to hear we get Ameican football here! I found this out from my UK coworker just after the Bears swept the packers 26-0!

Here's Tues morning watching MNF...

super dorky pic of me enjoying football in Inida, (Brad Johnson's coming to get me!) ....nevermind it was 6 AM...

Longest week ever...

2006-09-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

My timesheet for this past week looked something like this...

Mo 12
Tu 12
We 12.5
Th 10.5
Fr 11
Sa 12 (3 at the hospital)
Su 11

That's right ladies and gents ~81 hours were worked last week; that's like 2 weeks in one! Hard work is good for you right? Or makes you look 5 years older... one of the two!

Anyway, it's all been worth it and there is a light at the end of the tunnel..

2 weeks to vacation!!!

Manipal Hospital...

2006-09-11T20:19:00.000-07:00

I had to take a student to the hospital on Saturday b/c of an allergic reaction. (She's fine now)
So I had my first Indian hospital experience at Manipal..

I must say the doctors and nurses were very nice and professional, but there was one thing that was a little disconcerting..

I couldn't take to many pictures as I thought it might be insensitive to be snapping away in the ER as people lay there sick, but I did get one shot as I was waiting...

Everything in the hospital has the word "casualty" written on it. Gurneys, fans, wheelchairs. I guess the term Emergency room doesn't really exist here & they call it the Casualty Ward. Call me crazy but I really don't want to be put on a gurney that says "casualty" on the back. Perhaps the word has a slightly different meaning here...

Current ailments...

2006-09-07T22:07:00.000-07:00

* exhaustion
* back and shoulder pain from sleeping on 3" foam mattress
* mysterious left calf muscle soreness
* stomach problems
* 8 mosquito bites
* large bruise from falling on the stone floor when it was pouring outside

*sigh* I miss home.

Thanks Mom & Dad!

2006-09-07T01:30:00.000-07:00

My wonderful parents sent me tons of crackers, chocolate & photos! This is just a fraction, I'm now surrounded by pictures which is great! In case you were wondering... the customs fee for packages into India seems to be 2 granola bars! Not too bad....

Prepare for lift-off....

2006-09-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

I have found the best bar ever!

It's called...

The inside looks like a spaceship.

Bartenders wear pilot uniforms (I guess spacesuits would've been a bit warm..

"Tom Cruise Cocktails"... guessing Top Gun wasn't too far of a stretch..

And the weirdest part of all.... a pic Motley Crue above the toilet in the ladies room (don't look Tommy Lee!)

A couple more shots I like..

a bit of Indian history...

2006-09-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

On the way to Nandi Hills, I noticed signs everywhere for the arrival of Sonia Gandhi

Out of curiousity I started looking into who she was and discovered some interesting (& somewhat scandalous) bits of Indian political history.

Sonia is is an Italian-born Indian politician, the President of the Indian National Congress and the widow of former Prime Minister of India, Rajiv Gandhi. In 2004, Forbes magazine named her the 3rd most powerful woman in the world. There was some controversy in 2004 where she almost became Prime Minister, which you can read more about here

What's more interesting is her husband's lineage.

Her husband, Rajiv

became was Prime Minister of India until he was assassinated in 1991 by a suicide bomber from the LTTE, a separatist group from Sri Lanka.

His mother Indira Gandhi was the first woman Prime Minister of India, until she was assassinated.

A bit of background: During problems in Punjab, a local religious leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale was first set up by the local Congress to replace another party but once his activities turned violent he was excoriated as an extremist and a separatist. Indira Gandhi gave the Army permission to storm the Golden Temple to flush out Bhindranwale and his followers on June 3, 1984. Many Sikhs were outraged at the perceived desecration of their holiest shrine, which remains controversial in terms of timing and effect to this day.

Indira was assassinated by 2 of her own Sikh bodyguards. As she passed a gate guarded by the two men when she bent down to greet them in traditional Indian style, they opened fire with their semiautomatic machine pistols.

Her life is interesting in several ways, but especially how she came to have the last name Gandhi. Naturally I assumed she was somehow related to Mahatma Gandhi, but came to find out there was no direct relation.
Indira met and fell in love with Feroze Khan.

However, if she were to marry Feroze, she would lose the possibility of become heir to her family's political dynasty (her father was the first Prime Minister of India) because Feroze was a Muslim. Indira's father was a close confidant of Mahatma Gandhi. So according to one story, Mahatma Gandhi intervened and adopted Feroze Khan, gave him his last name (family name/caste name) and got the name of Feroz Khan changed to Feroz Gandhi by an affidavit in England.

