Love the blog Great comments once again and thanks for sharing your daily experiences with all of us. Sounds like you are doing great and experiencing the culture as much as possible.
Again - the pictures are great and I love the descriptions. My favorite are:
“chicken parts - it looked like knuckles and grilse. I think I even saw a couple of feathers mixed into the sauce. I think that I will stick with the veg meals from now on”
With that comment I think I'll pursue the veggie route should I end up in India.
“someone in a dirty clown suit greeting people as they entered the store. Creepy!”
Clowns can be creepy in general - dirty clowns especially so. Cooper and Bella aren't afraid of clowns and I hope it stays that way - I'll just need to keep them away from the dirty ones...
airport ordeal Hi Kristen,
It was really so bad to have you face that situation at the airport. It was really awsome that you stood for the right thing. I did not know situation was really that bad even though i travel a lot too. It was daring on the officers part to ask you bribe. I guess it was more because you was outsider and he thought you will not have much knowledge about process.
I am still of view that even beurocratic pocedures in India are lengthy and sometime irritational, they do work many times. It will be great if you consider lodging a complaint with the Airport Autority of India about this. Who knows if it work. I am hopeful.
Wishing you a better stay in India.
Ashish Jain
I feel like I'm there ! Hi Kristen!
I just started reading your blog, and it's great. You include so many small details that I feel like I'm there too. Anyway, it looks like you're doing fine and adjusting well so that's good. Keep blogging!
Great Reading Interesting reading - I love all the little details. It's easy enough picturing the dusty streets and all the people, but it's the small stuff we don't even think about that makes it all seem so different. Do you feel like you stand out at all? There's probably some pros and cons that go along with that, huh? Had a look at Mumbai in relation to you on a map - didn't we say that the South was supposed to be safe? Kashmiri extremist bastards! C'mon Kashmiri moderates, tell your bad-tempered friends to simmer down!
Creature Comforts Hot water is something we take for granted indeed! I can't imagine getting up for work everyday and having to take a cold shower...guess you no longer need coffee though....lol. Talk about a morning wake up call!
Traffic I'm not sure that I could survive driving the streets in India. I'd either be in continuous road rage mode or a quivering blob of jello. I still think of Shannon's experience in India and her "accident". It will give you a new perspective of the traffic in Atlanta when you get back.
Stand your ground It's a brutal reality that in most places outside of the US, Canada and perhaps Western Europe bribery is way of life and unfortunately the way to go. You spent more doing things the right way but thumbs up for standing your ground and not allowing some SOB to make and extra $100. You can expense a customs charge but it would be hard to expense a bribe. That's awesome. You didn't let him intimidate you!
Coconut juice This brings up a memory from my childhood. Occasionally my mom would by a coconut at the grocery store. My dad would drill out an "eye" with a small knife and drain the juice into a glass. We girls (there were 4 of us) could hardly wait to get a taste. Then Dad would break the coconut with a hammer and carve out pieces of the "meat" for us. We were like baby birds eagerly awaiting our worms. I haven't had coconut juice or raw cocnut since I've been grown up. That's quite a long time now!
Magical Cure Yeah for coconut juice. It sounds like you have a nice team. How excited they must be to learn new things and have a good job in a country that is so poor. What are the people like? Sounds very family oriented. I don't know much about the way women are treated in that culture, is it unusual for women to be in positions such as the two female employees that work for you? What about language? Any trouble communicating? It all sounds very interesting and quite an adventure!
Trying Trip Oh my goodness! What an ordeal for your first days there. I can only imagine that the ordeal at the airport was frightening to say the least. What did the guy act like when you told him you would not pay the bribe? Was he angry? It sounds like you have seen what I have only read, that India is indeed a VERY poor country where the majority of the population lives in abject poverty. What is the apartment like? How is your working environment? Best wishes and I can't wait to see the next installment...lol
I am traveling to Bangalore, India for three months on business. To view more pictures of my adventures please visit:
http://photos.yahoo.com/kristenkks
... full info
Ben
non-member comment
Very pretty
Faithlyn says that you look very pretty in your Selwar blouse!