My catering adventure....

Well, I did it!  I successfully made it through my first catering event this past weekend and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  No one threw up (that I know of), no one spit out the food in front of me, and I haven't received any phone calls asking "what was in that" (and not in a good way).  So, overall, success!

You may be asking, hmm, I didn't know she catered.  Well, I didn't know I did either!  My good friend Laura, one of the first people I met after moving to Atlanta (we both taught swimming at the Ashford Dunwoody YMCA 12 years ago), asked me to help her out with her Holiday party.  She knows I like to experiment and I've been talking to her about how I would love to open a bakery one day.  She normally just gets a Honey Baked Ham or food trays (nothing wrong with that) for her parties and thought this would be fun.  Easy for her and fun for me...so I thought.

Well, it was a bit stressful to say the least, but a great learning experience.  It's one thing when you are cooking at your house, but hard when you need to figure out logistics in someone else's kitchen.  And then there is the dilemna of figuring out how much food to make.  What do you serve 38 adults and 25 kids?  And when I say kids, I mean soccer playing 10 year olds who probably eat more than I do!   I did what any good project manager does, I created a spreadsheet and consulted my mom. :-)

Luckily work was slow last week, so I was able to spread out everything over the week.  I created a menu, consulted the Sam's Club, Kroger and Publix sales for the week and went shopping.  I researched catering websites to figure out how much food to make per person, the last thing I wanted to have happen was someone going hungry.  Especially at a 6 pm party!

So, I began cooking.  Did you know that:

• 10 lbs of potatoes makes 210 mini latkes
• 5.5 lbs of ground beef makes 165 mini meatballs
• 6.5 lbs of chicken tenders makes 66 chicken satay sticks
• 2 pork tenderloins make at least 80 crostini bites
• grape jelly and heinz chili sauce actually make a nice meatball sauce?

Not to mention the antipasto platters with yummy cheeses, meats and veggies.  And fresh vegetables with dip.  And of course, dessert - butter cookies, peanut chews, mini cupcakes and fresh berries. 

After 4 days of cooking and planning, I packed the car and was off! 

I arrived at Laura's house 2 hours early, used her grill to cook the meats and we set up the food around the house.  Antipasto and veggies in the kitchen, hot stuff in the dining room, desserts in the hall.  Everyone loved it!  They kept saying how they liked that the food was spread out around the house.  That it was nice to have a variety of fresh foods, and protein, that so many parties it's just carbs.  And the chicken was a huge hit, I was afraid it would dry out sitting in the warmer all night, but nope, people commented on how moist it was. 

This was like a big experiment for me.  A test to see if I could do it and most of all to see if people would actually enjoy what I cook.  I learned quite a few things in the process:

• to keep it simple, yet with bold fun flavors
• that it's hard when you are spending someone else's money!
• to figure out logistics and serving arrangements BEFORE you get there
• that not everyone's gas grill cooks like yours
• that adults like to eat frozen pigs in a blanket and mini taquitos too, not just kids
• frozen cranberry juice cubes makes for great ice cubes in a pitcher of prosecco
• and to make sure you label the pitcher with the "adult" drink in it (he was 10 and it was only a small glass) 

The big question is, would I do it again?  Absolutely!  It's all part of the adventure!  My true passion is baking, so if you need a tray of muffins, scones, cookies and biscotti for a tea or brunch or an office party, let me know.  But small parties, sure, why not?  :-) 

My favorite dish of the night? The Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney.  I blended a couple of recipes together and it turned out delicious.  The pork can be eaten by itself also and the chutney used with anything.  If you don't want to use pork, you could try chicken or just the chutney itself with a nice cheese (like Manchego).  Let me know if you try it out and enjoy! 

Crostini with Grilled Pork and Apple Chutney

Crostini: Cut baguette into 1/4'' slices, spray with cooking spray and cook for 7-10 minutes at 400, until lightly browned.  Cool and put in airtight container.  Can be made 48 hours before.

Pork: Mix together a paste of crushed garlic, cinnamon, ground coriander, nutmeg, black pepper, salt and olive oil.  Rub the tenderloin with the paste and wrap in plastic wrap.  Let marinate in fridge overnight (the longer the better). When ready, grill for about 20 minutes, depending on size.  Let sit before cutting into thin slices. 

For Chutney:

• 2 cups unsweetened apple juice
• 2 teaspoons black tea leaves (such as Darjeeling or Assam)
• 1 teaspoon butter 
• 1 teaspoon olive oil 
• 1 1/2 cups diced onion 
• 4 cups diced peeled Rome apple (about 3 large)
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar 
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper 
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
• Dash of ground cloves

 
Bring 2 cups juice to a boil in a large saucepan. Remove from heat. Stir in 2 teaspoons tea leaves, and steep for 2 minutes. Strain juice mixture through a sieve into a bowl; discard leaves. Set juice tea aside. Heat butter and 1 teaspoon oil in pan over medium-low heat. Add onion; cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently. Stir in apple; cook 5 minutes. Add reserved juice mixture, raisins, and next 8 ingredients (through ground cloves). Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat; reduce heat to medium. Cook 30 minutes or until apple is tender and mixture is thick.   (Note: I doubled the recipe and let it simmer for a few hours until it was thick enough).

To assemble: Place piece of pork on crostini and top with a generous spoonful of warm chutney. 

Yum!!

Still humbled...and still rambling...

It's been 8 months since I've returned from India and I'm still humbled by the experience.  I often find myself pondering what I've learned from my time there and how it's meant to influence change in my life.  It was not an easy trip for me, I felt as if I was on stimulation overload the entire time and my heart was being pulled in a million directions.  I wanted to help everyone, I wanted everyone to help everyone, and most of all I wanted the government to help everyone.  But, the reality of the situation is that India has 1.2 Billion people (4 times the US) and I couldn't help everyone.  I did what I could and I am proud of that.

I've spent the past few months thinking.  Lots and lots and lots of thinking.  Many existential moments and  introspective discussions, but until now, no action.  I've realized that I like to write, I like to get my thoughts out and contrary to what my Mom might think (based on my frustration, crying, and fighting when I had to write papers in school, and even today), I actually like to write.  I've been told I'm a good story teller, that I should figure out how to put all these creative thoughts in my head on paper.  One person in particular has been the recipient of these ramblings and musings and has encouraged me to share with others (thanks J!), and until now I didn't know how.  So I figured, why not, it's time to resurrect this blog and share my ramblings! 

So, for now, it's back to basics.  I realized in India that we live in a country of excess and that I can live happily with less.  Or at least try.  I cancelled my cable back in May and really haven't missed it since.  I checkout videos from the library, have been reading a lot more and if I have a TV craving, I can watch episodes of Chopped or Next Iron Chef online.  Did you know that the library has some really great BBC shows and mini series? 

I've also been cooking and baking like crazy, and have been keeping my freezer and the one at BRMB filled with scones, muffins, biscotti, soups, calzones, and other assorted healthy things.  I enjoy experimenting with new recipes and figuring out how to substitute ingredients to make them healthier.  Instead of oil, I'll try yogurt.  Or instead of sugar, honey.  Or adding ground flax and whole wheat flour.  Or when I tricked the kids next door with Butternut Squash Mac N Cheese, they never knew it had veggies in it and 2/3s less calories!  I try to eat fresh and local if possible.  I eat minimal processed foods and try to avoid ingredients I can't pronounce.  If I think I can make it, I won't buy it.  Of course I have moments of weakness but for the most part it seems to be working.

