Sunday, 10 January - Out in the city again

I actually slept Saturday night fairly well. I woke up a few times, but didn’t have any trouble falling back to sleep. The curtains and shades in my room are great. They are more room darkening than anything I have at home. I woke up for the day at 8am, and felt well-rested and ready to go.

I have a few more “characters” to introduce today:
· Maria – Maria is a manager in New Jersey. Maria and I have worked together before as a part of the tax technology team. She and I also worked together this fall on a training project.
· Ronda – Ronda is a manager from the Irvine, California office.
· Mickey – Mickey is the partner in charge of all tax at the Bangalore locations. He is in India on a two-plus year assignment.
· Amy – Amy is Mickey’s wife. She is here for the better part of each year when she isn’t spending time in the US with their two college daughters.
Today, Amy picked up the girls at Mercure to show us some of the sights of Bangalore. She and our driver, Santish (not sure of the spelling), took us to the Bull Temple, Bangalore Palace, the public library, the government buildings, and to brunch at the Gardenia Hotel.

The traffic was lighter today than Saturday, and I definitely felt safer inside an SUV. Santish added priceless commentary to the sites we saw in addition to the history.

When we arrived at the Bull Temple (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bull_Temple), we had a few small children begging us for money as we climbed the stairs to the site. It is definitely difficult to see these small children asking for money for their families, and it is just one of the many signs as you drive through the city that we are in a developing country.

We went into the Bull Temple (without shoes) and walked around. There is one place on the bull that is considered the “lucky spot”, so we all had our picture taken in that place. After the Bull Temple, we headed to the Bangalore Palace (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangalore_Palace). We were able to snap a few pictures outside before the armed guards told us to stop. I certainly was not going to challenge an armed guard.

The government buildings (old and new) are quite ornate and we were able to see them from the road. We also saw the High Court (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attara_Kacheri) and the public library near the government buildings. Our driver made frequent comments about the corruption within the state and local government. He said there is much irony in the “Government work is God’s work” which is posted on the old government building.

We went back to Commercial Street with Amy and she showed us a few good shops. Maria and I started on the street buying some bangle bracelets. We decided to buy them together in order to get multiple colors (including pink, of course). We went into a textile shop and all five of us started looking through the various piles of scarves/pashminas in all materials and patterns. Items in this store ranged from 4 to around 300 US dollars, and I kept myself at the $4 pile. Dearest family members, you’ll be happy to know I raked in the souvenirs at this shop. Natalie and Maria were interested in some Indian dress, so we also went into numerous shops with clothing. I found a “cute” shirt to wear in one of the shops. Watch for future pictures!

Our next destination was Sunday brunch. Brunch on Sundays is quite a tradition and many hotels have elaborate champagne brunches. We dined at the yet-to-be-opened Gardenia Hotel. I did become a little more adventurous with foods, but to be honest, I was still very cautious. Brunch was wonderful, and we all were quite full after dining.

Amy allowed us to stop by their house to see the neighborhood and home where she and Mickey live. It is a beautiful two story home. After this, we headed back to the hotel. Another day complete after being “out and about”.

Saturday, 9 January - My first day in Bangalore

Our arrival in the Bangalore airport (http://www.bengaluruairport.com/) was well researched by me. I asked my friend, Katie, to talk me through getting off of the plane all the way to getting into the car – immigration, duty free shop, luggage, foreign exchange, customs, go outside. Once I got my 115 pounds of luggage onto a cart, I was ready to head out of the airport and into Bangalore. When the doors open, there are hundreds of people (and it is 6 am) waiting some of whom have signs. After locating the sign with my name (the first time this has ever happened to me), the hotel representative helped us to the car.

We drove to our hotel, Mercure (http://www.mercurehomestead.com), as the sun was rising. Let me try describing the traffic. On the road are buses, trucks, cars, mopeds, rickshaws (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto_rickshaw), bicycles, and pedestrians. There are lanes on the larger roads, but drivers do not have to abide by them. As many vehicles as possible arrive at an intersection, and unless there is a traffic light (which is rare), everyone goes. The biggest vehicle wins. This hour of the morning was not too overwhelming.

Once arriving at the hotel, I was fighting hard to keep moving and stay awake, so I unpacked my things. At this point, there were five coaches in town. Here is the first list of “characters” on the trip:
· Sherri – Sherri is a director whom I work for from Raleigh, North Carolina.
· Chris – Mr. Stephens is my good friend from Nashville. He and his wife, Jill, both worked with me in Indianapolis before their big move to Tennessee.
· Ross – Ross is a director from San Jose, California whom I teach many courses with. Ross spent about one year in Bangalore in 2002, so he is well versed in the city and what to do.
· Natalie – Natalie is a manager from Cincinnati.

