To Walt, With Beer

So, beer here in India. A burning question to some!
Below we have the typical bottle of beer here. The Mountain Dew can is typical. 330 ML just for comparison purposes. The beer is 650ml. In Delhi this beer costs about 40 rupees or about 85 cents. So, we figure that Becky and Walt can justify a trip to visit us in India as the savings they will gain on beer would pay for the plane fair over. Just a thought. :)

From Last Week 7-19-2007

Yet another network outage, and again I then have time to blog. :) I am starting to feel more at home here now that Judy is here and my life feels a little more "normal". We went over to the clinic the other day, and Jude got her second Hep A/B shot, and that went well. It is odd to me that it cost almost as much as the ER visit - I would suppose that the cost of the drug itself caused that, because it has to be imported from the US and therefore has to be costed at that level... Interesting that the drug itself is probably between $20-$30 US, and the rest of the payment in the US would be overhead...

It is my hope that we can do something fun this weekend, as my foot is now pretty much back to normal - not that I am interested in dropping anything on it for the distant future, but it doesn't hurt me to walk on it at all anymore. It is odd, because I still don't know much what "to do" in this country other than shopping, which isn't exactly my total happiness, but we'll have to see. It seems pitiful to me that I am in such a beautiful country and am having trouble getting out to sightsee.

I think a lot of that inhibition is the fact that we have yet to find an intrepreter to go with us, and it still feels like I am imposing on folks here to go with us out wandering. Maybe we can hitch a ride one of the days this weekend with the driver Moses, whom is absolutely wonderful, and speaks good English and Hindi. (Well, along with I think 3 other languages.) It is interesting to me how different our trip would be if we had a driver or interpreter that spoke English well. Most of our hessitancy is due to our driver speaking VERY little English, and the trouble this causes getting anywhere, let alone getting back home once we are "there". Hopefully when Judy is done with her class for the summer we can get someone to translate for us and the sightseeing enjoyment will get even better. In some ways, until Judy is done being a stay at home studier, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have someone there to speak English and watch her read... :)

I am beginning to think that really hitting the studying in Hindi may be a good solution as well. Perhaps a longer term solution at any rate, and would promote the whole new fun of being able to chew out merchants who discuss in Hindi charging the foriegners more money because they don't know any better.

Sunday are made for mutts and meditation... And bulls too!

Sunday we got going at 10AM to visit the Lotus Temple. It is a bit over an hour away so we got there at around 11:30. Good timing because when we left the line to get in was VERY long and it had gotten very hot outside.

We pulled up to the lotus and entered the busy entrance gate

We walked a path in and turning to the left through the manicured and spacious grounds up to the temple entrance.

We took off our shoes and one of your party is ushered down to the shoe check while the rest cross over it and wait at the other side. There are 2 small palm trees near the entrance. One on each side of the path. There was a puppy hanging out underneath the shade of the tree in the mud.

(one pose from our glamour shots photo session)

You are greeted by a person reminding you that inside it is complete silence.

As you can see the building is JUST COOL! The inside is also incredible. Where you see the dark triangular spaces are windows. Inside is very spacious. We were met with a wonderful energy upon entering that seemed to strike me as clean and crisp as we sat on marble seat and wood backed benches. The Lotus sits higher then the ground around it so you see mostly sky as you sit. Hard to believe not THAT far away are busy streets with constant honking horns. Going up from the windows is a slant as it comes together in a crossing patter to meet at the top where there is a 9 pointed lotus/star with small gold lights in the middle. We were not allowed to take pictures of the inside much to my sadness. The silence was observed well for a while. Then a cell phone went off and it seemed a scattering of people calling to others and children’s voices. Any sound has quite an echo. The acoustics ROCK!! It would be a BLAST to sing in!

At noon 3 singers sang 1 song each and spoke a short message; Some in English, but mostly not. This lasted for only about 5-10 minutes.

As we left we walked down the steps leading below the building by the pool. There are 9 pools that surround the temple. These are not only there cuz they look super cool, they are also part of the cooling system for the temple.

As we left the puppy that was under the tree on the entrance side had moved to the exit side tree. I’m fully convinced waiting for me to say good-bye.

This picture is from the steps at the entrance.

The area near the bottom above the white ledge where you see it is wider and in the ground. This is the place where you go down, deposit your shoes and come back up to the main path.

We plan to go back in the evening again to see it when it is lit up at night.
A very ener way to start the day!