Mac N Cheese Recipe ----> http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/creamy-light-macaroni-cheese-50400000115195/

I tried to live off a garden this summer, but the heat and lack of sun on my raised beds didn't work out in my favor.  The squirrels undermined my attempt at fresh strawberries and figs (they always got there a day ahead of me!), the chipmunks loved the blueberries low to the ground and the robins living in the crape myrtle near the garden swooped at my head as I attempted to harvest cucumbers.  I did get lots of tomatoes though.  But I had fun trying to make it all work and will figure out a new plan for next year.

My winter project is to build some raised beds on the side of the house where I know I get full sun and to see if I can plant different height native GA plants that flower throughout the year.  A big project, but going to try!

All of these things, plus others are part of the adventures I'd like to share and write about.  If you have any particular topics or ideas for me please let me know and I'll try my best.  If you want to come over and have an existential discussion over tea and scones, just let me know when!  If you want me to bake for your next party or meeting, I'm taking orders. 

Right now simplicity, creativity, and slowing down is my inspiration, stay tuned for the next update! 

Southern Hospitality - India style

I've been writing mostly about places and sightseeing, but I had one of the nicest encounters with a hotel manager in all my worldly travels that I feel it warrants its own entry.

I found Tissa's Inn, where we stayed in Fort Kochi on tripadvisor and all the reviews were excellent and raved about how nice and helpful Francis, the hotel manager was.  So, I called and booked our group 1 night, since we didn't know what we wanted to do and figured we could work out the details once we got there.  Francis emailed me the quote arranged transportation from the airport for us and also asked if there was anything else we needed.  So I asked about things to do, and arranging backwater tours, tea/spice visits, etc.

That was just the beginning.  He put together a sample itinerary and got some price quotes on boat hires.  He sent an email before we left and wished us safe travels.  But once we got there and met him, we realized, he wasn't doing this to earn a tip, he was doing this because he truly loves his job and being good to people.  We sat down with him after breakfast on Sunday after we got there and talked about options.  We decided to go to Munnar on Monday, so he called and arranged a car, he called to several different inn/homestays.  He sat with us for almost an hour, giving us ideas and just chatting.  He sure does like to talk :-)  The inn gave us water in our rooms, to take with us for the day and didn't charge, this was the first time in India we saw this happen.  We went to check out before we headed to Munnar for the night, but since the hotel wasn't busy and we were coming back Tuesday night, Francis said to just pack our things but leave them in our rooms in case they needed to move them.  And not to worry about the bill, we would settle when we left on Thursday/Friday.  How nice!  We didn't even have to pay for the room for the night, or worry about it being in hotel storage.  He called the homestay in Munnar to make sure we arrived okay and checked in with me later in the day to make sure the driver was doing okay.  I called him on the way back to have him arrange a boat tour for me on Wednesday (everyone else was going to beach, they leave Friday, I leave Thursday) and he took care of booking everything.  I didn't have to worry about paying a thing, it was all added to my room charges.  On the way back from Munnar he texted and asked what we wanted for dinner, he would have it waiting when we got there.  And finally on Wednesday morning, he called while I was getting dressed and asked what I wanted for breakfast, so he could have it ready so I wouldn't miss my ride. 

These may all seem like normal things, but it was the way he did them that just blew us away.  He was very soft spoken, always smiling, shaking your hands, patting you on the shoulder and saying that he just wanted you to relax and have the best experience ever.  Francis is probably in his late 50's, worked for the Taj hotel group for 15+ years, which is probably where he learned all of this.  He is a devout Catholic and had to leave Wednesday to meet with his family to work out the details for the mass for his mother, she just passed away about a month ago and they will have a 41st day celebration next week.  (to all my Catholic friends, what is the significance?).    He was apologetic for having to be away, and we reassured him it was fine, that family comes first.  On my way out yesterday morning, he sat down and ate breakfast with me and since he knew I was traveling, had the kitchen make me a lunch to take with me (no charge).  I asked how his day was Wed and he said all the arrangements were set, they were going to have 600 guests and also would serve a few orphanages (about 150 kids).  His mom (she was 93) must have been super special too, and she taught her son well!  He grabbed my shoulders and gave me a kiss on each cheek and wished me safe travels.  I actually had a tear in my eye thinking about how special he made this trip.  And finally, on my way to the airport, he texted and said he was praying for safe travels. :-)  (oh, forgot to mention the hotel gave me an early birthday card, guess they read the passports)

It just makes you realize that it doesn't take much to be good to people.  He knows that we are coming to a place where we don't know the language, the culture, how to get around, typical prices, etc, etc.  He just wants you to have the best time you can and to enjoy his world.  He succeeded in making this one of the most memorable vacations ever.  If you ever are in India, you have to go to Fort Kochi to experience Francis hospitality, southern India style!  (and to pick up my bathing suit which I left hanging on the back of the bathroom door, darn! haha, I'm sure Francis will take care of it)

Tea and Spices Everywhere!

I feel like I am in a totally different country!  The south of India is just so different from Jaipur, it's very refreshing to be able to see more of the country before I head home. 

After spending Sunday exploring Fort Kochi, we decided to head up to Munnar, in the the Western Ghats.  Munnar is a popular vacation and honeymoon location and is only 130 km from here, but took about 4 hours to get there.  Francis, the innkeeper in Fort Kochi arranged for us to hire a minivan for the two days, and Rajesh (our driver) was really good, and most of all, made us all feel safe, he wasn't crazy like most taxi drivers.  The drive is a steady climb up to about 2000 meters above sea level and the roads are so windy.  Poor Edina couldn't handle the twists and turns, on top of the stop and go Indian driving, and we had to stop a few times.  We finally made it to the Rose Garden, our homestay for the night, and dropped her off to take a nap.  What a cute little place!  It's basically someone's house that they opened to guests, including their two kids running around.  It also was an organic farm/nursery, even though it was set only on 2 acres, every inch of the property was covered with fruits/veggies/spices and they grow over 200 different varieties. 

We dropped our stuff off and headed past Munnar towards Top Station, which was supposed to have spectacular views.  We drove through fields and fields (or I should say mountains and mountains) of tea, which mostly are owned and operated by Tata Beverages (they own everything in India).  It was so clean smelling, no noise, just perfect driving and taking in the scenery.  It rained most of the afternoon so we never made it to the viewpoint at Top Station, but it didn't stop us from checking things out, including trying this amazing masala corn from a street food vendor, and fresh passion fruit.  They unhusk the corn and cook it quickly in an open fire, you can hear the kernels crackling.  Then they take a lime and rub in in masala spice and then on the corn.  Awesome! 

We had dinner at the homestay, all veg, but much different than up north in the desert.  A lot of the food was from their garden and most had coconut in it.  Really, really good.  Then we sat on the back porch in the dark and watched the fireflies and listened to the birds and peepers.  It was so nice to be out of the city and just relax.  I think we all fell asleep on the deck at some point, and everyone commented that this was one of the best parts of our stay in India. 

