A little kettle of lentils for the infirm

So how has it been going, you ask...
Work has been great, I have enjoyed it very much. Each day I bounce to work in the car and each day I return to the hotel. I really cannot venture out of the hotel, so I am either in the car, at work, or in the hotel. But I staying very busy and that is good.
The unfortunate thing that has happened is that my digestive system has totally given up. At first I thought it was the spicy food, but now I think that my western body has met an organism that it can not handle. The cipro tablets have been started. Meanwhile, it is difficult to decide what to eat that will actually stay with me. Tonight's dinner was a little kettle of lentil soup, called Dal Bukhara, described in the menu as a "traditional all time favorite black lentils cooked overnight on tandoor and finished with a butter cream swirl". This came by way of a room service tray, along with nam bread. You dish the lentils out of the kettle in to a ridiculously little bowl with a large spoon, then dip the nam bread in like a scoop and eat. Also arriving on the tray were two canned cokes. Yea!

So far, what are the most treasured things that I packed for the trip, you ask...
I would have to say the bar of hand-made soap given to me by a friend, the silk sleep sack, the deet insect repellent cream, my kindle and this blog which was lovingly created by my daughter for me to use, to write, and to stay in touch. Thank you sweet daughter.

So how is the weather... (you are tired of asking, i know)
The monsoon is upon us and serious puddling has started. Some times it drizzles, some times it is a torrent. The roadside grasses are green and the flowers and trees at work are beautiful. I saw several egrets on the lawn at work, they were beige and orange tan in color. Also, there is some bird, or I think it is a bird, that comes to the fire escape near my room each night at dusk and makes the strangest sound. My husband said it is a monkey, but he is just teasing me, I know it must be a tropical bird of some sort, and a large one because it is quite load.
Today is Saturday, and normally I would go in to work, but I am staying in the hotel today, still feeling a little green. I will also be here Sunday, go to work on Monday, then off to the airport on Tuesday.

Sunday outing to Baroda

Hot, dusty and windblown ...

Spidy Lilly

MONKEY

I spotted my first Monkey on the way back to the hotel from work last evening. He was hanging out under a parked truck, a rhesus monkey. He just stared at me, bouncing along in the mini van.
Life at the hotel is different from the guest house, more formal, but also a little more comfortable/western and probably better suited for me. I had dinner last night in the restaurant, with a colleague from the plant and I was able to get some local dish that was not so spicy. It was actually quite good, green peas and some minty greens in a cream sauce, and buttered Nam bread for scooping. As we started dinner I noticed out the window, in the throng of pedestrians and traffic, Muslim men in white tunics all hurrying in one direction. Then we began to hear the prayer songs from the mosque that must be right next door to the hotel, it was very clear and strong. It was sunset.

The grounds at the plant where I am working have some beautiful and exotic vegetation. I will try to see if I will be allowed to take some pictures. There are men clipping, tending and sweeping the grounds all day long. Sweeping, both outside for leaves and clippings, and inside for office floors is done using a 1 foot long bundle of wispy vegetation, tied together, with the sweeper person bent over at the waist, one hand on the small of the back, and one hand to the ground with the "broom". It is very graceful, but looks like it must be very tiring.
While walking from one building at work to another, I noticed an unusual set-up on an overhand over a door, it was a good size rock with a rope tied to it and the rope hanging over the side of the overhang. As I got closer I saw that the rope was tied around a flower pot on the ground, and the rope itself was being used as a trellis for a climbing plant. Ingenious.
At work, it has become clear now, that I cannot manage the spicy food for lunch. So each day they send to the hotel for boiled mixed vegetables and rice for me to eat. I really appreciate the effort and the kindness to my digestion. I eat an American or maybe it is called a British breakfast of eggs and toast, the special lunch, and then I can eat regular local cuisine for dinner.

So in a few minutes I will hop in the mini van, music blaring, and bounce through dusty but interesting streets to work. Some streets are not paved and in all cases we drive on either side of the road, whichever works for rapid forward motion.

Dinner of Peanut M&M ‘s

Yesterday was my first day at work and I truly enjoyed every person that I met. They are smart, articulate and will be excellent to work with for this project. When I started working with them I began to relax and feel more comfortable. Business is business everywhere around the world. But that is enough talking about work.

The ride to work was something on the order of “Crazy Taxi” as we hurled through the streets, potholes and traffic. No people died, no cows died, but I don’t know why.
In front of one store front was a long row of parked scooters and small motorbikes -- all parked in a neat row – except right in the middle of the row was a cow, laying down on the ground, pretending to be another scooter. I laughed out loud.
Children in their uniforms carrying rectangular satchels, larger than the upper part of their body were all moving in the same direction towards school. The school color must be red, they all have on red their pants and jumpers. Teenage school girls are wearing mint green long jumpers slit up the side over pants. They are smiling and laughing on the way home from school, they have back packs.

Tonight I say good-bye to the Guest House and move to the Hotel. The Hotel has Internet service and hopefully a softer bed. I am not sleeping because the bed is extremely hard.
I cannot eat any more spicy, turmeric, yellow food tonight, so I will dine on peanut M&M’s.

After Dinner Mint- take seeds from each and chew!