And now for something completely different...

Here are street signs in India.

So we headed off to lunch at


Yup, TGI Fridays! OK this was weird, because it was like a sort of time, well, mostly space or place warp. This TGI Fridays is of course a cookie cutter down to America. Minus here there are only waiters and no waitresses, and it seemed that like 3 people were assigned to visit our table for orders, etc. The menu was a bit different. Imported ribs were $30. I was REALLY craving a salad and he was wanting pasta. One thing that is pretty common for restaurants here is the dedication to leisure time. No pressure on ordering quickly. You order your main meal after you have eaten your appetizers. Good service, but just taking the eating slow. TGI Fridays kept the American, get your food quick type atmosphere. The dishes seem smaller, but I totally think I get more full on less food here.

One last random cow story and then I'll be done.... for today.

This is my friend the bull. I was taking pictures of him and he just kept walking right at me. I was beginning to wonder if he was going to totally bonk me in the stomach, but he veered at the last second.

Ta ta for now all!

Be well!

Judy

When Harry Met Joel and Jesus met Judy

Hello all! It’s Monday afternoon here. It has been overcast most of the day. Yesterday it was as well. But it was REALLY HOT so we were thankful for less sun.

First I will share with you a picture of a pidgin friend that hung out on our railing for quite
a while.


The day of my shot we were at the Galleria and there were a bunch of kids on a field trip of SOME sort we assume. They come off busses, stood waiting to go in groups somewhere in the mall. They seemed to come back out in only a few minutes so we are clueless.
None the less…

Aren’t they cute!
GOOD parents giving them water bottles.

Saturday we went off to the mall to get Harry Potter and a bit of book looking.
First we stopped for breakfast #2

MMM, isn’t that pretty? Ya, OK, the ONLY chick who takes a picture of her Mocha. WHAT EVER!! You all do weird stuff too! Plus, that is a work of art! (food from Baristas)

There was Harry Potter Hub-ub that we saw and read about in the paper, but either we missed it or it wasn’t where we were. The book store ROCKED!! It was fun to see the selections they had on religion and Western Philosophy as well as just other stuff. I could have taken home half the store. I restrained myself however. Some books are VERY inexpensive here. The American ones are pretty regular price. For $60 American bucks we got 3 movies and 7 books; 2 of them being Harry Potter.

Below is a picture of one of the other malls we went to here in Gurgaon.

Very full, but really pretty typical for a Saturday

Delhi and Gurgaon has UBER amounts of malls. And building more. There is one not far from here about to open that is HUGE. Next to that is the beginning of the construction of the MALL OF INDIA… This will be the largest mall in the world when it is complete.

Across from the mall above is the City Centre Mall.


A bit different then home eh!?
Oh, and that yellow thing in front... NO, that isn’t a larger then life size model of the baby from South Park. It is an orange juice stand that makes this funky juice out of oranges and other fruits. Quite tasty it is.

The road in between the two malls.

SUPER fun to cross if you like taking your life in to your own hands. Luckily Joel doesn’t mind.

We proceeded to go home and have a read. It was SO nice to just relax with a non required book. Joel with Harry and me with my Jesus Lived In India Book. I’m interested in Harry, but have a million books to read and know it will take me a while to get through that one. Sort of seems counter to what you’re supposed to do when you are half way around the world. But I think both Joel and I are just happy a reprieve from all that has been going on at home the months before we left. The peace is precious and SO needed. And this is a good environment to just be.

Judy’s trip to the Doctor… This one NON-emergency.

So, today I went and got my second Hep A and B shot. OH WHAT FUN!! I’m actually pretty OK with shots, but this particular one, when I had it the first time was major icky feeling and gave me the oogies. So we went to the clinic in the Galleria as a walk in. They got us in right away. This place is COOL!! Peggy you would LOVE it, the walls were lavender purple in the rooms and pastel yellow hallways. The doors also had a funky diagonal design half window. All together making you feel like you were in a modern high class office building. I had 3 nurses (someone must have warned them about me! :-) plus a doctor checked in to ensure we got the right stuff. Got my shot. She did a FINE job indeed and no oogies this time. We paid our, well, about $30 American dollars. So about half the emergency room cost due to American high cost of drugs. A good and fast experience again.

Yesterday I went out with two of Joel’s co-workers, Marci and Holly, from Ingenix…. Meaning they are both travelers here from Minnesota. It was good to get out and meet some people.

