Hello again my dear blog,
I am jumping bcak in time and reliving my India experience through the rewriting of my blog. If we start at the beginning, we will be on
30 June Saturday
My nervousness has been relieved to a certain extent as my bag weighed in at about 41 pounds, under the limit. I do feel that I have disappointed Nicole since my bag is so far underweight. For me, I look at it as packing skills which will allow me greater treasure space on the way home! I am at the gate and feel rather alone as I am the only one here except a rather nervous looking old woman. Iwish I had access to my camera as the airport is always a great place to take random " people" shots! Nick is on his way to the Chicken Coop fried chicken place and I sort of wish I was too.... pretty hungry. I am hearing on the radio that my flight has a two hour delay. That is not unusual for Charlotte. Guess I will see what happens. It is now 6:15 ( 2 hours after my flight departure time ) and I am on my way on a direct flight to Frankfurt instead of flying through Newark - I'll take that.
1July ( Sunday ) We are 1 hour from Frankfurt after flying all night and since it is 6am here I should be hungry. I am not , just sleepy since the plane was cold and it was hard to stretch out much. Coffee will be most welcome and I am looking forward to a real European latte so I can compare. Currently watching NCIS and finding the comfort of a familiar show and the sun si streamimg through my window which at least makes me think I am getting some warmth. There really is no perspective of time - it feels like one big blur. I was amused as people that were traveling with TGC found the McDonalds in the airport........... I haven't bought too much here at the airport because I do not have Euros and the exchange rate is rather high. It is raining now and very ominous, brooding clouds....makes people watching easier because it is no fun to look at the clouds. Amazed that people here do not seem as germophobic as Americans. Large numbers of people waking barefoot everywhere, including the bathrooms.......... Supper on the plane was our first taste of Indian food! So So good!!! Loving the spinach and paneer already. Drinking tons of water to stay hydrated on the plane, but whoo - that creates its own problems. Aririved in Bangalore about 12:30 am and the baggage claim wait began. As we all know, mine were the absolute last ones off the plane and were wet and muddy.......... hmmmm that is really odd.
2 July ( Monday ) Our first day at the Royal Orchid in Bangalore. Great xample of the duplicity of India; regal hotel surrounded by guarded gates and outside that construction and urban blight. Bangalore does not strike me as the typical littered Indian city, but we will see. Monday's sessions have been educational and informative on the education system we will encounter during our stay and then more on the two sides of India. traditional versus the new young western thought. Dinner tonight will be a traditional meal and tomorrow we will explore the city on a walking tour.
3 July ( Tuesday ) Today started WAY too early! I was up at 4:30 and am listening to the city begin to wake up. Honking has started in earnest , so the work day has officially begun. Toured around Bangalore - fabulous! Our guide gave us a brief history lesson and then we started our tour. First impression - the gardens are beautiful and the dog we adopted along the way looked like it needed a friend. Our first experience with a street vendor was a woman who made personalized , individual juice that were meant to address specific concerns. mine was made with Brahmi and carrot..... eye and brain enhancers. it was really, really , really green. It was very good also. Did I mention it was very green? We toured around the " British" section of the city , but soon left it for the more village model. Along the way we hit up the vegetable and meat markets. It was crowded and bustling, each person having a very distinct purpose and destination in mind. I was treated to a samosa and a huge piece of jaggery. Both were delicious and I wish more of the cohort members had been adventurous to try some. Next stop - a Hindi temple for a special ceremony arranged for us. We removed our shoes and chose our flowers for tribute ( mine were Jasmine with small orange blossoms) Barefoot and beflowered, we headed into the 1000 year old temple for what awaited us. We gave our flower gifts to the God and recieved our gift in return. As we proceeded around the interior square of the temple, we stopped and paid homage and received our blessing. At the shrine to Lakshmi , the priest blessed all of us and then spoke to Maya and I , giving us a rose and another blessing. She told me that what he told me was that he was blessing me, because he sensed in me an old, understanding soul.......... Maya said Lakshmi was giving us back the gift for luck.