After a hearty breakfast, including fresh organic coffee that they grow, roast and grind (too bad I don't drink coffee, but everyone said it was good) we had a quick tour by Tomy, the owner of his gardens.  I was mostly interested in how the spices grow, I never knew that cloves were a flower.  He had vanilla beans, cardamon, allspice, peppercorns (they just grow like little nodes on the branch), coffee beans, cocoa, and lots of fruit and veggies.  We got to taste fresh stevia leaves too, I'll have to try and grow them in the garden this year.  He sells most of the stuff he picks at the local market, I did get to take some pepper and coffee home.
We then made our way back up to Munnar and were going to try Top Station again.  It was a beautiful day, lots of sun and not too hot.  Edina joined us this time and we only had to stop twice on the way up, poor thing.  But the ride was worth it, we felt like we were on top of the world.  No garbage or noise, just sweet smelling tea plantations and beautiful flowers.  Lots of lantanas everywhere (just like yours Mary Ann!) which gave us a nice scent.  We hiked our way up and down to the viewing point for Top Station and were all speechless with how pretty it was.  Too bad it was hazy and rain was coming, the pictures won't be that good, but in person it was amazing. 

We headed back down to town and toured the Tata tea museum, had a very brief tour/explanation on how tea was harvested/dried/crushed/sorted, etc and then saw a demo of the machines.  Of course we got a free sample and I purchased some black and cardamon tea for my collection.  Then it was back in the car for the 4 hour drive to Fort Kochi.  Less than 48 hours, but one of the best 2 days I've spent in India.  If you ever make it here, I highly recommend it! 

Goodbye desert! Hello humidity!

I actually never thought I would be saying that, but after spending a month in a desert climate, I am so excited to spend the next 5 days in the humidity!

I left Jaipur early this morning and said goodbye to a few fellow IBMers and made my way to the airport with half of them, Edina, Luis, Jaakko, Elin and Martin.  We were all on the same flight and heading to the southern tip of India to Kerala, known as God's Country.  What an odd bunch we are, from the US, Mexico, Hungary, Finland, Sweden and Spain (Charo was meeting us there).

I was very impressed with the flight, who knew that SpiceJet was such a nice airline.  The planes were very clean, they were on time (in fact early), the pilot kept updating everyone on the cricket score and Edina and I had a row to ourselves.  Not too shabby.  We did spend 2.5 hours in the Mumbai airport, which wasn't very exciting, but very clean and had decent food.  Landing and taking off in Mumbai though was very eye opening, you fly right over a very large slum area.  The city is massive compared to Jaipur and the poverty is apparent from the air.

Two hours after leaving Mumbai we emerged from the clouds and it was green and plush for as far as the eye could see.  After being in the desert for a month, this was just amazing.  Tea plantations, palm trees, water, everything was so spread out, it was heaven.  It's kind of like seeing the sun for the first time after days of rain.  As soon as we walked off the plane in Kochin we could feel the humidity, it was so nice!  Very small airport, we grabbed our bags and met our driver who was waiting for us.  We said goodbye to Elin and Martin who were heading another direction and made our way out to Fort Kochi, about an hour drive South West.

We booked a guest house/inn sight unseen, based on tripadvisor ratings and it is perfect.  It's a central location, beautiful building, decent size and very clean rooms and the water pressure in the shower was awesome.  I forgot to mention that my shower in Jaipur was sort of a trickle so I had to use the little cup hanging in the shower to get the shampoo out of my hair.

We got in around 6 pm, had a welcome drink of ginger lime soda on the roof near the tiny pool and decided to grab dinner here.  I had a piece of fish (yay, no more vegetarian!) and some pulao (rice with veg, cashews, raisins and tons of fresh spices), which was pretty good.

Tomorrow we are off to explore the local historic town, see where Vasco de Gama was originally buried and also see Jew Street/Jew town, one of the oldest jewish neighborhoods in India.  We'll be here at "Tissa's Inn" for another night and will figure out the rest of our plans tomorrow.  Probably will spend Monday on a boat in the backwaters and then head up to the hills to a tea/spice plantation.

I'm really liking the feel of this place.  Can't describe it, will post pictures tomorrow after exploring.  Oh, I have my PC, I decided to bring it to "research" the rest of the trip.  Off to bed now, but first I need to kill these two mosquitoes in my room...

Lassiwalla!

I can't believe I waited until the last day in Jaipur to try one of these!  Yes, that's a piece of curd floating on top of my lassi in an earthenware cone from the famous Lassiwalla shop (more like a street stall).  :-)  That's my teammate Marco, from Germany and Jan (the third cone).

Tomorrow - off to Kerala way down south to explore the beaches, tea and spice plantations and the plush backwaters.  Won't have a PC so will update when I'm back in Jaipur next Thursday, then I head back home on Friday! 

Eternal Love...

Did you know that the Taj Mahal was built as a symbol of eternal love?  Before last weekend, I knew nothing about it, just that it is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and that it's the thing to see when you are in India.  But after visiting I've learned that it's more than just a beautiful piece of architecture.

It was built over a 22 year period (11 years is good luck, so was a multiple of 11) from 1631-1653.  It is a mausoleum that houses the remains of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan's wife.  She died giving birth to her 14th child and on her deathbed she asked him to build something to remember her by and to never marry again.  He took this to heart and spent the rest of his life fulfilling her request.  The purpose for which it was built was eternal love, but the way it was built is also very interesting.

It is located on the banks of the Yamuna River in Agra, right after a bend in the river.  There is no coincidence to the location or how it was built.  At the time, this location in Agra was said to be the most geologically sound in India.  The ground was said to be more stable because it on the strongest part (curve) of the river.  The basement contains wells filled with wood and stone, which are to help absorb shock in the event of an earthquake.  Also the outer minarets are at a 91 degree angle outward, in the event of an earthquake they wouldn't fall on the dome.  Quite fascinating if you think about it, because this was all architected and built by hand.  Each piece of marble was carefully carved and inlayed with local stone.  An art form that is still practiced today.

We visited on a Saturday afternoon along with thousands and thousands of other tourists, most of them from India. If you look close you can see them all lined up along the base of the platform.    

This is one of my favorite pics from the side of the building, showing all the colors of India and the people waiting to go inside.

We spent a couple hours just walking around, taking pictures and learning the history from our guide.  The line to go inside was wrapped all the way around the building, so we decided to not go inside and enjoy the sunset instead.  It was quite beautiful, with the marble reflecting the pink and orange colors and the silhouette of the building and minarets against the sky being so distinct.  Definitely a highlight of my trip here, a magical place.

And of course, a weekend wouldn't be complete without people asking to take my picture (or just taking it thinking I didn't know about it).  It is very amusing to me.  A man walked up with his baby daughter and pointed to her and asked if I would take a picture with her.  They must have been from a small village and aren't used to seeing "foreigners".  Of course I said yes, and only one picture, but then he introduced me to his wife and then somehow the whole family was in the picture.  Me towering over them.  Too bad I didn't get their email address (hehe) to see how it turned out.

The rest of the weekend was okay, we visited the Red Fort in Agra and another fort on the way back to Jaipur, but the Taj Mahal visit was the best.