We ate at Monks, a Japanese restaurant that served a lot of rice and noodle bowls. Desert was a very interesting and strange experience. Marci had decided on the Black Rice Pudding. I had decided to try this since it sounded very unique. The waiter came and she pointed on the menu and said she would like the black rice pudding. He pointed to a different item and suggested she get that. She persisted and so did he. We all looked at each other. What’s the scoop we wondered? So, she just asked for the bill and said we would move on. He said something else, but I wasn’t clear if he now would get that for us or what. Very strange.

I’m REALLY excited because Marci has been here since March and has had some clothes made. We plan to go out looking for material and get in to a tailor. YEAH!

Marci has Moses as her driver, one of the lead and most sought after driver here. He speaks very good English and is just very good. WHAT a difference having him, or a more fluent English speaking driver would make. We got in the car after lunch and Marci said to Moses… We want ice cream. Where can we get ice cream. So, he took us to some strip mall type place. There was a store that said Dairy on it. He went up with us and asked in Hindi if they had Ice cream. The person said no. There was a Revlon store… well, it had a big Revlon sign over the door. Holly wanted nail polish remover so we stopped there. Moses asked if they had ice cream treats, and THEY DID! At the Revlon store. Well, OK. They also had many shampoos and stuff. There were no lights inside so I didn’t see fully what they had. The other interesting thing about this place was that the door, A. would hardly Open wide enough for us to squeeze through, and it was shelves so you could see the various shampoos from outside, and the shop was small so good use for storage as well.

Our driver is very limited on his English and sometimes things get confused because a mall is known by a few things, and using the stores inside are not good references. First of all, if they are in uniform they are not able to go in. And most of the drivers do not go to the malls when they are out of uniform for shopping. A good incentive to learn Hindi. It may or may not help get me to a particular mall, but it would help some of the broader needs.

JUDY GETS A TALKIN’ TO BY THE COPS!!

Yup, here 1 week and less than one day and I’m already the cause of getting pulled over. NO me and Richard Gere weren’t making out in the back seat like you might have thought. (Joel was being ALL possessive and made him sit in front!) On our tour of Delhi, I, the rebel child that I am, forgot about things like SECURITY and took a picture of the American Embassy. So, the nice police man pulled us over and made me delete my picture and we were on our way.

July 15 6:50 AM Monday

Yesterday we went with Neha, our tour guide from Global Adjustments on a tour of Delhi. Her function is to give you sources of places to go for things and activities you want or need while you are here. And to help you adjust to the culture. This was a great help. She took us to various malls and markets. (Christmas shopping has begun!) I know this is a DUH statement but having someone around who speaks Hindi as well as English helps the day flow. Great for negotiation as well.
The Markets and shops we went to were less persistent than the Lotus Mall. There were certainly some persistent sales folks, but it was easier to move on if you weren’t interested.

She helped me buy a more “Indian” tea to try. I purchased a tulsi and tulsi and ginger tea. Tulsi is the Hindi word for basil. Good for the throat and tummy.

We learned why we couldn’t find spinach – both looking for the English word and it looks different here. And other helpful/interesting things like that.
She lived in America, China and other places as well. She said the hardest thing moving her, her husband and 2 children back to India is that her Husband works 14 hour days all the time and spends NO times with the kids. She said they have even stopped missing them. A definite challenge in this culture as a whole it seems.

We learned Subways here are walking paths across or under roads. They don’t have these in many places that I have seen besides one part of Delhi. For instance in or near Gurgaon there is a 5 lane BUSY highway. The housing is on one side. The industrial park is on the other side. There are no breaks or stoplights so, people just dash across the highway. YIKES! We drove this pass on a Saturday afternoon and saw maybe.. 5-7 people at various places cross. I can only imagine what 10-11 am and 7-9 pm are like when we have our walking and driving rush hours here.

She said much of the food that you find in Indian restaurants is not served in homes. First of all they don’t have the brick ovens for Nan, good point I forgot about. (PANZY EXCUSE REALLY!) And the cooking is pretty simple. A veggie dish, Lentils/chick peas, and a more whole wheat version of Nan that you can make on stove top.

She also mentioned that Bollywood, though it is a larger industry then Hollywood, this is the first year that here in India, Hollywood films are doing better then their own. She says this is because Hollywood is putting much more effort in to overdubbing them in to various Indian languages. So, for instance we saw the English Harry Potter playing in Delhi, and in a theater across town we saw the Hindi version playing.