Just a little history lesson from me to you!

Nandi Hills

2006-09-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, I've been working like crazy!

Took a short trip to Nandi Hills, about 1.5 hours by bus. On the way there I had the pleasure of using the restroom in a chicken coop by the side of the road (sorry, no pictures)!

It was nice to get out of the polluted city and into some fresh air.
Some nice views of the surrounding area.

and for the first time since I've been here, Monkeys!!
This little guy stole one of our juice boxes from our picnic table. He couldn't figure out how to drink it so he ripped it open and started scooping it out with his paw.

Our TWU "Moody Album Cover" taken by JJ...
from left to right:Stuart, Rajeev, Rahul, me, Dave, Obie, Aravind, Ananth, Isabella, Kris, Julie

From right to left: half of Dave, & Rajeev (fellow trainers), and Ananth & Julie

Isabella & Deepti

PDAs : a big cultural difference

2006-08-30T00:18:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting to get the right picture to make this post since I first observed it. However, stopping to take pictures of men as they pass me seems to garner some unwanted attention! So this pic will have to do.

In the US when we think of Public Displays of Affection some of us think of slobbering teenagers (or perhaps a certain female friend who shall go unnamed!) making out in public places (bars). It's quite the opposite here. Couples, even married couples, never touch in public. I have yet to see as much as a hand-holding.

From Wikipedia:
In India, the Supreme Court of India - the seat of the highest authority of the law of the land - has described PDA to be in bad taste and an unacceptable act, which may be considered an act of public nuisance, and sometimes leading to conviction and/or fine from the involved parties.

On the other hand, where in the US some guy friends will actually sit with a seat in between them at a movie, men in India are very affectionate with their friends.
I was at first taken aback by the sight of two men walking holding hands, fingers actually intertwined as well as men with their arms around each other. Our connotations of these behaviors is quite different. In India, homosexuality is still quite taboo, and these are purely gestures of friendship.

Just another cultural difference observation from me to you!

Debauchery

2006-08-28T03:08:00.000-07:00

Just got some pictures from my coworker from the first night we went out a few weeks ago. This was the night after which I decided I could no longer keep up with the 21-year olds!

Cheers!

Down the hatch...

Indian whisky = no bueno!

my first rickshaw ride on the way home w/Julie. We don't look at all intoxicated :)

Supermarket fun!

2006-08-28T02:32:00.000-07:00

Getting my camera out & taking pictures in the market drew a few stares from the shopkeeper but I couldn't resist.

I have no idea what flavor this is but the thought of green milk really grosses me out!

This crap is everywhere. I swear every other commercial on TV is about how to make your skin look whiter. It's kinda sad. We spend a ton of money on self-tanners and they're trying to get the opposite. If you didn't see fairness cream on the label and you saw this in the US you would think the left-hand side was the desired outcome. It's ridiculous.

My first "Indian" wedding

2006-08-28T01:33:00.000-07:00

Actually neither the bride nor the groom are Indian, but they did meet here at the office. I researched some of the traditions so please let me know if I got something wrong. Here's a little of how it went....

The groom gets on his white (kinda) horse..

Everyone dances in front of the groom in a slowly moving procession towards the wedding...

Just before we reached the hotel they cleared the road and set up this long line of firecrackers...

When the groom arrives he goes through the ritual of haath boravanu where the groom puts his hand in water and cannot remove them until he negotiates an amount of money to pay to the to sisters of the bride (or friends).

He enters the room and then a sheet is held in front of him so he can't see as the bride is carried into the room.

They exchange garlandsand everyone throws rice.

The ring is put in pot of water mixed with milk and vermillion. The first one to find it 4 times is said to be the one who will rule the household! the bride won :)

Then dancing and more dancing

Closeup of the brides hands, which took 7 hours to paint

jewelry in India...

2006-08-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

the jewelry here is just my style... big chunky natural stones. So in addition to the ring in my henna post I picked up this necklace for ~$45 USD. Ladies get your requests in now! Necklace, earrings, or bracelet?

How slow?

2006-08-26T13:49:00.000-07:00

very serious about the speed limit around here...

I got a tattoo!!

2006-08-25T00:59:00.000-07:00

Don't worry mom, it's not permanent! It's a henna tattoo which should last 2-4 weeks.

After the paste was applied.

an hour later when it's starting to come off...

a little orange....

with my cool new moonstone ring, it has turned a little darker..

Jason's coming to India!