Here are some of the pics from the weekend.

https://picasaweb.google.com/sachagoodson/TajMahalTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCLTJmsS_opDdnQE#

We stopped at a UNESCO World Heritage bird sanctuary on the drive up for a couple hours.  This was awesome!  Charo, Pawel and I rented bikes and had a guide take us around.  We saw a python in the wild, lots of birds, parakeets, cows, egrets, storks, antelope.  It's on the edge of the desert, but in the rainy season is flooded.  It's a migratory point for a lot of large birds from Russia to escape the cold winters.  It was probably in the upper 90s but felt great to ride a bike and get out of the city and best of all not to hear any cars honking!

Peacocks are beautiful, but...

they make very annoying sounds.  Not sure how you would describe it, it's not a chirp, or a tweet, but sounds more like babies crying or cats in heat.  There is one that shows up every once in a while outside my window in the mornings and decides to sound off, but we heard them the most when we were up in Nawalgarh two weekends ago. 

I'm finally getting caught up on my updates, after having a rough week last week due to stomach issues.  It was inevitable given the way I was eating, the food is too good here!  I missed two days of work and then we had a trip to the Taj Mahal over the weekend and now I'm winding down my last few days of work.  Hard to believe it's been almost 4 weeks.  But, before I get there, I'll go back two weekend to the "country" trip.

One of the groups is working with the Morarka Foundation on rural tourism.  We had the opportunity to be their guests for the weekend in the historic town of Nawalgarh, which was on the Silk Road back before the British closed it down.  10 of us packed into our Tempo Traveler tourist bus (same as before) and headed the 3.5 hours Northeast.  We arrived at our Heritage hotel, circa 1910, which was at the end of some very narrow, bumpy and dusty roads.  We were treated like royalty, there was a nice buffet dinner setup out front, with dancing and a traditional puppet show and an open bar.  It was very nice and the Morarka Foundation is all about organic food, so the meal was all organic and we finally had chicken!  This was a treat as we have been eating mainly vegetarian since we arrived. 

The rooms were really nice, with all old antiques and made to look as it would have been 90 years ago.  I got up at 6 the next morning and made my way to the roof to take in the sunrise, even though it was a bit cloudy, and that's when I figured out what was making that awful noise - the peacocks!  They were everywhere.  And to think, as a kid, we loved being able to see them at the Bronx Zoo.  I've come a long way!  :-) 

Vijay, from Morarka, met us after breakfast and we had a walking tour of the town.  It was nice to be out of the city and to just wander the streets and see how life exists outside of Jaipur.  It was still dirty, and rundown, and animals everywhere, but had an odd peacefulness to it.  Almost as if the people there took care of each other.  We visited a temple and were blessed (this happens if you give them a few rupees) and then made our way to the Morarka Haveli museum.  The town of Nawalgarh is made up of lots of old Havelis, which is basically a walled house, you enter from the outside into a courtyard, sort of.  The paintings were original and the historian showed us how life would have been.  Was quite interesting.

Then it was off to tea at the estate/now hotel of the Prince of Nawalgarh, which looked exactly like I would have expected an Indian lodge to look like back during British days, with the men and women in their big safari hats and the green open top jeeps and lots and lots of horses.  It was a bit dated and tired, but you had to use your imagination.

After a bit more driving, and after a visit with a Women's Self Help Group, and a visit to the Morarka farm / organic store and training center, we made our last stop of the day, at an organic farm for a traditional Rajasthani meal.  We sat outdoors on the ground, shoes off on a burlap floor.  The food was served on a big silver plate and was all organic vegetables from the farm.  Purple carrots, scallions, potatoes and peas, curd made from the cow's milk on the farm.  It was as close to the earth as I will probably ever get.  We toured the farm and their eco-tourism lodgings, you can actually vacation there!  They heat their gas stove with cow "patties" and use geo-thermal techniques for refrigeration.  Was very interesting and the farmer who hosted us was very sweet as well as his family.   Here are some pictures of the journey

https://picasaweb.google.com/sachagoodson/NawalgahrTrip03180319?authkey=Gv1sRgCLitre7-zMXyIw#

Next update: Taj Mahal!

Scenes from the road

A bit of a delay, but I'm finally catching up from the weekend.  Before I recap though, a bit of advice for the traveler, whether it be just to another city or another country.  Add powdered gatorade or some sort of energy/electrolyte replenishing powder to your medicine kit.  Believe me, it will come in handy and will probably taste better than Indian made rehydrating salts :-)

We finally made it out of Jaipur and headed up into the country/desert for a night.  One of the groups is working with the Morarka Foundation on helping them research eco-tourism and they wanted us to help them 'research' things in Nawalgarh for the weekend.  So we boarded our little tourist bus (the Tempo Traveler below) and headed NE about 3.5 hours.  It's not that far, but Indian roads aren't the easiest to navigate so it took us a while to get there.

Here are some interesting pics of things seen along the way.  I'll update the rest of the trip later, for now, enjoy some scenery from Indian roadways.

Smallest store in India...

Various methods of transportation

  minor traffic jam, cleared in 2 minutes

hope he didn't have to go too far!

hay truck

and probably the best one, not the safest by any means, but just amazing that anyone would choose to travel this way.  the triple decker bus, top floor accessible only by climbing and holding on for dear life

and who could forget the fire extinguishers at the gas station

I have plenty more pictures to share, but for now, time to catch up on sleep! 

Love After Marriage...

Another week of work has finished and we only have two more weeks to go!  We are on schedule so far, and should wrap everything up this week, so next week we can talk next steps with the team.  Since I'm the project manager in the group, I make sure we stay on task and keep Pawel from trying to solution too much.  I think we make a good team so far.  Pratima, Medha and I managed to make him get up and leave the room at the end of a meeting last week, but that's because I don't think he was interested in talking about women's fashion and Indian/US celebrities. 

The girls at work seem to enjoy learning about the Western culture, which I think is a big part of us being here.  I'm learning all about Indian culture too, which is quite interesting.  I love their clothes and need to make sure I find some nice tops before I head home, they've given me the names of a few bazaars to check out.  But the most interesting end of meeting conversation so far has been about Pratima and her arranged marriage.  She is the nutritionist on the team, and I'm guessing is 24 or 25?  She comes from a pretty traditional family and just became engaged to be married.  It is an arranged marriage, she met her fiance first and talked to him for a bit at her home and she was able to decide whether or not she wanted to marry him.  So, she does have some say in it.  They will be married in October and as she says (and I've heard it from a few others), love comes after marriage.  It's a concept that would never even cross our minds in the West.

But she seems happy, and she knows what her role is and seems fine with it all.  She'll continue to work after she marries, but she did say that her dress will change.  Right now she wears a salwar suit to work, which is quite young looking.  But after marriage she will wear a sari, that's pretty much it.  She tells us all this and seems very excited.  On our taxi ride back from visiting a special needs children's school on Friday she talked to her fiance the whole way back.  It was in Hindi and we had no idea what she was saying, but after Medha told us who it was, you didn't need to know Hindi to understand her giddy laughing and the way she spoke.  It was very cute. Interesting side note...there is a very low divorce rate in India, in fact there is no Hindi word for divorce.   love after marriage... :-)


On Friday, we had a short day before we headed off to a weekend out in the country.  Pawel, Medha, Pratima and I visited the Milestone school, which is a private (non govt funded) school for children with special needs.  Most of them had down's syndrome, cerebral palsy, are mute, or have other developmental diseases.  It was a very small school, with small classrooms, but you could tell that the children are happy.  We saw their books where they are learning english and hindi, some of the kids can't speak but are extremely bright.  This is one of the places where the Annakshetra program delivers food. 