After breakfast, we were off to adventure with Ross. While there are many drivers in town, Ross’s primary mode of transportation is preferably rickshaw. In India, you will see any number of people in a rickshaw. However, we thought it best to put two people in each one. To start off, Natalie went with Ross, and I traveled with Chris. We told our drivers to take us to Commercial Street and off we were. I was a little too overwhelmed to take pictures, but Chris was taking them along the way. Chris learned very quickly to keep his head in the car. With no traffic rules, you could get smacked by a scooter or car if you aren’t careful. Many times, we only had inches between our rickshaw and the other vehicles. In addition to the vehicles on the road, it is not uncommon to see cows, dogs, and goats.

Once we arrived at our destination, we paid (or shall I say overpaid) our driver. As soon as we were out of the rickshaw, people immediately wanted to talk to us. Natalie had her picture taken with some children on the street who then ran up and wanted to shake our hands. This startled me a bit, so I jumped the first time someone grabbed my hand. Chris was very popular with the street vendors, but he was refusing purchases up to three at a time. We also quickly learned that we should not stop outside to make our destination plans, and that all of those decisions should be made inside shops.

Commercial Street is a street that in some ways looks like Times Square with all of the signage. Stores and street booths line the main street as well as every side street and alley. Natalie did purchase a couple of scarves, but I spent time taking it all in and window shopping. I quickly learned the conversion rate (1 rupee equals about 2 cents). After Commercial Street, we had a rickshaw race. Ross said, “Ready, set, go.” and I jumped in the rickshaw with him. (This was a no-brainer since he lived in the city.) Our destination was the Leela Palace (http://www.theleela.com/hotel-bangalore.html). The Leela is a beautiful hotel with restaurants, shops, and a pool. We went out to the patio and had our first lunch in India. Chris and Natalie had Indian cuisine, and I stuck to pizza. Little did I know, pizza would become a theme for me this trip (at least in the first week).

After finishing our meal at the Leela, it was time to head back to Mercure (our hotel). As we were leaving the hotel, Ross was recognized by a man who is the greeter at the Leela and also coordinates all of the drivers. When Ross was in India in 2002, he lived at the Leela. This was very fun, and of course we took Ross’s picture with his old friend.

This rickshaw trip was a little more frightening. Our drivers were lost, and there were more close calls in traffic than we had in either of the prior trips. I am pretty certain that I jumped out of my seat more than once.

After arriving back at the hotel, I napped for about an hour, but I know I could have slept all night if I didn’t have Sherri wake me. I went down for dinner, and I spent the whole time forcing myself to stay awake. The journey had officially caught up with me, and I had no trouble sleeping that night.

My emails after traveling abroad

Hi! I haven't been able to fully document all that I have seen and experienced in my first two days in India, but I wanted to share my short synopsis of my trip from US to UK and from UK to India.

I made it over the ocean to London. Business class is definitely the way to travel....have mercy! Our flight was delayed out of Raleigh for almost two hours. One because of snow in London, two because a passenger's bag was on the plane but he was not, and then the ground crew left because of the missing passenger so we had to wait for them to come back. Once we took off, we had a 5 course meal and then it was time to sleep. I tried to watch a movie, but didn't get into it, but I also couldn't fall asleep (which is funny because I had more room than I do in coach and coach is never a problem for sleeping). I did sleep off an on, but I am quite certain my days and nights are off already. I will definitely sleep on our flight to Bangalore, since it will be 5am when we get there.

Once we arrived in London, we walked about a mile to the bus to take us to the British Airways terminal, then went through security again, and then found our way to the lounge. (hence, loving business class) I was able to shower, so it feels like a new day. I am going to check out the snacks and stuff now, so see what fun treats there are before I get to India. (carbo loading now) :)

I'll send another email once we get to India, so until then....
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We made it here about an hour behind schedule but that was not bad.
This flight had a screaming toddler in business class which was not
enjoyable but the engines drown most of it out for me. (That and the
noise cancelling headphones.). I slept for most of this flight and
even slept through dinner (which was ok since I was still full from
the US flight). I will write more tonight on the traveling from the
airport to the hotel. I met Natalie (from Cincy) and Mr Stephens (my
friend from Nashville) for breakfast and stayed with carbs. We are
waiting for Ross (who lived here for two years) to show us the ropes
with fruits and juices. Talk to everyone soon. :)