2006-08-23T01:46:00.000-07:00

Jason has reserved a flight to come visit, & it looks like he'll be on 5 different flights to get here....Now that's love!

Rough idea of how our trip might go, starting in the north. All of this is about 17 days!

More on the places we are planning to go later...

Leela Palace

2006-08-21T21:03:00.000-07:00

Leela Palace is basically the Ritz Carlton of Bangalore. Rooms go for about $500 USD /night. We're a little more cost-conscious so instead of staying there we just went for the Sunday Champagne Brunch. Real meat, cheese, chocolate fountain & all the champagne you can drink for 4 hours!

The group, clockwise from the front: Stuart, Jo, Kris, Sat, Isabella, Canadian Mike, Mikey, Obie, Julie, Josh & Jules

Apparently our former Commander-in-Chief is a big fan of the Leela!

More pics of Leela

the pool..

the hot tub...

flowers everywhere, it smells fantastic in there...

More pictures of Leela here

More on the spa later :)

Thanks Dad!

2006-08-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well I had a pretty crappy day yesterday, just not feeling well, woke up on the wrong side of the bed. So it was really nice to come back to the office last night & find I had a delivery waiting for me.

Thanks Dad!

Please leave me some comments!

2006-08-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

I changed the settings so you should be able to leave comments without being a registered user.

If you're commenting without being logged in, please leave your name.

So please leave me some comments! I love hearing from you guys and it lets me know who's reading.

Thanks!

Jojo the teacher....

2006-08-21T00:55:00.000-07:00

So it's not all fun and games here...

Some shots of me in action

Me talking to the boss, KP, and fellow trainer JJ on the left

Hiding in the back

Bannerghatta National Park

2006-08-19T20:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, despite a wicked hangover (I'm so done trying to keep up w/the 21 year-olds!), I went on a group trip to Bannerghatta National Park which is a wildlife refuge.

We got on the bus....

On the bus...
My students from front to back: Holly, Sat, Stuart, & Bonna

Drove about 1.5 hours with a bumby ride to see some lions and tigers and bears (oh my!)...

and this is pretty cool. These structures were built by ants!!

Elephant mucus...

2006-08-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here's a video from yesterday of some of us getting on an elephant (I'm the first one on). Notice at the end, the elephant sneezes and the woman standing next to it gets covered in elephant snot :)

I'm a photojournalist!! (kinda)

2006-08-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by a Canadian new site called NowPublic for permission to use this photo that I took walking down the street on Independence Day...

Go to this page and I think I'm like the 4th picture in the picture strip above the story. Not that big of a deal, but it's kinda cool!

The importance of punctuation...

2006-08-16T04:55:00.000-07:00

probably not what Mr. Anu had in mind!

We'd really rather you not....

2006-08-16T04:54:00.000-07:00

Indian Independence Day celebrations...

2006-08-16T03:56:00.000-07:00

Flag raising (taken from my balcony)

Kids in traditional dress....

This little girl totally busted a move...

Flowers (jasmine, I believe) in the hair...

See more here

Happy Independence Day India!

2006-08-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

Today, like our July 4th, is the day India celebrates its freedom from the evil British Empire! (just kidding to all my lovely British friends...)

:)

More to follow on the celebrations today.....

I got some iiiice cream....

2006-08-14T23:37:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness for the Corner Store where I can get real ice cream! The banana caramel milkshake is to die for.... good thing I've been working out every day!

Apt at dawn...

2006-08-14T02:10:00.000-07:00

Well due to my completely screwed up sleep schedule, I've been able to take a couple photos of the apt complex at dawn. I think this one is particulary representative of the really cool color the sky is very early in the morning...

I miss my baby :(

2006-08-12T23:56:00.001-07:00

Send me stuff!!!

2006-08-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

What I really, really want is pictures/and or posters. I hate the bare white walls & I'd love to wallpaper them with pictures. Please send me pics of you, your dog, the flowers in your yard, your trip to the Grand Canyon, whatever!

Chocolate and other non-perishable items are also welcome :)

Here's the address from my office where you can send me things:

ThoughtWorks Technologies (India) Pvt Ltd.
c/o Joanna Washburn
2nd Floor, Tower C, Corporate Block, Diamond District
Airport Road, Bangalore - 560 008, India

Please don't forget to include my name somewhere on the package or it might not get to me.

Thanks!

No longer a jail cell...