In our travels we stopped outside the Presidents residence.

(Say that thre times fast.... )

We drive by the Prime Minister’s as well. Meha said that in India the President is just a figure but the Prime Minister is the one who takes on the active roll.

We visited the India Gate.

And the outside of the Lotus Temple

One plac we WILL visit again to go inside and also hopefully at night as it is lit up beautifully then from the pictures we have seen.

Tuesday July 10

Joel is so right, the magic is WONDERFUL. The group of 4-6 guys that come in and do the dishes, sweep the floors, make the beds and freshen up the bathrooms is so nice though foreign to my world, but BOY,I could GROW to love it! OK, forget about the GROW part. I LOVE IT!

The heat… To answer a question asked. It is usually pretty hot. At night it still is not cooling off for the most part. 5 nights ago or so I went out at 4 AM and it was PERFECT!
So far most days are sunny or partly cloudy. We have had some sprinkles, but the monsoon has not kicked in.

It is cool to look out to the buildings across the way and see people drying their clothes on balcony railings. Today I see a bout 4. There is a certain hominess that scene inspires.

I have listened to little radio, but have found a station that seems to play India music during the day and 80’s American at night. Our stations at home could do well by checking out their play list. Songs I haven’t’ heard for a long time. They played “We are the World”. I need to listen to it again to ensure my accuracy, but I think the only singer in that bunch that has died has been Ray Charles. Is this correct? (sorry if that is a little off appropriate BLOG discussion??)

July 13 5:30 AM Friday

Rained good during the night so it is pretty humid. Rain slows things down traffic wise here due to lack of drainage and flooding in streets.

Joel is doing really very good. Yesterday stayed home from the office. He feels much better when his foot is up or only down for periods of time, and the deciding factor was when he couldn’t get his shoe on. The bandage around his toe is probably a good half inch thick from his toe, so no REAL surprise there. He was able to work some from home which was good.
He rode in the car with me to get lunch…

Ya, we know. But curiosity got the better end of us and for some reason it just sounded good. Rarely if EVER sounds good at home but we ran with it.

McDonalds here not ONLY delivers! (Wait, I just said that like it’s a GOOD THING!! That is SO WRONG!)


They have Specific Indian dishes (and a veggie burger) that we are curious to try. This time we were boring and had chicken sandwiches. Sadly, I didn’t find GRILLED chicken here. The fries are TOTALLY the same. Not native to this country as one would expect IDAHO potatoes would not be, but I have yet to see potatoes here to make a fry as long as the traditional Mc Donalds fry.

It is SUCH a different experience going to McDs here. First of all, you get there. A nice uniformed guard opens the door for you. The staff actually GREATS you with a smile. The WILD thing about India! THE PEOPLE WHO WORK AT MC DONALDS SPEAK ENGLISH!! So, I have to go to INDIA to get my order understood AND correct! (Barb and Kelly - remember our experience at the McDonalds in LA??:-) They are trained pretty rigorously here as I understand it. The nice guard opens the door for you when you leave too!

McDs also doesn’t seem to have those OH MY GOODNESS, sinful, yummy cinnamon roll/byte things that are almost as good as Cinnabon that they have at home that I of course have never even THOUGHT of putting in MY mouth and what were we talking about again??...

Anyway – Last night I was a little braver and went out ALL BY MYSELF to Spencers – the grocery store – to get some, well, groceries! Funny that!!

The eggs and milk are kept on the shelves as opposed to in a cooler. Milk here is very different. I have found no real joy in just drinking a glass full; way too rich but with cereal it is good, and I think perhaps in Coffee it would really add a creamy taste to it. The package says 2 toned - not sure what that means yet? It is is thicker, more like whole, but yet still an additional quality that I can’t quite pin down.

So, for about 7-8 American dollars or so I got Bread, butter, eggs, 2 liters of water, a few frozen meals/snacks to try. 8 items in total. So, this is interesting - the bill totals 255.57 Rupees. Beneath that is a line that says “less round off amount – 0.02. Total bill 255.55…
They don’t like “pennies” here! :) There is also a sales tax of 12.5% on most things here in Gurgaon due to all of the expansion and roads needed to build up the city.

