Seoul, Korea

We arrived in Soeul today about 12:30. To get here we left our hotel in Hyderabad about 5pm to catch an 8pm flight to Delhi. The Jet Airways flight was delayed so they booked us on Indian Airlines and we were able to fly out a little earlier. It was a bit confusing but Jet Airways was very helpful. They helped us in Hyderabad and also greeted us in Delhi to help us get to the International airport. They pretty much helped out with the entire process which would have been confusing withouth them. Huge thanks to Jet Airways and Mahesh and his dad.

The flight from Delhi took about 2 hours. We arrived at 9:30 and our flight to Seoul (Asiana Airlines) didn't leave until about 2am (Sunday) so we just hung out in the airport. I talked to a man from Italy who has travelled to India, China, and was headed to Seoul and then to Paris for work. His company builds the wiring for dashboards of cars (such as the speedometer & tac).

The Asiana Airlines flight is about 6-7 hours long. We arrived in Seoul at 12:30 (16 hours ahead of Seattle time and 3.5 hours later than Delhi), went to our hotel and then took a shuttle to downtown for shopping and a palace.

Seoul is much like the U.S. There are highways and drivers drive in the lanes. There seems to be a large amount of construction being done (possibly more dwellings)? The first place we went was a market similar to a street fair in Fremont. Then we went to the palace and then on to an area that has 24 hour shopping. It's like an outdoor mall with little shops all along the sides, a one/two lane "street" and kiosks outside of shops.

The weather here is similar to Seattle (for today anyways). Unlike India where almost everyone knows English it is more difficult to communicate. There is also a large police presence that is very visible in the streets. Our driver did not speak much English, but demonstrated as to why by flexing his arm muscle so we think it is to show the presence of police.

We came back to our hotel and had dinner about 9pm. Our hotel is outside of town and close by the airport so after dinner, Leena, Nivi, Josh, Luke, Kenta and Charlene and I walked around outside. It's nice out but drizzling. There are convenience stores about every block (kind of like the ABC stores in Hawaii). I recommend the melon popsicle - VERY good. It's a milk and melon flavor. YUM!!

It's about 11:30 tonight. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 5pm and arrives in Seattle at 11:00am that same day. I get to relive the same day. :-) Just kidding. Lauren - we cross the dateline so I get to go back in time.

I actually miss India. Seoul seems a lot like the U.S. yet it's different. I'm not sure this culture is as open to Americans as India seems to be. Hard to say - I've only been here for a partial day but interacting with people here is VERY different from what I experienced in India. With the exclusion of the toilets and lack of t.p., I prefer India. Although - dinner tonight was exceptional. I had a Korean beef dinner that had strips of beef, rice, soup, dried shrimp (shell included - and it was GREAT!), mushrooms, a couple of spicy vegetable dishes and pickeled cucumbers. (They aren't quite pickles). Each of the dishes comes in its own little bowl. Kenta who is Japanese was able to explain what everything was. I recommend this dish.

I am looking forward to coming home but am sad to leave India. We've had such a great experience overall with visiting companies and sightseeing and with the people in general in India. I would love to come back.

Hyderabad was my least favorite because it seems much more western than the other cities we visitied. My favorite cities are Jaipur and Mumbai.

Gotta run. See you all tomorrow.

r















Thursday was the last night that all of us were together before everyone started going their own way. Chia and Kim went to London, Mick, Nivi and Leena went to Delhi to visit family (to reconnect with us on our flight out of Delhi), Seema's off to Mumbai, and Jessica and Rick (dad and professor) are leaving today (Saturday) for Chennai. Jac is going to Hong Kong and China to visit family. We will all reconnect in October in Seattle to celebrate our trip.

These pictures are from our "grand last supper", Thursday, at the Sheridan. I am dressed in a traditional saree minus the blouse. I did not have mine made, so the end of my saree is actually the piece that is typically made into a blouse. The blouse has short sleeves and the length is usually only to right above your stomach. You can show your stomach but it's not as good to show your shoulders.

Speaking of sarees, women wear sarees to do construction work, to go to weddings, to ride motorcycles, etc... The first picture is of women doing construction. They load gravel and bricks on their head and move it this way.

Gotta run,
joy

Quick note...

My friend Charlene (also on this tour) has her own blog at http://charlene-india.blogspot.com. This will give you more info that I can't remember. :-) Go Charlene!!

