Blogs from Gurgaon, Haryana, India, Asia - page 7

January 31, 2007 Many of you have asked about how I’m doing with the food. I’ve decided to try to be a vegetarian while I’m over here. I’ve always been disturbed by the thought of how my meat made its way to my plate. My self-deluded coping mechanism has always been that it just comes from the grocery store. Faye Wilcox and her stories about how her grandmother would twist a chicken’s neck off so she could fry some up, make me a little queasy. And then there is my well known stance on veal. Now I love the taste of veal, but I’ve taken a semi-hypocritical stand about not eating it because of the way they pen up those poor calves and cut their hamstrings so they can fatten them up... Tom thinks this is ... read more

January 28, 2007 - Part 1 On Sunday morning, Michele arranged for Anirudh to take us shopping in some of the Delhi markets. Anirudh (Ani rhymes with sani from the first part of the word sanitation and rudh sounds like rude - hmm I wonder why the word sanitation came to mind).. Anyway Anirudh is a young man (merely 21 years old) who works the reception desk at The Palms. He and Michele are very close. She describes their relationship as brother/sister. Anirudh is quick to smile, and like all the employees of The Palms he is quick to offer any kind of assistance. Michele likes to take a local with her when she goes shopping because they can help ensure she gets a price closer to the local price instead of the Western price, which ... read more

I have arrived. The trip was long, 30 ½ hours from initial takeoff to final landing, with 2-3 hour layovers in both Atlanta and Paris. On the flight from Paris to Delhi, our seats were in the upper deck of the 747, which was cool. The flights consisted of eating and sleeping and eating and sleeping. Once we landed, we stood in a long line for immigration. It was stiflingly hot and I was grateful for having arrived in winter. I might’ve passed out if it were summer. We gathered our bags (of course, I had more bags than Ray and Michele) and headed out of the terminal to find our driver. The first thing to strike me as I left the building was the smell. God help me, it about knocked me down. It was ... read more