Global Residency Day 3

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Third Day of Residency

This was probably the most interesting day of the entire trip. This day we were heading to a town (by Indian standards, city by American standards) outside of Bangalore called Mysore. There is large, beautiful palace there we were going to tour. After the tour, we had lunch and then were off to a rural village to see where some of the Selco solar panels are being utilized today.

It was about a three hour bus ride to Mysore. We made a stop halfway through to get coffee and take a bathroom break. However, in the bathroom stalls, there was no paper. We had to get the paper handed to us by the lady who looked like she was there to clean the bathroom. When I came out to wash my hands, I went to the sink that wasn’t being used at the time and she shooed me from it and made me wait for my counterpart to finish. After that she handed us paper towels to dry out hands. We walked out. She followed us and stared. I guess we were supposed to pay for her ‘services’. Understanding everyone has a place in Indian society and being culturally sensitive to that – fine, but seriously, I’d rather just get my own paper to wipe my butt.

We were back on the bus and onto Mysore. The drive was wonderful as we were able to see a lot of the country side. When we finally got to Mysore, we were warned about the vendors who would try to stop us – they can be very persistent. Something I found intriguing about Mysore was the prevalence of St. Philomena, a Catholic saint who has a shrine in Briggsville, WI – I pass by the turn off every time I go to the Dells.

Another thing about the Mysore Palace, is they don’t let you take any cameras or phones into the palace itself, as well, you have to take off your shoes. They allow you to take as many pictures as you want around the grounds, so Pradeep gave us some time to that.

Upon entering, I don’t think I have seen a much more beautiful palace in all the world. The murals that adorned the walls were painted in a 3-D technique, which was partly cool and partly freaking. The main room has such intricate designs in turquoise and other precious metals. There was furniture made out of silver and crystal. Doors with ivory inlaid in them. Various beautiful murals in every all. Marble steps, like the marble at the Tajo Mahan. Honestly, words cannot express everything, nor begin to give the reader and idea of what the palace is truly like. I guess that means you’ll have to experience it for yourself! After we left the palace, we were greeted by the street vendors. I actually saw a cool wooden car I thought Mark would like so I spent some time bargaining for it, and then noticed a little jewelry box and I bartered for that as well. Another man kept following me and wanted to sell me a fan for 500 rupee and since I had already secured my cash away, I told him I would give him whatever was in my pocket – it was only 12 rupee…he kept hassling me and I kept saying 12 rupee…Finally he agree when the bus was pulling away, but Pradeep said that was such a poor offer, he wouldn’t let me go through with it. Everyone had a good laugh at that!

After we were done touring, we were given the opportunity to purchase SOME postcards that had pictures from the various rooms. But not many…We collected our shoes, cameras, and phones and were off to Metropole for lunch.

Metropole is clearly another high end resort, which state of the art Indian cuisine. The food was AMAZING! I ventured out and tried a little bit of everything and was glad I did. However, there wasn’t enough room at the table so I had to eat quickly!!!!

After lunch, we were off to a rural village outside of Mysore to see where the Selco solar panels are installed. This particular village worked with an NGO (I’m pretty sure, though, it was the Catholic church as the ladies who greeted us were all nuns and the picture in their buildings were all Catholic murals). They have a couple of buildings that are used for school children to study and are a part of a program called Light for Education. Basically the students each get to borrow a solar powered light every night. The lamp holds light for about four hours, so they can study at home. Every day they need to return to the “school” where they are provided a free meal, and more time to study with tutors. While at the school studying, their solar lamps get charged so at the end of their session they can take them home with them. Pretty neat system worked out.

In the village we were also have to enter the homes of three families that have purchased Selco solar systems to light their homes (or huts, these were more like huts). The families were very generous allowing us to enter and see the operation and how these panels make a difference in their daily lives. A truly humbling experience, as something we take for granted, light, is not always readily available.

ON the way home, we stopped at a roadside oasis for dinner – KFC, I wasn’t really hungry (I had a HUGE lunch), so I checked out the little emporium and got myself a little key chain tray. We were back on the bus again and made it home around midnight. I think we all went to bed.

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