Just a couple...

The sign is from the airport in Mumbai... The group picture was taken with a school called Akashka (spelling isn't correct...) that works to help underprivileged children and these are the teachers they are training to better meet the needs of these children. GREAT program and phenomenal individuals.

Gotta run.

I can't get pics to post tonight for some reason.

9-11-06

Today we left our hotel in Mumbai about 4am. Our flight for Hyderabad wasn’t until about 8:30 but based on how long it’s been taking us to get anywhere we allowed two hours. It took a half hour so we snoozed at the airport.

It’s hard to believe we have less than one week left.

Hyderabad is hot like everywhere else, but it’s much more dry. (Yeah)! Everything here is much more spread out and Hyderabad seems to be a much “younger” city than Delhi and Mumbai. Most of the buildings look so much nicer and they are larger and there seems to be a smaller number of tents and 10x10 houses. The whole place appears much cleaner than everywhere else we’ve been and the streets are nice too. Although driving is better, drivers still blow their horns – the worst of which is our bus which sounds like an elephant. It’s the only horn that will wake us up! We’ve adapted to the other types of horns because the driving in between businesses has been the time to catch up on our sleep and unless you can tune them out, the horns will drive you nuts. Drivers here have their thumbs on the horn all the time.

We visited the India School of Business (ISB) and Infosys today. Both are remarkable. ISB is a one year post graduate program. Students live on campus and are typically studying and doing class work for 18hours a day. The campus itself is absolutely beautiful. This year there are 415 students. The school was started five years ago with about 100 students graduating.

Infosys is directly across from the ISB. This campus is incredible as well. There are lawns and miniature golf and fountains and open areas for performances, etc. Everything was built within the last 5 years. ISB was started with only $250 (about 10 years ago?) and now profits are $2billion. If you have time, check out Infosys' mission statement.

What continues to amaze me is the stark difference between what you see outside of businesses and what you see inside them. Everything seems so dirty in many of the cities we’ve been to yet once you step inside one of the corporations, it’s like being in western culture all over again. India is growing at what seems like an exponential pace. I have to remember the difference too between what the US defines as good or clean or poverty is very different from what is acceptable or seen here. The shacks we saw in Mumbai are what 30% of Mumbai’s population lives in. Most are about 10x10ft and have no water or toilets. Water is delivered and each family (usually the young girls) has to go to get the water for their personal use.

After Infosys we headed to our hotel which ended up being a bust. It stunk and was filthy so we headed back across town to stay in a hotel across from the ISB. This hotel is phenomenal. I actually feel a bit guilty because I’m not getting the full India experience. We have beautiful rooms a gorgeous pool… internet access from our rooms – that is fast!!! … nice hangers and space to put things away and a gorgeous tub! It’s like being in the US and it only costs $110/night because we’re students. Dinner was a full buffet of really great Indian and American food. (A whopping 750 rupis – about $15). A bit on the high side, but we were starving and most of us are going on only a couple hours of sleep. Oh – and the pool was awesome. AND – did I mention that the pool is open 24 hours a day)!! Lauren, you would LOVE it.

More pics

This is Mahesh at NSE with the projector... The picture of Jac and I - Mic is behind us. :-)

The first is of Charlene in the gym at ICICI bank.

Pictures

The big group picture (indoors) is from our trip to National Stock Exchange. Notice all the sharp suits everyone has! The outdoor picture is at ICICI. Fantastic company. They are the ones with the micro-finance segment - in Hyderabad we may have a chance to take a Saturday morning trip to see this "branch" firsthand. I'm very excited to see this.
The fist picture is us meeting with Sun Pharmaceuticals in their board room.

Today

Today we went to an organization that works to train teachers to give them good skills to better meet the needs of children, especially underprivileged children. I am so excited about this. I will post more later on it w/ the name. I'm heading off to get my Paijan jabi and saree fitted. But I'm hot and exhausted! Oh well. Later tonight I will join the rest of the group to hit clubs.
Gotta run.
Joy

Blog from 9/8/06

9/8/06

Today we went to Bollywood and Hinditron. We had to meet everyone by 8:00 so I got up at 6:30 to get ready. I called Lauren to see how her first day of school went. She also had her first swim meet. She had a great first day. I ate breakfast in the hotel and then headed down to the lobby. We have to dress nice for Hinditron so I brought my brown jacket.