Mall food here seems to be very good. Not quite the fast that is at home, but for now, the trade off is preferable. One night this week I went with the driver to pick Joel up so we could get bottled water. (we go through 5 liters each for the most part a day so it goes quickly.) A run to the food quart where we shared a personal pan at Pizza Hut, some Tibet food: Momos, a noodle dish and a gravy with veggies type dish. It looks like any other food court in Amercia. Minus the tables all have paper menus for each place on them. This is a HUGE win for Judy! You order and sit down, and somewhere between 5 and 15 minutes later your food shows up at your table. Everything was fresh made and REALLY tasty! The crust on my spicy chicken and veggie personal pan was as it should be… a tiny bit crispy but soft crust inside. The garlic bread was better then at home. But most likely the same materials. I find this noteworthy because I’m sure they are supposed to turn out like this in America. Perhaps here they don’t need to use the typical “short cuts” or perhaps they take time to take actual care in their preparation. (we’ll see if that stays steady to my experiences, but according to Joel it has.) Blessed cheap labor. Momos are pretty much steamed pot stickers. Just weird to get mall food court food that is fantastic. AND someone busses your dishes!

Yes, I know MALL Food isn’t exactly the best trend, but, it is part of the cultural experience RIGHT? And it is cool to get a meal for as inexpensive as it is, try things that are unique to here at familiar places… and have it TASTE good!

Apparently McDonalds, and I’m sure others have had to work extra hard to get IN to India. When McDonalds opened people here thought it was silly. Sandwiches are snacks here, so WHY would you build a WHOLE restaurant of snacks? So to make it they have had to provide great service, fresh food, and as mentioned altered their menu a bit. I’m guessing subway is in that group too. I don’t think I’ve had a subway so fresh at home if EVER. Not that I’m the BEST judge since I don’t frequent either of them much; none the less…

So, not exactly a week filled with our intended Indian diet, but with all the settling in and events I’m not gonna beat myself up about it too much.

Vegetables have been harder to find then I expected. Some we just don’t know what to do with. We have yet to see spinach or many greens. A head of Iceberg lettuce is quite an investment. Carrots are also rare. Looking forward to learning and doing more cooking.

After supper 3 of Joel’s co-workers stopped by to see how he was doing and bring him flowers. The Medical Doctor, Dr. Shreyange took a look at the procedure they did confirming the accuracy of the medicine prescribed. He also happened to know the surgeon. Nice to have a second opinion too! :) Great for me also to put a face with some of the names I hear about.





OOO Ooo Ooo!! The MOST COOLEST thing I learned today is that I can touch the cows and not offend anyone. I JUST need to wash my hands… Doctors orders! :) YEAH!!

Judy's Day 2 Catchup post # 4

Sunday July 8, 2007 (ya well!)
Our first stop The Grand Hotel. This was the place we THOUGHT we would be staying for a month or two because a family from Ingenix would need Joel’s apartment. This didn’t happen, but we wanted to check it out due to all the good things we have heard about the food, etc. This hotel, as I understand it, caters mainly to Americans. The prices reflect this as very few could afford to stay or eat there. (Frankly, this was certainly not our typical dinner fare but we thought it fun to treat our selves. And as all proper 5 star hotel buffets, prices were NOT posted.) For instance, our dinner cost, as we understand it, about 16 days of a driver’s salary, yet in America, at a 5 star hotel, this would not have been an unreasonable price for a meal.

The hotel is mostly gold and black. The floors in pillars being of black Marble. The views out the two restaurants windows that we could see were stunning landscaped water falls.

Below are pictures of the views out of the windows of the hotel. First is the Coffee house that I need to go back to and spend some quality study and reading time.

The second is the view from our table at the buffet.



The buffet that had, probably 30 dishes to try, plus grilled meat, pastries, desert, fruit, salads, etc. So, I ate myself full yet missed many taste sensations. Everything was wonderful. Mostly Indian dishes. Most everything was very small so we were able to taste a lot. The service was fantastic as well We do hope to go back to the hotel’s Sushi restaurant at some point.

Below is Joel at the Grand Hotel.


Not very many blocks from the hotel on our way in we saw more of Delhi streets where there were shops and housing. It was a little unreal going from that to the Grand Hotel.


Next We were going to continue to the market called Delhi Haat and a few other places. On the way to the mall the driver suggested that it was too hot to go to Delhi Haatt which is an outdoor mall. He pulled in to another shop called the lotus mall/Cottage Industries. It was a higher scaled store that is very updated and indoor… yeah air conditioning!