2006-08-12T23:34:00.000-07:00

Well my room was pretty bare when I got here so last night when I couldn't sleep, I cozied up the place a little bit. I scavenged through the closet of the empty room next to me and found a few things I could use. I borrowed this little end table, and a mirror. Found a straw window covering that I'm using as a rug. Then I moved some plants from the common area no one uses into my room. Amazing what a few plants can do!

On the other side I found a big US map to remind me of home. I also constructed a desk out of parts that were laying around from old office furniture so now I have a place to put my laptop and speakers.

Finally am unpacked with the suitcases put away. I need more pictures!!

38 pieces of flair...

2006-08-11T05:39:00.000-07:00

Needing to take a break from some Indian food, I headed to our neighborhood watering hole...

That's right ladies and gents, you can now get your Radical Burrito here in Bangalore! I stuck to the margarita (pretty OK) and the cheese pizza (inedible).

If I return I will capture the funniest part about TGIF India, which was seeing Indian men dressed in red & white striped uniforms with 37 buttons all over them!

The office...

2006-08-11T04:12:00.000-07:00

The office here in India is very unique compared to the working environments we are used to. It is actually quite representative of the culture and the density of population here. I guess they're used to sitting on top of each other!

The office empty this morning...

full this afternoon....

That's actually only part of the room... no cubicles, no walls, no offices!

Indian food

2006-08-10T01:08:00.000-07:00

So this morning was my first experience with authentic Indian food. We walked down the street, passing this lovely river of sewage (very appetizing)....

on our way to the place affectionately known as the "stand-up place" because well that's what you do when you eat there!

The Stand-Up Place (w/some of my students out front)...

the cooks making my breakfast...

delicious coffee (I don't know why we can't get coffee this good in the US)...

and finally breakfast, which cost 12 rupee ~ $0.25 !! Best quarter I ever spent.

The dish is called masala dosa, and although it was weird having something spicy for breakfast it was quite good. The dosa is the flat pancake-like part. The yellow stuff on it is potatoes, cooked in onions and spices. The light green stuff is coconut chutney. And the red stuff in the bag is called sambar, which is made of lentils and vegetables. You can learn more about it here if you like. Masala Dosa

I'm still getting used to eating with my hands, as well as eating with one hand. (It's considered uncouth to eat with your left hand, for reasons I won't go into here!)

That's all for now!

Airport Rd & transportation

2006-08-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

So my scariest experience yet has been crossing Airport Rd, them main road outside of our office. There are no lights, stop signs or crosswalks. And unlike in the US if you step in front of someone's car they will not brake for you. It's kind of like your own version of Frogger. So I crossed it last night when it was dark, even more scary! Here's a pic of it this morning.

Here's some people hanging out (literally) on the bus this morning.

Here's the local taxi that I haven't had the pleasure of riding in yet.

Arrived in India

2006-08-09T11:40:00.000-07:00

Bear with me as I'm tired and still learning how to format these posts.

Here is the link to my India photos on Flickr. I will continue to add photos to this location. Photos

You can find pics of my apartment complex, as well as a couple from dinner. Notice how greasy I am as I was afraid to take a shower in my scary bathroom (more pics to follow).

I arrived in Bangalore around midnight local time and made it through customs by 1:30. I was picked up by a driver and brought to the appt which is very close to the airport. I tipped the driver 200 rupees which is ~ $5 USD, which I found out was as much people as some of the drivers make in a few days. Oops!

I'm very glad I brought my only sheets as my bed is a platform with a 3" piece of foam on top. So it's at least nice to have some soft sheets and pillows from home since all they gave me was a very scratchy flat sheet covering the foam and some scratchy blankets that appear to be 50 years old. My room when I arrived:

The apt complex is huge. This was taken from the balcony outside my room.

I know you're thinking "Wow, that looks nice!". And from far away it kinda does. But trust me it's a little scary.

FYI, the time difference is 10.5 hours ahead so when it's noon in Chicago it's 10:30 pm in India.

I leave you with some pics of my temporary "cankles", feet and ankles swollen from sitting on a plane for about 17 hours. Fun, huh?

My new itinerary

2006-07-26T12:56:00.000-07:00

Lufthansa Flight 9151 Economy
From: Chicago O'Hare Int'l Airport, IL 6:33 pm, Monday, August 7
To: Frankfurt Int'l Airport 9:55 am, Tuesday, August 8

Lufthansa Flight 754 Economy
From: Frankfurt Int'l Airport 11:20 am, Tuesday, August 8
To: Bangalore Hindustan Airport 11:50 pm, Tuesday, August 8