Today (Sunday) is Holi in India, which is a festival of colors.  They were celebrating it at the school, so we joined them, sort of.  We toured the rooms and then they put the music on the kids were dancing.  I was taking a lot of pictures and they kept posing for me.  There was one little boy, probably about 3 or 4 who kept wanting to see himself, I eventually had to put the camera away.  There are too many pics to post here, but I did put them out on our group picasa site.  You can see all the colors on their faces (and mine) and also the dancing.  It was a really fun morning, was great to see how happy they are and the good that the school is doing.  After we were done dancing and left the room, they had fun throwing the dyes all over each other, .  Good thing they waited! 


https://picasaweb.google.com/108504812675139412203/Annakshetra#



We headed back to the homestay and then boarded our little Tourist bus for a week of organic fun.  More in the next update...

Reverse Invitations

First I want to thank everyone who is following in my adventures, I'm glad you are enjoying my ramblings.  I started this last year for my family since they always wanted to know what I was doing while traveling for work and since there are too many of them to update individually (sorry guys), I figured, why not blog.  It's also a good online diary for me, and a good way to clear my mind at the end of the day.

I'm done talking about garbage and poverty for a while and I'll try and talk about some of other things I'm seeing/doing/experiencing.  Please let me know if there anything in particular you'd like for me to ramble about, I do take requests. :-)

This Sunday is Holi, the Indian Festival of Colors.  It is a very interesting holiday, where everyone throws colors on each other.  And I mean just that, colors, as in dye.  Here is a street vendor selling packs of "colors" and the plastic guns to shoot them with.

We will be celebrating here at the homestay, and I haven't decided yet if I'm going to venture out on the streets.  Supposedly it is quite an event, people are rubbing colors all over you (and I mean all over) and you will get covered.  It could be fun, just not sure how I'd get too many pictures.  Also, not in the mood to be fondled too much so I might just watch from my balcony, where I'll get some good views with my telephoto.

There is a young kid at work, an intern who is finishing up college.  He is very outgoing, talks a ton and is kind of like the workplace clown.  He's an aspiring actor and wants to be a filmmaker.  He is interning at the NGO because he wants to learn all about it so he can write a film about how NGOs don't work.  Yes, doesn't make sense to me either.  His sense of boundaries seems to be a bit off.  The first time I met him he asked if I was on facebook and if we could be friends.  I gave him my email but he hasn't sent the request yet :-)

I brought some trail mix into the office for my lunch yesterday and he asked if he could try some, I said sure and the next thing I knew it was all gone.  I brought more today and he took a huge handful.  Just a funny kid.  But the best part is yesterday.  He asked Pawel and I what we were doing for Holi.  We both said we didn't know the plans yet, since the owner of the homestay was out of town for the night.  He said, okay, when you do, let me know, because I want to come with you.  A reverse invitation of sorts.  He wants to meet the IBMers and see where we are staying.  I'm not knocking him for being friendly, I just find him thoroughly amusing.  I am sure he will be quite successful someday.

I don't think a reverse invitation would work too well at home.  I'll have to try it sometime though...

Here are some pics from my walk around the neighborhood this afternoon.  I'm wearing my new purple kurta in front of a samosa vendor ( I think).

street vendors and random men who wanted their picture taken

 this guy wasn't too happy, probably because the crowd was at the place down the street

 these guys wanted me in the picture too, maybe next time...

and finally, a stroll by the statue circle before sitting down for a yummy dinner at the homestay

clockwise from bottom... chicken, eggplant, mint mango chutney, parathas, dal (lentils), potatoes, and roasted tomato salad.  i took this before the yellow rice and spinach chapatis could make it on the table.  there were 8 of us from the group eating tonight.  everything is made in house, yum! 

From royalty to poverty...day 2

Okay, so on to Sunday.  What a draining and exhausting day, full of emotions and thoughts and stark contrasts. 

We started out the morning by visiting Jantar Mantar, which is an old 18th century observatory listed on the UN's World Heritage list.  It was built by the Maharaja Sawaii Jai Singh (king) in the 1700's and has many astronomical devices and sundials.  It is all outside, and was very cool, the sundials were still as precise as can be today.  I love anything science related so this I really enjoyed.  The funny part was what the information was used for.  It is the bridge between astronomy and astrology, where science is used to help make non scientific decisions.  It's fascinating actually.  Indian culture believes that each person's fate/life is based upon the specific day/time they were born and under which astrology sign.  After birth, parents would visit an astrologer (not sure the proper word) and receive guidance on what path was best for their child.  Special dates for big events, like marriage would need consultation with the astrologer to select the most auspicious one.  All of these observatory devices were used to be able to help provide more scientific data in order make more astrological decisions.  It is still used and part of today's beliefs.  (for all my Indian friends, I hope I explained that the right way!).

Then Pawel (my project partner) and I had to leave the rest of the group early to head back to the homestay to meet our non profit partner.  We were going to help and observe how the Annakshetra program works.  There are two types of places they pick up food from, catering places after weddings and also temples.  Every Sunday they have a standing commitment from an ISKCON temple.  Most people know them as the Hare Krishnas.  They have "services" each Sunday and then feed between 300-500 people.  The leftovers are then picked up by the Annakshetra team and delivered to those in need.  We were invited to join them in a meal first, as it is a special blessing to eat the food.  Below are Pawel and I, with Dr. Vijay, our non profit partner, enjoying our nutritious food.  It was quite good actually, some sort of rice porridge with potatoes, and some curd and a delicious dessert that was like cream of wheat with cashews and raisins.  All eaten off of homemade plates made out of leaves.  Most people eat with their hands, they managed to find us some spoons. 

 Here I am helping to transfer the food into the Annakshetra containers.

So, once we said goodbye and thank you to the Iskcon, we were off to deliver the food to a Leprosy home about 45 minutes away, outside of Jaipur, in the mountains on the way to Delhi.  It was quite a drive.  I was getting used to seeing all of the garbage and beggars in the city, but now that we made it outside the city, it became that much more intense.  We first passed a tent village along the train tracks, where the inhabitants collect garbage off of the street, they sort it and then sell what is salvageable to earn money.  There were piles of white bags filled with garbage everywhere.  Children were running around without clothing, it was just really sad.  Then we drove thru the slum area.  It just broke my heart watching, I will try to, but it is very hard to describe.  There are animals everywhere, the poor things.  Dogs, cows, camels, goats, chickens, pigs, they are all just standing along the streets, rummaging for food in the garbage, or worse, tied up outside a shack.  But they appear to be well fed, as some people feed them first.  Along side them were children, dirty, without shoes or pants usually, just playing in the open areas, or their parents bathing them out in the open, alongside the animals.  Then you would see men urinating on the side of the street, anywhere.  The conditions were deplorable, but according to our non profit partner, this wasn't the worst.  The people living in the slums somehow made money, they had some government assistance and from other NGOs. 

