Finally Here!

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Well, I have now been here for about 4 days. The weather has been cloudy, until today, and about 80 degrees.

The Trip

I left Monday evening (Atlanta) time, and flew to Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris. The flight was fine, but that airport is lousy. We land, taxi for about 10 minutes to a parking spot out in a field, get off the plane and are loaded onto a bus, where we spend 20 to 30 minutes zig-zagging through construction to get to the terminal. I spend maybe another 30 minutes trying to find my next flight, and arrive at the gate just as they start boarding. We then go down the stairs, and board another bus, and driver another 20 to 30 minutes back out to the next plane.

The Air France flight from Paris to Bangalore was next. The plane was an Airbus 330, and yes, the term "bus" does apply. It was not nearly as comfortable as the Boeing 767 Delta used on the first leg. The air was stuffy and it was warm. The only good thng was the meals, they were much larger than the meals served on Delta or other domestic flights I've been on.

Bangalore

On arrival in Bangalore at about 1:30 AM local time Wednesday; it took quite a while to get it offloaded, but all my luggage arrived with my flight. The folks here at this airport were much friendlier than the French were. My boss, Kristen, met me at the airport with one of our drivers.

The first thing I noticed about Bangalore, stepping into the cool night air, was the smell. No, not like that. It was pleasant, in a spicy way, like an Indian restaurant or grocery market. It definitely added a You're not in Kansas anymore effect.

The drive to the apartments was interesting. India uses left-lane driving like Britain. But as I've found over the past few days, that isn't all that important, because lanes, and even which side you drive on, is pretty much at driver discretion. Horns and flashing headlights are contantly used to alert other drivers that you're coming through. Darwin must be at work, because I haven't seen any accidents yet. The other thing is the use of motorcycles as familiy vehicles. I've seen several adults with their children all huddled onto one motorcycle.

The apartment is huge, a 3 bedroom flat. Marble floors, most of the furniture is real, solid, wood. I napped for a few hours after getting in, then stayed up through the day, staying at the apartment in case I couldn't and needed to sleep (Kristen said I could).

Work

I went into the office on Thursday, and met our team's India Delivery Center staff. It's going to take a day or two to remember their names, but I'm already impressed by them. They are very friendly and considerate. And after working with them on Friday in a training session, I'm also impressed with their technical skills and eagerness to learn. The IVR architecture isn't something anyone can grasp in a week or two, but these folks are already asking good questions and doing good work.

Sad Note

While I was at my apartment resting on Wednesday, I checked my email, and a good friend of mine had left an urgent message for me. One of my flatmates has a VoIP phone he said I could use, so I callled Matt. I found out a good friend of ours, Mary Cajigal, whom we had both known since college, had passed away unexpectedly. She was just about 40 (I don't remember her exact age), so this is truly a sad thing for all of us who knew her. She will be missed terribly, and I wish I could be with those back home, but that will have to wait a few weeks.

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Photos

Entryway
Our room is the door on the right.

One Step Inside
This is the view from just inside the doorway. Bedrooms are off to the right.

A Little Further In
A few more steps into the flat, a little to the right, is the dining area.

My Room
This is my bedroom. I apologize for the unmade bed. It's a queen-size, with a firm thin mattress on a solid wood base. And it's real wood, not veneer-over particle board. There is a small work desk to the right, with my laptop on it. The view out of the window is of a brick wall.

More of my room
This is the other half of my room, to the left of the other picture. The nice three-door wardrobe is another piece of real wood, and has a nice smell inside, not cedar, but I don't know what type of wood it is.