Monday, July 7, 2008

July 3rd: Belated Entry

So I finally figured out how to get this blog thing to work. :-)

The following is my stream of consciousness trail of thoughts that I wrote down on my first day here:

Tired. Anxious. Hungry. Dirty. Hopeful. All are what I am. One of which I hope to remain in the morning.

~

Our flight from SFO to Shanghai was wonderful. There was a whole row in which I could lie down and the food was great. I hadn't slept for two nights before last, and was out like a light in a jiffy.

~

[Personal paragraph omitted]

~

India has very red Earth, but is otherwise a very green place. I like the people, from what little I can say of them. It is, however, frustrating not knowing the language here. That will certainly hinder me to some extent, but I am glad that most of the educated individuals that I will be working with do know English somewhat.

~

A liter of water here cost me 14 Rupees, which is 1/3 of a dopllar. I have yet to take an auto rickshaw somewhere, but I am told that that shouldn't cost me more than thirty Rupees.

~

The weather is nice here It's about six in the evening, and the breeze compliments the 70 degree weather quite well.

[End of journal entry]

P.S. It is really hot and humid here. It reminds me of back home (Wisconsin). I am retroactively very happy that L.A. doesn't really have weather.

P.P.S. I've taken auto rickshaws many a time now. They're great, but I'm not sure how safe they really are. I hate haggling with the drivers over prices, but its just part of the culture here. I could care less if something costs me 45Rs or 40Rs (a difference of 17 cents, basically), but I don't want to get taken advantage of.

2 comments:

David Livingston said...

Just curious....does it seem that there's any retail source that sells water in bulk for cheaper? Basically, is there any advantage/benefit from grouped purchasing of clean water?

Papa John said...

I haven't run across any retailers selling large quantities of water. At dinner we buy a few 2-liter bottles of water, and I myself purchase two 1-liter bottles of water each morning from the cafeteria at which we eat...