We arrived at the leprosy ashram, which provided housing for about 150 "forgotten" people, those that have been shunned by society because of their deformities.  The Annakshetra program requires that the beneficiaries of their food are provided housing, clean facilities (bathrooms) and food, since this is a random delivery of food.  The ashram was very clean, but the people were very sickly looking. They were very appreciative of the food though and Pawel and I got a lot of stares from the children.  It's a shame, the kids don't go to school, so they have been asking the NGO for help with somehow educating the kids.  Here's a pic from the ashram

After that, we went back to the homestay and I took a nap and just vegged for a bit in my room, it was quite an overwhelming experience to say the least. 

It made me realize just how lucky I am, no matter how bad a day I'm having, these people will never have as good a day.  After dwelling on it for a bit, I decided to not let it get to me, that I have to enjoy myself and take everyone in and use it as a learning experience.  I'll pass along what I know to you and that is all I can do.  I can go to work and help them with the food program and hopefully watch it grow. 

Focus on the little things....they are big to somebody :-) 

From royalty to poverty...day 1

What a weekend!  It was filled with culture, food, history and experiencing each end of the economic spectrum in India.  By Sunday night I was exhausted both mentally and physically and need a few hours of quiet time to sit and reflect.  This will be a long entry, you are forewarned!

Friday after work, our group of 11 went to the "famous" sound and light show at Amber (pronounced Am-er) Fort.  It's the Indian version of the Stone Mountain laser light show (I'm assuming, I've never actually been), where they tell a story, showcasing the history of the fort and playing music and lighting up the Fort along the way.  It was sort of cheesy, sort of interesting and quite annoying because the group of men sitting behind us were talking on their cell phone the whole time.  Courtesy is different here I guess.  We sat outside under the stars on these benches, it was really nice just to be outside, was a beautiful, clear, cool night.  It was fun, I can say I did it once, don't need to go again.  :-) We then all went out for dinner at the Little Italy/Little India restaurant down the street from the homestay, I had pizza (which I must say wasn't too bad, vegetarian of course) and a Kingfisher beer. 

Saturday we got up early, the van was leaving at 8:30 for our tour.  Considering I don't leave for work until 9:45-10 am, this was early!  We went back to the Amber Fort, this time to actually tour the place.  There are a few options to get to the top, either walk, take a jeep, or elephant ride.  I opted for walking, though I knew I'd be regretting it later (for those that don't know, I have been having problems with my achilles since last October and I finally had an MRI two days before I left.  I have a sprained achilles and should be wearing a boot, but I've decided to just be careful instead, the boot can be quite annoying and I just ice it in the evenings. Will heal over time)  I've been on an elephant before, as a kid, at the Bronx Zoo.  I know, I know, that's different than India, but I just couldn't do it, the poor elephants, just walking up and down all day, I am sure they are treated well, but I didn't want to encourage it anymore than necessary. 

Charo (from Spain) and our guide and I walked to the top, while everyone else took the elephants.  Along the way we passed a group of local village women who all were staring and smiling at me, some of them came up to me and shook my hand and asked me my name.  It was very sweet, but I also know to be wary.  This was the start to my celebrity status in India.  I just think they aren't used to seeing tall, dark haired westerners in shorts and a tshirt?  we also saw a snake charmer, that was pretty cool.  Once at the top, the views of Jaipur and the surrounding area are beautiful.  The Fort dates back to as early as 1590 and was used as the home of the kings for a while, until take over by Mughals, after which the home of the king was moved in Jaipur City itself.  The architecture and paintings are amazing, they are so precise for being hand built, it's a work of art.   The place is huge, more what we would consider a palace, than a fort, was a good start to the day.

After the Amber Fort we went to the "Monkey Temple".  It is a decent hike up to the top, and along the way there are hundreds of macaques monkeys that live on the mountain.  They are known to be very aggressive and we were warned to watch our sunglasses, cameras and to not have anything in our pockets.  You hire a local boy at the bottom to accompany you with the sole purpose of swatting the monkeys away.  If you are bitten you have to worry about rabies and we weren't in the mood for 14 shots in the stomach.  I posted a lot of pictures of the monkeys, they are cute, but we did not feed them or encourage them.  It is sad though, there is a lot of trash all over the place and they find things to eat and drink.  Our guide told us that there is a high rate of diabetes now amongst the monkeys because they are eating the human food.  We saw one walking with a sunkist bottle and trying to figure out how to open it.  In the process he punctured it and all the soda fell out before he could drink it.  Amusing, yet quite sad.  Our monkey swatter was a boy about 12, named Ganesh.  Smart kid, he spoke excellent English as well as French, Spanish, German and a few other languages.  He knew enough to woo the tourists in whatever language they spoke.  He goes to school during the week and does this on the weekends to make money.  He's been bitten twice by the monkeys, but they don't give them rabies shots here, they treat for infection and hope it doesn't get worse, I guess.  At the top, there is a small temple, where we all received a blessing and of course made an offering.  There were expansive views of Jaipur.  It was nice, we were the only tourists there, so was quiet for once.  Ganesh did a good job, no one got hurt.  Our guide told him to tip him 50 rupees (about $1), but we gave him 100 and told him to make sure he finishes school!

After lunch at a local restaurant, I had Dal (lentils) and Roti, we visited the Albert Hall museum.  It was very crowded with college groups and was filled with India art and antiquities.  Not really my thing, some pretty pottery, but by then I was just exhausted and my foot was bothering me so I sat down to take a rest.  Now, I must preface this with I have noticed that people have been randomly taking pictures of me (probably our group too) without asking.  They just kind of walk next to me and their friend will snap a quick pic and they walk away.  They think I don't notice but I do.  Jaakko in our group is from Finland and is tall and blonde, I think he gets the same thing.  After I sat down, one of the girls in this college group came up to me and asked if she could get a picture.  I obliged, I thought it was funny.  Oh my goodness, the flood started.  There was a crowd of about 30 people and I bet my face is all over India now.  I just sat in my chair and held court, quite amusing.  Then they surrounded me and started asking questions, where are you from, how do you like India.  They were in their last semester of school to be teachers.  They wanted to know why I was here and if it was true that Westerners thought they were dirty (their words), finally they asked if I had ever seen a negro (their words).  I saw no end in sight and I was causing a crowd control problem, so I kindly said I needed to meet my group and left.  My friend Dassa in US (from Sri Lanka) says that they must think I look like Priyanka (Gandhi) Vadra, the much loved daughter of former PM Rajiv Gandhi.  Thanks Dassa, while that is flattering, I just think I look Western and have a warm inviting smile haha.  I really don't mind, might as well enjoy while I can, because once back home, I won't get the same treatment. hehe 

We finally made it back to the homestay, and after a quick rest, made our way over to the Rambagh Palace hotel for a drink at the Polo Bar.  This is a Taj Group hotel and was absolutely magnificent. Rooms start at $600 a night.  We just had a drink and watched all of the posh guests milling around and then made our way over to "the Rock" for dinner/drinks.  This is a quick walk from the homestay and was so funny.  It's a bar/disco/outdoor hangout where all the waiters wear cowboy hats and big belt buckles.  The India/SA cricket match was on, so was amusing to hear/watch the locals watching the tvs.  We ate pub like food (tandoori chicken, samosas, roti, cheese sandwiches, etc) and walked home.  What a long day! 

That was Saturday, on tap for Sunday...astronomy meets astrology and observing human kindness

Well said...