The bus ride took a couple hours (as usual) to get to Bollywood. We watched some scenes from a gangster movie that is based on a true story from Mumbai where gangsters held up a bank (?) and fought off police for hours. It’s called Shootout at Lokhand wala. The movie will be on DVD after the beginning of the year. There was one really famous actor (equivalent to someone like Matt Damon) and another man and woman actor/actress as well. Our group was ecstatic. Seema was able to meet with the famous one and then brought some of the group out to meet him as well.

We ate lunch (delicious) at Bollywood. It is incredibly hot and humid and occasionally one of us will get too dehydrated and feel faint and have to sit and drink water and eat something. Today was Jessica’s day. The others were hung over from partying until late. In fact, most of them were still buzzed when we got on the bus at 8pm. They had a blast at a bar nearby. I stayed in because I was sick. I was still sick today with a chest cold. Mmmm what fun.

After Bollywood, we drove to a country club and met with the owner of Hinditron and his son, the President from the American Alumni Association, the Chamber of Commerce, a man from a software company and several other people. They were so appreciative and genuinely touched that we came to India and wanted to visit with them. The owner of Hinditron obtained his degree from the University of Washington, years ago, so it was nice to see him. These men are very driven. It is exciting to see how finance and industry are shaping this country. I may consider getting my masters degree in India. I talked to Ratu, the president of the AAA. I definitely want to keep in touch with these individuals. We were given presentations for about 1.5 hours and then ate dinner together.

The drive back wasn’t nearly as long as the other drives. Once back, Prof. Vandra and Charlene and I went to the Dome Broma (the café for the foods of the gods). I had apple pie and latte and helped Charlene finish her bread pudding. Okay – I ate most of it.

Then we went shopping along the avenue and I bought some souvenirs and stuff. Elephants, scarves, and a wallet.

It’s been a long day. The group is off to go clubbing but I’m still pretty sick so I’m going to bed.

PS. The weather in each city is incredibly hot. Mumbai is the most damp because it is located right next to the Arabian Sea. Dehli was also pretty muggy followed by Jaipur. Agra was hot but much dryer. To give you an idea of how hot Delhi was, within 1 hour of being out, our clothes were sopping with sweat. It’s funny, they get so sweaty and yet they don’t really smell. It’s like you’re just sweating water.

Other differences – I didn’t feel safe in Delhi or Jaipur, but I feel like I can walk around Mumbai and be fairly safe. Even at night (about 9pm), but I’m still only going out with others. The edge of the water is about a block away but it is a rock wall. The beach is a short taxi ride. The gateway of India monument is nearby our hotel as well. The hotel we are in is called fareyas. Of course we came up with another name for it so we could remember it.

Thanks to all of you for the e-mails and well wishes and birthday wishes! I hope everyone is doing great. Lauren – great job on your week and your swim meets. Love you bug!

Take care to everyone and I’ll talk to you soon.

This is from 9/7/06.

9-7-06

Today we visited the National Stock Exchange and ICICI Bank.

The schedule was to meet in the lobby at 9:30 am so Charlene and Luke and I went to the Diem Broma café, a chocolate/desert/sandwich café that has “food of the gods” written beneath the name. It was incredible. (We ate there yesterday as well). I had the carrot cake (yes, for breakfast) and the bread pudding. The carrot cake was good except that the “cream cheese” frosting was gross. Luke liked it, so he got the frosting. The bread pudding was incredible. I asked if they would sell the recipe and they refused. Then I asked if they would start a café in the US. I think the guy thought I asked him to visit us in the US. Little language barrier.

The drive to the NSE (National Stock Exchange) took much longer than we planned for. Apparently “not too far” means 1.5 – 2 hours away. Unless the driver was going to the wrong place originally. Not entirely sure, but we were 40 minutes late.

The NSE was my team’s company for briefing and information. They are the leading stock exchange of India of which there are two, the other being the Bombay Stock Exchange. It is entirely internet based trading and is competitive internationally with the NASDAQ and the NYSE.

Every meeting companies provide cookies – similar to tea biscuit type of cookies and tea or coffee. The tea is Chai tea and the coffee is typically instant Nescafe and you can have them with milk and/or sugar. These are served on china with small saucers and tea cups. Another interesting cultural difference is that in most of the companies we’ve visited, it is all right to answer your cell phone (at least for those presenting) because this happens repeatedly and they stop their presentation, answer the phone, and begin again with the next sentence of the presentation.