You enter to a greeter lady and there are art pieces displayed and back lit like a museum on the main floor with some description and explanation of the work that goes in to the silver pieces and other carvings. You are taken by the greeter to where 2 men are hand knotting a carpet. She describes how this rug will take a year or so to make, that one man is reading the pattern to the other so they are doing the exact stitch on both the left and right of the rug to ensure accuracy in the pattern. The loom is about as tall as I am. The finished portion of the rug rolled at the bottom. A gorgeous detailed red colored base pattern and then the constant amount of white wool strings from where they are working to the top of the loom where they will tie in to. The greeter guided us up to the floor where they sell rugs and we got an even greater explanation; silk versus the wool, the quality will withstand for hundredsof years. etc. . They were beautiful and INCREDABLY soft! They brought out many rugs for us to peruse and drool over. Though they were much persisting we managed to resist. I would find that this persistence, even though I KNEW to expect it, was a challenge for me. I was grateful for Joel’s month of experience. He was very relaxed yet persistent with his “no” and “no think you”. I was persistent but uncomfortable. They would say. “do you like this rug?” we would say, “yes it is beautiful”. “Well, why don’t you buy it then!” in a polite yet persistent tone. The information was interesting and we didn’t want to just move on. The rest of the store was the same persistency level. Well, in some cases more so. They would cary things, like big silver ornate expensive jewelry boxes with them that I commented favorably on “just in case!” I did purchase a couple Indian style outfits. They material is beautiful and they fit nicely and are quite comfortable light fabric. A HUGE shift from what I wear in color, but I can use a little comfort zone expansion! One is a red. and the other a gold/orange patterned silk. (I’ll be brave and post pics when I wear them.)

Here is a picture of inside the store where I purchased my clothes.

Then we were ushered to jewelry. we were looking at GORGIOUS rings of diamond and sapphires, “the stone of India.” The salesman said as he brought out 4 cases of rings, that this is Indian hospitality and there is no pressure. I held this phrase close to my heart for the rest of the shopping tour.

By the time we were done I was exhausted. I wanted to look and learn, but also wanted to escape. They were ALWAYS politely toned and I knew it wasn’t exactly THREATENING but it kept me on my toes.

It is one aspect of the culture here that will be a challenge. The “we want you to get exactly and only what you want.” But push you to find reason’s to buy what you don’t. In many ways a very kind and friendly and genuine culture too. So, kind of oxymoronic.

It was good boot camp for future ventures in to that type of market. And for ME also good for back home too. :)

We postponed the rest of the places for another day.

Our quick stop at the mall for water ran us in to the Disney Store Promotion.
Check out those Mickey and Donald Costumes.

Ah, the varied expereinces in India...

Well, for those of you wondering what the Medical System looks like in India, I can now tell you. The Emergency Room is really nice, and the hostpital in general is actually quite nice.

Joel had himself a good ole time. Main quick message is that I am back home and relatively well...

Warning, some icky details to follow.

Well, I can now speak to the India Health Care System! I had myself an accident, slipped on some water that leaked out of an air conditioning unit, and "banged" my foot into the door. Well, actually, my foot went under the door, the nail of my big toe went over the door... Re-locating your toe-nail that way is a bit painful and really produces quite a bit of blood, might I say.

The ER here is very good, and puts our US ones to shame on price, as well as most things... They removed the nail and bandaged it in the ER, and gave me some fun pain meds that made me sleepy. The great part of the experience was that it was soooo much better than any other medical experience that I have had in the US... granted, this was a private hospital, so a "higher end" one, but still... wait for the price tag later in this story.

So, I get to the hospital, and at least two attendants come out and escort both me and Judy in the Door, and then another person lead us quickly down the hall to the emergency wing. There, at least three nurses made sure I was comfortable, offered me water, and got me situated. They quickly told me thier opinion that the nail would have to be removed, but said the surgeon would be down shortly to give his opinion as well... And shortly was actually shortly - five minutes or so. So, I got treatment first, and then asked for payment and details second... The whole process, including the medical procedure and resting afterwards, and payment, and getting prescriptions, took no more than an hour.

And the total bill? About $75 rough US dollars, including painkillers and anti-biotics, plus the entire ER charge.

The picture below is right when I got back and was calling work to let them know I was mostly alright...



My main gripe at the moment, since the pain meds are working fairly well, is that I didn't get any pictures of the pre-hospital run... not that I need to share those, but hopefully it is a once in a lifetime event, and I would love to see it when I'm not half-way in shock.