My Home Away From Home

my little room

my room is the door on the right

view from balcony

International Women's Day

Today was my first day of work here in India, which also happens to be International Women's Day.  Kinda funny that I have to come all the way to India to experience it for the first time.  There are so many things that we take for granted living in the Western world, and celebrating something like Women's Day doesn't seem that important.  But here in India it was a big deal.

So work actually started yesterday, where we all met with our NGO partners at a local hotel, where we had introductions and an overview of each non-profit/project.  We met Dr. Vijay and Dr. Vivek from the NGO we are working with and talked a little bit about what exactly it was they wanted us to do.

Pawel (from Poland) and I will be working with the Centre for Development Communication (CDC) (www.cdcindia.org) on their Annakshetra program.  CDC started out as a program to help provide waste management for poorer areas (ie. no municipal garbage pickup like we are used to) and has evolved into focusing on waste management at multiple levels, including pickup, social security, welfare of the workers, etc and with a new focus on food waste.  The Annakshetra program helps to redistribute food from catering facilities after huge, lavish Indian weddings to those in need that aren't part of any other sponsored program or receive help from govt, etc.  It is in a pilot phase still and is a very manual process.  They make a point of saying that they are not a charity organization that focuses on feeding the needy, but are looking to develop a program that scientifically helps to reduce food waste.  Ultimately they would like to get out of the middle and hope that communities can execute their model.  It's a fascinating program and idea.

Our job for the next 4 weeks is to help them map their end to end process and make recommendations on how they can make it more efficient, with the ultimate goal of making it repeatable in other cities.  When I say it's a manual process, I mean they do everything by hand.  They get the names of the hosts for the wedding (parents normally) and contact them and tell them about the program.  They get them to sign a consent saying they will call them after the wedding is done to allow them to pick up the food.  They keep all of the donor / recipient info in their program database, which is a three ring binder!  Someone picks up the food, it is brought back to their facility and tested by a nutrionist (1 person) and then hopefully within 24-48 hours delivered to an orphanage or leprosy home or school for disabled kids and then a letter is sent to the donor letting them know where the food went and how much.  I was really impressed with how much work they have done on the program and where they want to go.  We will help  bring another set of eyes to things from a process perspective and see if there is anything that we can help recommend or set them up with.  Pawel is a software architect so this is perfect for him.  If anyone is interested in learning more or has any ideas of how to help or knows of any group in the US that currently does this, please let me know. 

They mentioned that they have been promised a new refrigerated van by a Rotary Club in the US, which just happens to be in Atlanta!  Such a small world.  I'll have to find out where and update them on our visit when I get home.


So, the day started with our taxi picking us up late (yes J, it was an old Tata) and he turned to us and in Hindi asked where we were going (I'm assuming that's what he asked).  Since we didn't know, because CDC was sending the taxi I had to call Dr. Vijay.  He gave him directions and we were off.  Oh goodness, we were finally seeing India.  Cars, bikes, buses, motorbikes, tricycles pulling things, camels, dogs, cows, woman carrying bags of things on their head and traffic, lots and lots of traffic.  The cab driver decided he needed gas so he stopped with us in the car, first place was out I guess so we kept going and then stopped again.  While we were waiting for him to pump (car was left on and he was on his phone) an older lady beggar stood outside our window.  As the driver got back in the car, he stopped, reached into his shirt pocket and gave her a coin.  Amidst all the chaos, he did his good deed for the day, probably not his first or last.  I got choked up a bit to be honest.

 We arrived at CDC, which is in an old house in a neighborhood in the south of Jaipur, I think.  The building itself was very nice, lots of flowers, the inside was very clean and stark and smelled very hospital like, of disinfectant, which I guess it could be a lot worse.  We were brought into a conference room where the entire CDC team was there to great us.  They have about 20 employees in this office, mainly woman in their 20s.  They went thru introductions, told us about the program and just seemed mesmerized that we were there.  We worked with the Annakshetra team to put a project plan in place (of course I had to have a plan!) and then took a break for lunch.

Most people in India bring their lunch with them, so there really weren't a lot of places to go.  Vijay and Sunil, one of the marketing guys drove us across the street to a little restaurant.  We were the only ones there, it was quite dismal.  Pawel had no problem eating though and I just wanted some roti (bread) because my stomach was a bit off today.  When Vijay picked us up, the waiter told him in Hindi that I only ate bread!  Either he was concerned for my well being or that I didn't eat much at his restaurant, not quite sure.

After lunch we started to work with the team to understand their process flow.  But we got interupted because they had a local women's self help group downstairs for women's day and they wanted me to join (and Pawel too if he wanted).  I said sure and we walked downstairs where I was greeted by the leader of the group, she came up and shook our hands.  They had invited these women to come in from their village, where they help sponsor them to make dresses and clothes to sell.  They are called self help groups but are sort of collectives, where they pool their money and resources to help each other.  They showed them some videos on microfinance and women's issues and they did a lot of talking back and forth, all in hindi of course.  It was really great though to just sit and watch.  They were asking Vijay and the team for another sewing machine so that they could produce more goods.  They were also asking if it was possible to try and get some sort of education to help them be able to manage finances better.  They were all iliterate, and had never had any form of education.  This is where women's day actually means something big to them.  It is enabling them further to feel empowered, some of them have never been allowed to leave the house.  Quite fascinating and an honor to be a part of.  Here is a pic of the ladies dressed in their best clothes for the visit.  Not the best quality, we were in a basement, but good enough.

Then it was back to the homestay to relax and decompress from the overwhelming day.  A good day, but lots of stimulus overload.  Back at it again tomorrow!

Food! the best cure for jet lag

It is now Sunday night (midnight) and I made it thru my first weekend in India!  Surprisingly I have been doing pretty well considering the time difference, that's probably because I pushed myself yesterday and didn't take a nap even though I hadn't had a proper sleep in almost 48 hours.

Everyone in the group arrived throughout the day yesterday and we just hung around the homestay and got to know each other, we ate, we went for a walk, we ate again and then went to bed.  It is a gorgeous homestay, like a bed and breakfast but so much more.  It is run by Capt Singh and his wife Giri.  He used to be a merchant ship captain and has been all over the world (those big cargo ships that you see in Savannah).  You can really tell they love what they do.  check out their site  http://www.girisadanhomestay.com/

I have my own room on the 4th floor, I'm the only one on the floor though.  It's kind of like a rooftop room, I have to walk up the 4 flights of stairs, go outside under an awning and then my room is off a little terrace.  It is so nice to walk outside in the morning and to see the sun and just now I was able to see the stars right before I went to bed.  And considering how I'm eating so far, good thing I'm on the top floor!  There is a common area below me on the 3rd floor and another below that where we eat breakfast and dinner and such.  There are 11 rooms and 11 of us in the group so we have the whole place to ourselves for the month, which is very cool.  If we want to have dinner here or even have them make us a lunch to go, they will.  And wi fi.  This is not at all what I was expecting, this is nicer than some places we have in the states!