The NSE gave us two presentations. One was general information about the company and the market and the other was about the IT portion. Later that day we also had HR give us a question and answer time. The NSE was generous and also provided lunch for all of us so that we wouldn’t have to take our tour bus out of the business district and find a restaurant and come back to go to the ICICI Bank.

Our meeting with ICICI Bank started at 4pm. The ICICI is the second largest bank of India. The presentation was general about the function of the ICICI, yet also very intriguing. One of the portions that appeals to me is the Micro Finance piece. In my Global Environment of Business Course with Prof. Reinnoldt, my team project was on Micro Insurance for the poor. ICICI has a micro finance segment that links with micro insurance. It seems to me that to truly impact welfare for children (which is something I am interested in), one needs to start with public policy, infrastructure and the economic growth, etc. of that segment of the population. Without the right foundation, just helping one area will not solve the problem. The ICICI seems like a great company in what they provide and what they do.

After the presentation we were taken on a brief tour of the facilities. This is a beautiful building.

We left ICICI about 5-5:30 and headed back to the hotel. Charlene and I are sick with some kind of chest cold so we opted to get a local doctor to visit us at the hotel to make sure it was just a normal cold as we are going to be doing more traveling (and most likely less sleeping) over the next week. The doctor cost 1000 Rupis ($20) for both of us, to visit us at the hotel. Although it is definitely not as professional as a doctor in the US, he wrote down the name of the drugs we need for antibiotics. Apparently you don’t need a prescription here for most drugs. With the exception of sleeping pills. So Charlene and I drug our sick butts out to the local “hole in the wall” of a drug store. Everything is either a tiny little shop or a stand on the street. AND most require bartering. The equivalent of Pseudo fed was 18 rupis (about 30 cents) and the prescription was equivalent to $1.25. Really cheap.

From the drug store we went to a Veg Restaurant and had dinner which consisted of buttered Non, Paneer Marsala (which we gave to some of the others when they showed up), spring rolls, mango lassi (YUM!), Hot & Sour soup, pomegranate juice (Charlene’s choice) and chai tea. Very good. Total cost (minus the paneer marsala which Nivi ended up eating and buying) was about 500 Rupis or $10. Not bad seeing as half the group was nibbling on most of the meal with us – which worked out perfectly because we were stuffed!

We came back and headed to bed/download pics/write this blog…
It’s now 10:20pm. Good night.
Note to self… gotta experiment with bread pudding when I come home. That was like heaven in the mouth. The group may join me for a cooking evening of experimenting to get the right taste.

Blog from 8/30 & 9/1... finally able to save it to disk to post.

August 30, 2006 – Delhi, India
10:00pm

From Seoul, Korea, the flight was about 7.5 hours. I no longer feel tall… just white and different. We arrived in Delhi at 11:30pm Aug 29th to a torrential downpour. After getting all of our luggage, we were accosted by men offering to push our baggage carts and load luggage onto the hotel bus. Being unsure as to whether they were with the hotel or not, we allowed them to help. In India, for the most part we are learning that you do not want people helping you because various individuals will try to gain money from you for things you don’t need or can get talked into. They are very pushy and will plead or follow or bug you until either you give in or they give up. Walking down streets, individuals will offer to help you find someplace to go and lead you to a specific shop where they will get a commission for bringing you there. You have to ask multiple people for help before you know which direction or shop is the correct one. Back at the airport, these men were trying to earn outrageous tips by pushing our baggage carts about 50 yards. We definitely looked like foreigners making us an easy target. The one helping me tried to get me to pay him but one of the professors in the group had already paid for all of us. Apparently this man didn’t think he’d been paid (or the others didn’t share with him) so he kept bugging me to pay him. We told him to go away to no success, so I waited until all of the luggage was loaded onto the bus before I would board, just to make sure he didn’t try to get paid by grabbing a bag.