Talk to you later - Joel

From Judy - My first full day - Catchup post #3

Joel and I went out for some exploring. We went to a mall nearby called Sahara Mall. The first thing I noticed as our driver pulled up to the mall was how decorated it was on the outside. Some signs and advertisements but some other pictures and colors.

We got out and entered the mall through the metal detector passing a few guards. There were a good many of these guards in various places around the mall. The top of the escalators, outside of stores as you entered, etc. They dressed in blue uniforms. (These guards didn’t seem to carry guns during the day, unlike our apartment complex guards who have riffles mostly after dark.) The mall was sort of a big square with 4 floors with an open middle. Kind of like City Center in Minneaplis, but much smaller, but taller. There was music playing from large speakers in the middle of the first floor from some radio station.
We ate at the same place where Joel had his first meal; not by planning, but because my tummy was stressed from not sleeping well and the Indian place was closed. This is where I had my first double decker taco on India. Much more REAL then TB at home, good tasting, a full meal at about the same cost as we would have spent at TB. I then proceeded to have Baskin Robins for desert. HEY! There aren’t many Baskin Robins at HOME either! :) This was about the same cost as if you were to purchase it in America. Same Ice cream and hot fudge, but I don’t think they add “wheat crispies” on top at home. There were a LOT of people at the mall. It was very hot, which Joel said was unusual there, and I got to experience my first electricity outage. It was out for maybe a good 30 seconds and no one really seemed to notice or care. This tends to be a daily occurrence around here. It usually doesn’t last for 30 seconds though. More like 10.

Mall number 2, CTC (also known as Mega City Mall) was also playing music at a fairly loud level. I think this is kinda a trend here. We didn’t really go in to many stores, but did some window shopping. Joel and I shared a mocha and a chocolate covered Florentine pastry. You can see I’m REALLY diving in to the Indian culture head first can’t you? The mocha was fantastic. Served in an actual china type cup and plate. I don’t think they have any to go options. Environmentally, this is a wonderful thing with less waste of paper cups, etc.

We then went to the Galleria which has an open air-middle with small shops in buildings along it. We purchased meat at one of the two meat shops for supper (later to be found to be a bad choice of butchers for fish as Joel got himself slightly sick). Lesson learned to not go to the empty meat market, but wait in line at the busy one!

The trip to this mall holds a special place in my heart. FIRST of all, on the way we saw many cows on the side of the road and in the streets! IT IS SOOO COOL! Second of all. I got to see 3 puppies… OK, DOGS hanging out at the mall. I have seen 2 dogs actually on a leash with owners, but most of them run free with no human home. So, they just lay on the sidewalk, you can get right next to them and they just sit there. I didn’t get brave enough to touch one with either hand or foot, but was certainly close enough to, and they just didn’t really care.

Last night I could here a bunch of dogs barking from our balcony. Hard to say how far away and how many there were, but I would say a good 10-15 distinct barks.

Certainly more posts are in the works - need to catch up on sleep and homework as well. Many other things and pictures to come.

So, I made it to India - Catch-up Post #2

It looked like the journey might get interesting when I walked in to the airport and the first words I hear are. “your flights been cancelled.” But, all was well. I was moved to a new flight and no hassles. The food was great. The 17 hours in the air wasn’t that bad at all! I got some sleep and some breakfast around 10AM MN time and 8:30 PM India time. So, I was ready to rock when I got here. It has been fun and strange exploring the new apartment with all its doors, rooms and balconies. Joel and I have always said having 2 bathrooms would be nice, well, now we have 5 to choose from. (yup, SO not moving home!). There are some things that take some getting used to. For instance the inability to just drink water out of the faucet, making sure you have a bottle with you to brush your teeth, turning on the hot water a bit before you shower, (like 5 minutes and it has yet to run out on me, so very reasonable.) turning on the plug-ins. Having air conditioning control in almost every room I LOVE this concept! If I ever build a house, that is SO getting integrated.

I have learned to think of moth balls as a sort of Indian Spice. They are placed in most every bathroom drain, both sink and the ones in the floor to cover the sewer smell that would be quite prevalent with out them.

So, I’m sure to some this will sound ungrateful, but as much as Marble floors are BEAUTIFUL! They are KILLERS on the knees and feet!! Most of our apartment is a light marble floor. The bedrooms do have a sort of wood looking finish. No plans to import and install in my St Paul house. I could jack the rent on the upper unit I suppose. HMMM!!