Now, I have always loved Indian food, the great flavors and spices, but I never thought I would enjoy eating it for every meal!  For breakfast this morning we had a nice spiced rice with coconut, fresh papaya, homemade guava jam, toast, eggs (which were scrambled and white, not sure how they do that) and of course a nice chai tea.  Lunch, of course rice again, lentils (dal), some sort of local Rajasthani (the name of the region) dish with tomatoes and these chickpea dumplings (awesome!), and other wonderful food.  Dinner was made here by Giri and was so good and healthy, she uses very minimal oil and makes everything from scratch.  It was all vegetarian but you would never miss the meat.  Cauliflower and potatoes, lentils, eggplant and tomatoes, whole wheat chapati, fresh cucumber and tomatoes with fresh herbs and wonderful cured lemon chutney and this amazing pickled fresh tumeric/ginger with lemon.  I am going to have to take a cooking lesson from her and have her write down these recipes.  The flavors are just so fresh and different, and somehow I feel healthy eating all of the different spices.  I'll just keep telling myself that as I go for seconds.  The best part though was the stewed guava with vanilla ice cream that we had for dessert - yum!!

I'll try to get some pictures and actual names of dishes.

Today was sort of an orientation day, we got to know our teammates, learned where they were from, what they do and their personal interests.  We are a varied and very fascinating group, coming from all over the world and having so many different experiences.  Each day someone from the team will be updating our IBM blog, so please check it out to here their view of things.  https://www-146.ibm.com/corporateservicecorps/node/6697  It is an extremely cumbersome site, but nice to see other folks perspective.

Finally, I created a picasa site for the team to share pictures.  I've uploaded a video of the welcome ceremony (not sure what else to call it) where Giri placed a red powder on our forehead and thru flowers on us.  We will start to add more pics as we get going. https://picasaweb.google.com/108504812675139412203

Tomorrow we meet with our non-profit partners for the first time, so I'll update more on what I'll be doing, once I know more :-)

Oh, finally, I just have to say how technology is really amazing.  I brought a tiny webcam with a built in microphone with me and got the same one for my parents.  We checked it out tonight and it is so easy and clear to use, they loved it, including Milo (their dog).  4 years ago when I was in Australia I had to struggle to keep Skype working without feedback, now it was so easy.  Only works well if you have a microphone though, one sided conversations can be a bit awkward if the person on the other end can see and hear you but has to type responses (hint hint you know who you are!)

Good night from India! 

30 hours later, 3 flights and I made it!

I'm sitting in the Delhi airport waiting on the final leg of my trip to board and I finally have internet access that I can understand.  I attempted to update my blog in Amsterdam but google kept delivering me everything in Dutch so had a bit of trouble figuring things out.

So the day started off great.  I got to the Atlanta airport without a problem thanks to Marta being on time and my great neighbor Chad for dropping me off.  I was armed with all of my stuff and a batman bandaid on my right hand courtesy of my neighbor Mary Ann.  I got some weird looks from folks, but I know that Connor would be proud that Batman made it to India.  :-)  We boarded on time and I had a nice exit row seat with a power outlet and tons of leg room!  Was a super nice new plane or at least the seats were new.  I sat next to a guy going on a mission trip to Kenya, quite a pair we made, church mission trip and corporate mission trip.  He kept us safe by reading his bible for a good portion of the flight.    The flights attendants were more than chipper and the flight was super smooth.  I had about 2 hours in Amsterdam, so I checked out the KLM lounge, which was huge and just managed to have a shower before running to my gate.  Well, not running exactly, since I'm wearing a boot on my right foot due to my sprained achilles (another story for another day).  So, we were herded onto the plane, literally, it was the most disorganized boarding process I've ever seen.  I had a bulkhead seat this time with a good bit of leg room, but the plane itself had seen better days.  I sat next to a young lady from Finland who didn't believe in using deodorant, things started to go a bit down hill from there.

The flight wasn't bad, I slept most of the time thanks to synthetic help and we landed in India.  Holy cow (hehe, pun intended) I'm in India!  Immigration, no problem.  Bags, only took an hour for them to arrive.  Checking in for domestic flight?  Oh, that doesn't open til 1:30 am and it's 12:45.  Where do I wait?  Um, there really wasn't anywhere, so I just sat on the floor in front of the checkin area and waited.  I got in line, it was my turn to talk to the lady (I was second in line) and this nice Indian man cut in front of me and asked her a question.  Then he left.  I was almost done getting my boarding pass and he showed up again, right over my left shoulder.  The lady behind the counter was very nice though and ignored him.  Deeps breaths, personal space is different here.

So then it was off to domestic security, remember it's 1:45 am and the airport is practically empty.  I tried to be nice and smile to the security guys.  Do I need to take shoes off?  no  Do I need to show you liquids?  no  Maam, do you have batteries in your bag?  yes, I do  What are they for, maam? AAA for my noise cancelling headphones which are in the other bag, want me to show you?  oh, how many do you have?  um, 8 i think.  why so many?  because it eats batteries   Why the 20 questions about batteries when I had a full water bottle in there?!

They have separate screening machines for women/men and the women have to get wanded down.  But they put you in this little make shift room with dark curtains (kinda like when you are trying clothes on a boutique) and the female security person wands you.  I said to her, um, don't I get to see my things, I didn't like them being on the belt and me in a canvas curtain room.  My purse, camera, computer, etc,etc were all being held hostage on the other side of the curtain by the 5 men working there.  Meanwhile I'm the only one going thru security.  She let me through and then I heard here mock me to the other guards, saying, don't I get to see my things.  I looked at her and said, wouldn't you want to see your things.  They switched from English and all looked at me and sort of laughed, so I got my things, including my pillow which they stamped, yes, ink stamped and then attached a security approved sticker too and I thought, this is going great, I just need to make it to the lounge and rest.

So I find the lounge, at least what I thought was the lounge.  Turns out I was authorized to use it.  The research I had done about what was affiliated with Delta was all for not, since that was in the Intl terminal and I was in Domestic.  But you can't leave and go to the other terminal, I was stuck.  Only Platinum Mastercard members with cards from India or Hong Kong can.  The guy working there asked where are you from and I saw US and he said, is your card from Hong Kong or India and I just looked at him like, why?  I may want to look into it though if they have better rates.  So, at this point I just couldn't take it anymore, I just wanted to sit down and rest.  I turned my head from the two nice young men helping me and I started to tear up, emotions took over.  Yes, I cried.  They saw me and said, oh no maam, please don't cry, please please.  Remember it's 2:00 am and I have been traveling for 20 hours already.  So, he cuts me a deal, we negotiate and I get a 50% discount even though I technically shouldn't.  He would have let me in for free but there are cameras and he likes his job, he told me.  I am the second person in here, the other guy is asleep snoring in the corner.  They bring me water and offer me potato chips, since that's all they had.  Ah, how to gain sympathy, just cry.  :-)




I check email, and fall asleep between two comfy chairs for a couple hours.  Had a nice cup of tea, changed clothes, I felt much better.  I thought things are looking up!  I proceed to my gate at 5:30, they load us onto a bus which takes us thru the foggy Delhi morning to our plane, Kingfisher airlines.  Did you know they still make prop planes?  And they have an exit row with seats that face each other like on a train.  It was a pretty full flight, but we made record time to Jaipur, only 40 minutes up to down.  The sun was shining in Jaipur, I got my bags and was greeted by Pochi, who was arranged by the homestay (owners brother I think).  Super nice man.  We met three other team members coming in from Mumbai and then we were on our way to the B&B/homestay....
Let's hope the final 1:10 minute flight goes well and I can start to move on and enjoy the trip!  and my promise to myself and the rest of India - no more crying!  :-)