It was dark and pouring so our first glimpse of the city was rather dismal. We did see some cows and traffic is outrageous! There are no actual lines for cars to drive between, they just take up space in the road where they can fit. One of the takis (tiny motorized vehicles with open doors – like a cart – that are used like taxis) was stalled in the ½ foot deep water and as cars went around, the occupants were drenched. Not a fun way to sightsee! The roads are dirty and there are potholes everywhere – not potholes like we have that just need repair, these are like large cracks or holes in the road. If a manhole cover looks loose – don’t step on it because you could fall in. Sidewalks are broken here and there and buildings look old and dusty. Everything looks like it is being piecemealed together. Cargo trucks are from various colors and appear to be an entourage of parts from different trucks. One part is bright yellow, another part green, another part odd looking chrome with more chrome…

When getting water from stands and even in the hotel, we have to make sure that the seals are not broken. Vendors will try to sell bottles of water that are just recycled. A pepsi bottle (from the old glass bottles) appeared dirty and had chips on the glass like the glass had been recycled and the coke just added. The bottle didn’t even look clean. A jewelry dealer offered me this, so I drank one sip and decided to pour it down the drain later in my room rather than risk getting sick.

This is the overall feel of Delhi to me – that of people making a living by scrapping what they can and making it appear new or better to get someone else to pay for it so that they can survive. The people are very ingenious at what they do. You will find people begging either with a child in tow or children will beg, or in the underground sidewalks (the only safe way to bypass the intersections alive), you will find people without legs or with deformities that look awful. They reach out to you with their cup as you pass. At the markets, everything is for bartering. While you look at different “booths,” other men walking by will follow you trying to sell you things that they say they hand carved or made (taking a look on the bottom is a stamp of “made in India”). They will follow you and incessantly bother you. Yet this is how they survive. They have to be aggressive.

The hotel we are staying at is nice. This morning I looked out the window and it’s like looking into the slums. The housing is nothing like the US. (Except maybe some dilapidated place in New Mexico or Texas but even then NM and TX have better infrastructure). Buildings look old and dirty. Water tanks are set on top of the buildings. Laundry can be seen hanging from lines and draped over rails. A temple is across the street from the hotel so there is ongoing chanting or singing or talking on the loud speaker. That’s another thing – the sounds here are quite different. From the horns on the cars which do not sound like ours at all to the singing in the temples to the sound of people talking, it’s strange yet beautiful. The smell is a cross between incense, kettel corn and dried fish. Sometimes I like it and sometimes I think I’ll be sick. Especially in the underground tunnels that smell of urine and filth.

The hotel soap appears to be “recycled.” It has a label that looks new and a used bar in the package. The water isn’t safe to drink so we use bottled water for brushing teeth. I have a roommate who I will be sharing hotel rooms with for the next three cities. The group is great. There are 16 students and 2 professors. Most are from the main campus and other than myself and one other gal, everyone appears to be in their early twenties. About 4 people are from India and several speak Hindi which is very valuable as we try to navigate the streets.

It is incredibly humid and hot here. This morning at 10am 7 of us went out to explore a little and buy cell phones/calling cards. Luckily my phone seems to work here (after I figured out how to dial out). [By the way – don’t call it/ leave messages until I get back - unless it’s an emergency, because I have to pay at least $1.40/hour if not more. After about an hour of hanging out we were all completely drenched in sweat. While waiting for the group to get their phones, Jessica (a Sociology student) and I went outside and two men walked up and started talking to Jessica. They start off simple and broad and then get down to whether or not she’s single, whether I’m single, and then get to “why just friends?”… Rather entertaining. Harmless as long as we’re together, but I’m not sure it’s safe to go out alone in this part of the city.

Food so far has been great. For breakfast we had traditional Indian dishes which I thought were more like lunch. They did have eggs, but we’re erring on the cautious side to avoid getting sick. Breakfast is mostly carbs such as crousants, some kind of rolled crepe item with potatoes and other stuff in it, and hash “brawns” which are the size of miniature muffins and taste a little bit like hash browns. There is breaded cheese (doesn’t taste like mozzarella sticks – bummer!) and breaded chicken. And of course dipping sauces. Lunch after haggling at the market and sweating was in a nice air conditioned restaurant and consisted of traditional India food again. This evening’s dinner was at a local Chinese restaurant. The fried rice has an Indian flavor to it but is Chinese overall. Since I’m a bit paranoid, I brought about 20 power bars, peanut butter and oatmeal and saltines just in case I can’t eat here or get sick. I think I also packed everything the pharmacy offered so if anyone needs anything I’m sure I’ll have plenty left after I get back.