It has been “interesting” :) so far. There is so much that is so hard to explain but is so fascinating and thought provoking. As Joel mentioned, the driving is very fascinating. Everybody kinda goes where and when they want to on the road. It isn’t quite a free for all, but sort of a seemingly organized and somewhat good natured one.

The amount of bikes, motor bikes, rickshaws, both motor, bike and a few people powered ones are AMAZINGLY plentiful. Weaving in and out of traffic between cars. NOT TO MENTION the humans walking on the side of the roads right next to the cars. Not to mention the cows, and other animals too, that are just randomly walking, sitting, standing alone or with their friends. In the few days that I have been here I can see God gives the city streets special attention. As my friend Insiah says, that is the only thing keeping these folks safe. As I understand it, there are very little accidents of cars and people. In America, the road rage would not allow for the success or the calmness that seems to be maintained. I agree that explaining the roads here is impossible.

My last days in the US - Catch-up Post #1

Well, this is well over due… But here-goes.


My last weeks home were filled with crazed preparation and the chance to see friends and some family before heading out. One of my high school friends, Carol and her hubby Kevin from Chicago came to Lisa and Jim’s in Rochester where I met them for a weekend hang out. We also hooked up a camera and connected to Joel so everyone could chat with him as well. It was a perfect way to spend my last weekend in the states.



Picture of everyone with Joel via Skype:







My “work friend” Kirsten came to Duluth to hang out and take me to St Paul the night before I flew out. We had a great time! Did some hanging out by the lake, managed a last trip to Amazing Grace coffee shop, Taco Bell, DQ and I got in one last caribou at the airport!

I must publicly thank Kirsten for ALL her help in my final hours of getting ready. YOU ARE A GODDESS!! She took care of some of the last minute cleaning stuff that I SO wanted to get done but was pressed for time!! Not to mention errand running and then driving me down to St Paul!! Thank you for making my last day fun and fairly stress free! I REALLY appreciate it!

And besides the academy I also have to thank Jeff who was, as always, an AMAZING amount of help and had endless patients in shopping for luggage, underwear and all the other travel needs! :) I can NOT imagine the stress I would have had with out your help!

My last night in the states I spent with Joel’s Dad David and his wife Judi Swan! They made me feel so comfortable and welcome. We enjoyed a Perkins breakfast for my send off and also David’s birthday before I left.

Judy is safe in India

Judy arrived last night. Short post, because we are off to see sights and grocery shop, but wanted to let everyone know that she arrived safe and sound. Well, mostly sound... still adjusting to time zone change, as jet lag picture below shows. :)

Peace all - Joel

Finally went somewhere a little braver

Well, I officially feel like I am in a different country... Not to say I didn't before, but yesterday was a totally new experience for me.

Jerome (a fellow Ingenix Traveller), took myself and Austin (another traveller) and Austin's associate from Genpact whose name escapes me at the moment, out to three shopping areas yesterday. The first was a small, almost back alley place that was temporary looking stalls (Kind of Ren Fest type of feel, but smaller) that felt like a cross between the market Judy, Jeff and I visited in Portland, staffed with stall sellers and independent walking sellers that could teach Vegas time-share sellers a thing or two about persistence... :) Once you made eye contact, they pursued you for a LONG time. One gentleman asked me to buy a wallet, and I made eye contact with somewhat, because I'm not too fond of mine, but decided within 2 seconds that I didn't want what of the choices he had... He followed me the rest of the time, up to and including right up to when I got in the car. Jerome bought a snake toy that took him ten minutes and much following for Austin's friend to get him to drop his price from 400 rupes (roughly $10 US) to 50 rupies. Still too much probably, but it was a kind of fun toy. :)

Then Jerome had two Kurtas (long shirts) to pick up from the second shopping place that we went - the picture below, with more building shops.

Then off to KFC, which really does taste roughly like the US version, but the menu is totally different, minus that you can buy chicken...

Lastly, we did end up at Delhi Hut, which really reminded me of an Indian Ren Fest, and had much less people and much less pushy sales people... less, not entirely not. :) Still very Indian, including a swarm of children begging. Blame Jerome as the softy, as he tried to time his giving them each 2 or so rupies with our car getting there, but mis-judged, and we attracted 10 or so kids... :) Interesting, somewhat.

Anyways, have to cruise - have to prep for Judy getting here - YAY!

Peace - Joel