Geezer for hot water

Very Early (4:30 am local time) morning traveling to Ankleshwar:

Check in at the Mumbai domestic terminal went smoothly. I followed directions to the gate and prepared for security screening. Women go to a separate screening area away from the men, modesty is important. I noticed that women traveling alone are a separate entity -- when I was in Mumbai international terminal, there were special lines set aside for children and unaccompanied women.
Each domestic flight was called out by flight number and destination. I was waiting for them to announce flight 2055 to Vadadora when I heard them calling for a flight to Punambwe with the same flight number. Everybody, and I mean everybody, was waiting for that flight. I went along with the crowd, hoping I was doing the right thing as we crushed on to a bus. It turned out to be the right bus and right plane.
I saw a curious thing on the plane, in the overhead compartment where the stewardess stored the sample seat belt, oxygen mask, etc, was a large flat book clipped sideways in to the compartment for storage. It was red leather with gold lettering and was titled “Instruction Manual in Braille”. I wonder in what circumstance that book is needed?
Arriving in Vadadora I collected my suitcase and found my driver who was holding a company sign. I stepped over my first cow patty on the sidewalk of the airport and saw my first free roaming cows in the parking lot. Cows, little donkeys, goats, and dogs roam just about everywhere.
The drive to Ankleshwar was two or more hours and exhausting as well as interesting. I saw many things I have not seen before:
-- Free roaming cattle competing in the roadway with cars, scooters, scooter rickshaws, and millions of trucks. Hauling is constant in trucks decorated with many colors, with tassels hanging off the fenders and mirrors and metal birds and flowers trailing from the tailgates. Every truck has in bold letters “HORN PLEASE” -- and use the horn with did!! My driver was silent, never said a word, but the horn spoke constantly, beep-be-be-beep. This tells the truck to move out of the fast lane so the car can pass.
--A broken down truck on the road because there was no shoulder to pull off on – the driver had found large rocks and encircled his truck, much like traffic cones, to keep it from being hit in the traffic.
--An overturned truck on it’s side deep in a ditch, with many people milling around, but the contents of the truck, corrugate boxes, neatly stacked up on the road edge in the exact configuration they had been stacked inside the truck. It was like a ghost truck.

Early morning people were bathing and getting ready for work. I saw far more men than I did women. I saw almost no children in the rural areas.
At one point we crossed a long bridge over water that looked like sea water. Before we entered the bridge of two-way traffic, the driver lowered the window and folded the mirror back to make our car width smaller. This bridge and many other smaller bridges I crossed made me wonder how well they could manage the load of all the trucks and car traffic.
How many men ride on a scooter – typically three. How many people typically ride in a scooter rickshaw, about six with children.

It started raining as we approached Ankleshwar. I understand these are only the pre-monsoon showers, that the serious raining will come later.
The guest house is has clean floors and a clean bathroom. It is furnished with red and gold decorated furnishings. I am in room No. 1. I have something called a Geyser. I saw the switch in the bathroom. It is pronounced “geezer”, like “he is a really old geezer”. I am to turn on the geezer for five minutes before I shower so that I can have hot water.
The food at the guest house is spicy and similar for lunch and dinner. Rice and various stews of vegetables and things. Each dish is very colorful and has unique flavors. My favorite meal so far has been breakfast. I had two fried eggs and white bread toast and honey. Heavenly. I am drinking the bottled water, apple juice and hot tea. I have been warned about the fruit, but tasted some last night. We will see how the tummy holds up under all the exotic offerings.
I ventured outside the Guest House, about 10 feet and took some pictures. I saw several guards (armed) in the area so I did not want to venture much further. There are some very kind people here working hard to make sure I am safe, fed, and sound and I do not want to upset their hard work by wandering off in to areas I know nothing about. I am the only person of my color that I have seen since yesterday and being female I certainly do not blend in to the surroundings. I will content myself with working and reading today, which Sunday, and see what Monday has to offer when I “go to Factory” .

Arriving in Mumbai

The plane ride was long, but comfortable. The layflat seats recently installed on the route from NJ to Mumbai made the trip a lot easier. I ate some airline food with flavors and spices I do not recognize.
OK, the taxi ride from the airport to the hotel was a little scary. I paid for the taxi inside, then found the correct taxi, license plate number; The driver about had a strain putting my suitcase up on the roof rack. I think men around the world think the women pack too much!!

Then we embarked on a drive of sorts through some extremely dark streets, full of pot holes, leaking water pipes, puddles of mud and twists and turns. We had to stop once so the taxi driver can go up to some little stand and check the paperwork with ??? somebody. While he was doing this women were trying to talk to me through the window, all the taxi windows were open or not there.

We passed buildings that were being torn down or abandoned, very dark and scary. Increadible contruction on the road, holes and drop offs that were pretty spectacular. You would think some of the pot holes would swallow up the little scooter/rickshaw taxis.

Arriving at the Hyatt Hotel we had to go through a full bomb check of the car and driver They even ran their glove around the steering wheel. Then before I entered the hotel I went through a scanner, and my luggage was xrayed.

The room is excellent, and I have about 4 hours to shower and snooze. I will snack on the fritos and cheese I brought from the lounge at Newark airport.

Tomorrow the flight to Vadadora!!!

TTG. Time to go

3 More Days, the little things..

I was thinking last night, around three in the morning, that I was pretty nervous about the trip. Silly, I know, but that is just where I am right now.

A friend brought me some special soap. Or maybe it' s a lotion in a bar, like soap. You rub it in your hands, as it warms up it make lotion that is insect repellant for your arms and legs. Neat!

I think it is going to be the little things that make the difference; the little things that make this trip a wonderful experience.