Tomorrow’s agenda consists of options of going to get fitted for suits and shopping or sightseeing and then off to V-Customer, our first company visit. We will have a company brief prior to going to brush up on anything we should know.


September 1, 2006 – Delhi
12:30 am

It’s about noon Seattle time on August 31st. We’ve had a really full day today. Last night most of the group went to another hotel for drinks and had a great time. I thought I’d join them tonight but everyone was too exhausted. And now I’m staying up late instead to journal and download pictures.

I took over 500 pictures today. What I want to have pictures of is the daily life. The roads are filled with mainly men and some children and a few women. Traffic is insane. Did I mention… traffic is insane? Every car and yes this is every car, with the exception of a couple that appeared brand new, have dents and dings on them. It’s like driving while playing bumper cars. Our taxi almost hit a pedestrian today. It’s crazy. There are cars and taxis and tuk-tuks (known here as auto rickshaws) and motorcycles and bicycles and even people walking on the road ways. Even people can be seen walking along the “highways.” There are cows here and there, monkeys (I have yet to see one – although I did get blessed by the holy man at the monkey god in one of the temples…hmm hopefully this won’t be like the turtles in Hawaii Sherri??), and dogs that look horrible. They are thin and sickly looking.

Along the street there are so many people just hanging out, all day long. Some are street vendors, some are beggars, some are walking somewhere, some are military people or police carrying guns. I don’t feel safe walking alone here and will not try it. You are bombarded by beggars and “touts” as the book “Humbler than Dust” calls them. (Great book for those that want a taste of India – thanks Sally! Great selection. I’m not done yet but enjoyed what I’ve read. It’s right on with some of the descriptions). Seeing so many people milling around makes me wonder what they do all day. Why aren’t they doing something? Do they have jobs? Do they all beg for a living? Where do they live? And where are the women? There are a few, but there are mostly men just hanging out. The shops are nothing like the states. They are small holes in the wall where you barter for everything. And you trust almost no one because everyone seems to be out to help you so that they can get a commission. Even what appeared to be a guide employed by the Tomb we visited ended up being someone asking for money. Yes… the term “sucker” comes to mind. Supposedly there is a mall, but our tour guide today told us that the malls are not as popular in India because they cannot provide as good of service that the women like as the small shops and shop owners do. The culture here is so interesting yet so intimidating. I saw one white woman with her little daughter on the street today and was struck by how they stood out. Even though they appear to live here. Then it occurred to me how I must look. Especially hanging out of a taxi window with a camera as buses full of Indian men drive by and they just stare. Some will smile and wave, but most just look at you. Children will come up to the car and do somersaults and tricks in hopes of getting money. It is sad and you want to give them something but it only encourages this to be a norm for this population. But what options do they have? There are so many of them. It’s not like the US where they can have the opportunity to go to college if they work hard. Most of these people will work hard just to live and survive. It is unbelievable. And in a brief glimpse it appears almost unchangeable. Yet everything here is changing and changing rapidly as this country is emerging and competing with the rest of the world.

Today we had the option of getting fitted for suits that are about $100-200 USD or going sight seeing. I opted for sightseeing as we can also do suits in other cities. We visited Laxmi Narayan Birla Mandir – a temple in Delhi and Qutab Minar a tower in south Delhi. We took three taxis for 11 of us. We also stopped at a merchant shop where they sold silks, textiles, trinkets, and stone elephants, etc. Way overpriced but beautiful.

We met back at the hotel at noon and showered and had lunch and then the entire group (18 total) took a bus tour and drove by Parliament, stopped by the India Gate for pictures and then toured Humayun’s tomb. It is similar in some ways to the Taj Mahal except that this one was built by a wife for her husband.

From here we went to our first company visit, V-Customer. The V stands for Virtual. V-Customer is a call center for several companies in the United States. It was interesting talking to the manager of marketing. The life cycle of the boom of call centers in India is suppose to end about 2012. All employees working at this call center must have a bachelor degree. Most have bachelor degrees in Engineering or Commerce and managers have MBAs.

By the time this tour was over we were exhausted and slept most of the way back to the hotel. It took forever. It was 8pm and traffic was horrible and the horns are incessant. The horns here sound different and drivers keep one hand on the horn at all times because it is necessary just to drive down the street so that you can hopefully avoid others by using your horn to let them know you are coming and that they need to get out of the way or get hit or speed up. Needless to say it took an hour or two to get back.

