Friday, April 16, 2010

RussThoughts: Notes on India

This is the first of a series of notes taken on my phone during my time in India.  It, along with some of the pictures I took, serve as my memory.  Most of this will not make sense.  It has been modified heavily to hide the fact that I am illiterate.

[3/11/2010]
Note 1: Hanging out in Frankfurt [because of a layover]. The German language makes me laugh. Flight = flug.  I listen to the airplane safety video and laugh out loud.  People are staring. There was a light snowfall. Walking around the airport, I noticed a Pear in bottle at the Duty Free shop.  The free wifi doesn't work. Damn. The first thing you see when you get off the bus from the tarmac is a McCafe your way. My plane to India is a Boeing 747-400 (a double decker), but I'll still be mushed into the back of the plane next to "baby's first international flight."

[3/12/2010]
Note 2: Saturday: Got to the hotel around 4:30am.  Woke up at 9am.  Breakfast consisted of fruit, some stuff that did not taste how it looked, and watermelon juice. Note to self: never get the coffee. There was a thin film on top and it kept reforming. Had to venture outside to get a SIM card for my mobile.  Almost died every time I crossed the street. I needed to visit a bank in order to get smaller bills.  Turns out, not many places accept 1000 INR bill.  I Had no idea what line to get in or where to go.  People kept pushing in front of me.  Got the money and some passport photos needed to get a SIM card.  60 INR for 15 passport photos (I paid 8 USD for 2 in the States).  I was feeling adventurous so I went for a walk around Bangalore. Wow. Dogs on the street. Cows laying around. Pretty nuts. Everyone was staring at me. Very much Slumdoggish. So many shops. So many goods. So much poverty.  Street vendors sell watermelon instead of hotdogs.  So dirty. met up with my friend at 5pm. Went to The Forum mall. Regular people shopping for regular stuff.  Very different from where I was this afternoon. Went to British style pub (Firangi Pani) for drinks. Learned all about Cricket. Drove (a.k.a. feared for life), to a place that searved Delhi style food. So spicy. Everything. Made it back to the hotel.  Very tired. Fell asleep watching Red Dwarf. I love that show. Oh, and there was a DUI checkpoint on the way home.

More notes to come...