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Published: April 2nd 2006
I arrived in Bangalore March 20th around 12:30AM. Flight was fine, but long. Once I finished the first 9 hours, boarded another flight in Frankfurt for another 8 &1/2 hours!
Kelly, VP of the Bangalore office picked me up at the airport. The guest apartment I was supposed to be staying at did not have any openings. The rental agent took us to another apartment that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere to me! My bags were taken to a rear bedroom, and the agent showed us the rest of the apartment. Kelly opened a closed door to one of the other bedrooms (there were 3) and noticed people sleeping! By now it's about 1:30AM. The agent then proceeded to tell us there were people in the other bedroom as well. I thought to myself "there is no way I'm staying here with a bunch of strangers!" Thankfully, Kelly told the agent the setup was not acceptable - that I had to have my own place. The rental agent then got on the phone with his boss who apparently said they would tell the people sleeping there that they had to leave! After more conversation, Kelly just decided that I would come to her place until something opened up. The other Supv., Jeff, was leaving at the end of March so his apt. would open up then.
Went to the office the following evening. Hours are 6:30PM to 3:3AM. Since daylight savings in the States started today, we'll be working 5:30PM to 2:30AM. They do not change time here. I haven't had a problem adjusting to the time too badly, but you can't really do much during the week because your're sleeping until it's just about time to get ready for work. As long as I'm able to fall asleep before it starts getting light, I don't have to use my sleep mask.
Anyway, about the last hour of my first day on the job, we were going to have a meeting in the arena. I had been to the arena earlier that day, but didn't recall that there was a single step on the other side of the door to the hall entrance of the arena. How I ended up being in the lead, I have no clue. I opened the door while looking back to talk with someone and BAM - I went down with all my weight on my left foot. The pain was IMMENSE and my ankle swelled up immediately. I was swarmed by all the adjusters (at least I had witnesses!) I jokingly asked if any of them were doctors! Someone finally got some ice (not easy to do), and Kelly called her driver to pick us up and go to the E.R.
All the while on the way to the E.R. I'm thinking about the medical care standards here. The info the travel clinic gives you indicates it's substandard so I am thinking the worst. We get to the E.R., and it did nothing to calm my fears. The wheelchair they put me in was an old metal thing - probably from the 50's. The Dr. on duty examined my ankle right in the waiting room, and ordered x-rays. The young girl who wheeled me to x-ray was yawning the whole time. The hospital was literally deserted, and I had the feeling I was in the middle of a Vincent Price movie! The x-ray equipment was really old. From my work experience I knew there was too much swelling to get a good look at the bones, and I was praying nothing was broken, so I was pretty relieved when the doc said no bone injury. AS I'M TYPING THIS I CAN HEAR THE MONKEY'S OUTSIDE MAKING THEIR CALLS - PRETTY COOL. Unfortunately, the swelling never went down and I missed 2 days of work. I had an Ortho appt. 3 days later with more x-rays and turns out I fractured my ankle. So since I got here, I've been pretty much house or work-bound. I haven't been able to put any weight on my left foot. I hobble around on crutches or hop on one foot! So far this whole trip has been pretty tough. I seriously considered coming home when I was in the E.R. but thought I'd at least see it thru a follow up Dr. appt. I am very comfortable with the Ortho, and I don't think I would have received any different treatment at home. So I'm going to stay and see it thru. The last half of my trip should be alot better. I hope to get a walking cast Friday - that'll make a huge difference.
I took a couple pics on the ride into work, but I want to take a few more before I download them here. There is so much to look at! So many people, so much activity.
The weather is great - very warm. Summertime here. 90's I think. They tell me Bangalore is very temperate. Doesn't get as hot as other areas. From what I've seen on the news channels here, Bangalore is not as modern as Mumbai - Bombay. But there is tremendous amount of building going on here.
For being relatively immobile, I have quite a bit to tell, but will do another day. I need to get this leg up higher for awhile so I'm going to say "bye" for now. I would have started this blog earlier in the trip, but had problems with the internet one time I tried and the other time, there was a power outage (pretty frequent here.) Hope to update again in a few days.
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Jayne O'Malley
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Cindy--sometimes even the best laid plans go hay wire--who would ever have thought this would happen!! I saw Jeff Lynch last week and he gave me the entire play by play--I felt terrible for you--but you are no wimp!! thank God you didn't need surgery! So much for all your exercise tapes! Enjoy this experience--it is a once in a life time!--Jayne