It is still hot and humid. It sprinkled a little but no torrential downpour today.

We showered, had a bite to eat and most of us crashed. Except me… I’m still downloading pictures and trying to write something for the blog.

Feel free to e-mail me. I enjoy the contact from home. It is very different here.

My birthday...

I had the best birthday ever. It started on Friday night. The entire group (with the exception of 1 student and the profs) went to a club in Delhi and we danced all night. We had to be back to the hotel by 3am and left at 3:30 to go to the airport for Jaipur. Once in Jaipur, we checked into the hotel and slept, did some jewelry shopping ... okay well a LOT of jewelry shopping... and then we went to a village that puts on a festival to celebrate their culture. So I got to ride a camel and a man-powered ferris wheel on my birthday. And had two men offer to visit me in the United States. Hmm. Indian men are gorgeous. Ahh well, must be the red hair.

The camel ride cost 5 rupis each (about 1 US penny) as was the man powered ferris wheel. The dinner was an authentic meal. One of the highlights from dinner was when Charlene was showing the men in orange hats her camera pictures. Hilarious!

Today 9/6/06 is the Ganesh festival here in Mumbai where Ganesh, a Hindi god that is half
elephant and half man is taken to the beach and thrown into the ocean. It's quite a party on the streets tonight so we've opted to be safe and stay inside because it's a little out of hand on the beach.

These pictures are from Delhi from August 31st. This is a tomb that we visited (the wife built it for her husband who died by falling down stairs - 'the tumbler' - I'll have to look up the name of the tomb).

The kiss picture is at a tower in Delhi - here's to you Lauren! Hugs and kisses from India! (Red dot on the forhead included... from a temple we visited where I had the red put on my forehead - like a blessing - at the monkey god)

Pictures

These pictures are from Mumbai where we are staying now. Traffic here is different than Delhi. In Delhi, there are no lines on the street and if there are, they are only for decoration. No one uses them. It's kami-kazi on wheels. In Jaipur, add in bicycles and remove cars and add camels. In Mumbai, the lines are actually used and there are more cars, more types of cars ... just more of everything. The apartment picture if of a "middle class" type of home. Poor live in shacks such as the one hre where a woman is washing clothes.

Catch up time...

Hi all,
I have been so busy the last few days - we've had access to the internet but I've been on a dead run. Attached are pics of our group at the Taj Mahal. The camel picture is taken from the train on the way from Jaipur to Agra where the Taj Mahal is. This is a 5 hour train ride from our hotel to the Taj and then back in the same day. The heat is unbelievable. I actually puked in the train station in Jaipur the morning we were leaving (mostly from taking my malaria meds on an empty stomach, but also from the smell and heat and lack of sleep). We have given "awards" to individuals who do the first ... vomit, pass out, cry... Although I did get the category of most graceful puker. Charlene says I vomit like a gazelle. NICE. Great thing to be known for.

The Taj was incredible. The food is incredible. Even the bugs are cool! Check out the grasshopper... yes Lauren... I'm posting bug pictures! [It doesn't look like the upload on this pic worked, so maybe I'll post the grasshopper later].

This blog will be mostly pics because the speed is really good on this internet. I'm using the one in the hotel in Mumbai. It's incredibly humid here. The poverty is very disturbing. There are 16million people (officially) and another 2+million unofficially that live in tents or make their own homes from wood and garbage and bags, etc. There is trash everywhere.

Delhi is more like a fast paced medium sized city. The traffic is insane, it is like bumper cars everywhere with bicycles and pedestrians competing as well. Jaipur is my favorite city thus far. I actually am in love with Jaipur. It is a lot smaller, traffic is still insane, but there is something about this place that pulls me. The infrastructure there is horrible though. Electrical wiring is exposed in the tangles on the sides of the street and there are holes in the sidewalk that would be difficult to get out of if you fell. They are multiple feet + deep. The smell here is of urine and incense and heat. It has a sweet odor to the air.

Mumbai is very different from either. There are so many people here. Everything is packed in and dirty. It's actually very difficult for me to continue to look at. It costs about $25-30 USD to rent a space about 10x5' and this is one level of a two level "flat."

It appears that the pics aren't uploading so I'll post this and check back in a bit to add more.