I am jumping bcak in time and reliving my India experience through the rewriting of my blog. If we start at the beginning, we will be on
30 June Saturday
My nervousness has been relieved to a certain extent as my bag weighed in at about 41 pounds, under the limit. I do feel that I have disappointed Nicole since my bag is so far underweight. For me, I look at it as packing skills which will allow me greater treasure space on the way home! I am at the gate and feel rather alone as I am the only one here except a rather nervous looking old woman. Iwish I had access to my camera as the airport is always a great place to take random " people" shots! Nick is on his way to the Chicken Coop fried chicken place and I sort of wish I was too.... pretty hungry. I am hearing on the radio that my flight has a two hour delay. That is not unusual for Charlotte. Guess I will see what happens. It is now 6:15 ( 2 hours after my flight departure time ) and I am on my way on a direct flight to Frankfurt instead of flying through Newark - I'll take that.
1July ( Sunday ) We are 1 hour from Frankfurt after flying all night and since it is 6am here I should be hungry. I am not , just sleepy since the plane was cold and it was hard to stretch out much. Coffee will be most welcome and I am looking forward to a real European latte so I can compare. Currently watching NCIS and finding the comfort of a familiar show and the sun si streamimg through my window which at least makes me think I am getting some warmth. There really is no perspective of time - it feels like one big blur. I was amused as people that were traveling with TGC found the McDonalds in the airport........... I haven't bought too much here at the airport because I do not have Euros and the exchange rate is rather high. It is raining now and very ominous, brooding clouds....makes people watching easier because it is no fun to look at the clouds. Amazed that people here do not seem as germophobic as Americans. Large numbers of people waking barefoot everywhere, including the bathrooms.......... Supper on the plane was our first taste of Indian food! So So good!!! Loving the spinach and paneer already. Drinking tons of water to stay hydrated on the plane, but whoo - that creates its own problems. Aririved in Bangalore about 12:30 am and the baggage claim wait began. As we all know, mine were the absolute last ones off the plane and were wet and muddy.......... hmmmm that is really odd.
2 July ( Monday ) Our first day at the Royal Orchid in Bangalore. Great xample of the duplicity of India; regal hotel surrounded by guarded gates and outside that construction and urban blight. Bangalore does not strike me as the typical littered Indian city, but we will see. Monday's sessions have been educational and informative on the education system we will encounter during our stay and then more on the two sides of India. traditional versus the new young western thought. Dinner tonight will be a traditional meal and tomorrow we will explore the city on a walking tour.
3 July ( Tuesday ) Today started WAY too early! I was up at 4:30 and am listening to the city begin to wake up. Honking has started in earnest , so the work day has officially begun. Toured around Bangalore - fabulous! Our guide gave us a brief history lesson and then we started our tour. First impression - the gardens are beautiful and the dog we adopted along the way looked like it needed a friend. Our first experience with a street vendor was a woman who made personalized , individual juice that were meant to address specific concerns. mine was made with Brahmi and carrot..... eye and brain enhancers. it was really, really , really green. It was very good also. Did I mention it was very green? We toured around the " British" section of the city , but soon left it for the more village model. Along the way we hit up the vegetable and meat markets. It was crowded and bustling, each person having a very distinct purpose and destination in mind. I was treated to a samosa and a huge piece of jaggery. Both were delicious and I wish more of the cohort members had been adventurous to try some. Next stop - a Hindi temple for a special ceremony arranged for us. We removed our shoes and chose our flowers for tribute ( mine were Jasmine with small orange blossoms) Barefoot and beflowered, we headed into the 1000 year old temple for what awaited us. We gave our flower gifts to the God and recieved our gift in return. As we proceeded around the interior square of the temple, we stopped and paid homage and received our blessing. At the shrine to Lakshmi , the priest blessed all of us and then spoke to Maya and I , giving us a rose and another blessing. She told me that what he told me was that he was blessing me, because he sensed in me an old, understanding soul.......... Maya said Lakshmi was giving us back the gift for luck.
