Bombay Confidential

In case you are all fretting over my health - I am now fine (knock, knock). More on that later.

OK, this is interesting:
On our last day in Bombay we did some visits. Number one was to the US Educational Advising Center. This is the place where Indian students are supposed to go when they need info on our colleges and universities. You know, an inviting place, showing off the best America has to offer. Well, the security was quite tight. Understandable in a post-911 world. Security that is of course meant to stop things like chewing gum, in mouths like mine. Mastication is a security hazard. It must be done away with. Sorry, no trash can for that illegal wad. Stow it. So, obviously, gum in your mouth might be hiding something, but the same piece of gum, crumpled in your pocket is all right. The logic is so complex, I just can't follow it.

Let's jump to outside the building again, after the visit (nothing interesting about that). We are all back in the bus, which is on a typical, busy Indian street. One of our group members takes a picture, out the window, of the locals peering at our bus. This is obviously a terrorist act. The officers from the US building come to the bus, pull her off, take her back to the building, confiscate her throw-away camera, write down her passport info, then allow her to rejoin us. Hell, she deserves to be in Guantanamo. She got off easy, but that's probably because they realize she's a US citizen, travelling to support US institutions, on a mission of goodwill.

Update: something I should have included when I first wrote this. The security people were not Americans, they were self-important Indians.

After that, with swelling patriotism, we represented our American universities at a couple of international schools. Come to America. Feel welcome.

Another Update: I was a little tipsy when I wrote this (we had one of those hotel dinners where all the booze is included), but what I was trying to get across is that even though the Indian security guys made us feel unwelcome, we were still going out inviting Indian students to come to America. Not sure if that made it through. I'll do better next time.

On Missing Things

I go insane when I cannot find stuff. Stuff that should be around, that has no reason being lost (Mom - you still owe me that lion drawing). I seriously become irrational and borderline violent. Unhinged.

On this occasion, while packing for our move to Bangalore, I could not find my black Moleskin notebook where I have been scribbling important things all this trip. Things to remember. Things TO DO. I turned my room upside-down, literally. Nowhere. I went to bed and meditated on it, trying to accept its loss. When I stopped trembling, I fell asleep.

Oh, happy day...

Reasons to be happy:
1) Regularity - if there is a Hindu god of anti-dysentery, I am now his devotee. My three-day ordeal is over.
2) Appetite - I can eat happily again.
3) The Shield - started watching my season 4 DVDs. Damn this show is good.
4) Finding Things - earlier, I felt like an ass for calling everyone I could think of looking for my Moleskin notebook - housekeeping, the cab company, our tour operator, etc. Then, as we were sitting in the airport, waiting for boarding to Bangalore, Mishkat (our local guide) tapped me on my shoulder and gave me my notebook. I'd left it in the cab that took me to get my luggage on the day I was so sick. I coulda hugged him, but that would have upset a lot of food at the table where I was sitting. Still, he knew i was quite thankful.

So, whereas on one day I was feeling like crap, burnt out, and calculating how long I could afford to be jobless after quitting my job - later that same day I was a happy boy and loving India again. Just look at this pic I got (CLICK IT!):


Yes, the street traffic is loud.

TOTALLY forgot...

Here is a great entry I wrote on WORD while in an airport, and neglected to post. You'll get it, and it might make past posts more enjoyable. Ha. Just found it.


Mahddi's Hand

Let the Carnage Begin
I just completed the purchase of a large quantity of fine dark chocolate, a Diet Coke, and 750ml of “American Whiskey” at the Bahrain airport duty-free. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on mixing the whiskey and Coke just yet (plus, I would never use diet for this purpose). To be precise, the American whiskey is Jack Daniel’s Silver Select Single Barrel Tennessee Whiskey. As I was in the store, considering my choices, I almost went for something easy, like Absolut. Then I thought, What Would Matt Gallagher Do?

If you do not know Matt, I don’t have time to explain. If you do know Matt, you will know why I decided immediately on whiskey. Matt, however, probably would have picked the Early Times (in absence of Wild Turkey), but upon further refection I decided that this break I am about to go on is unique, and deserves a quality bottle of whiskey, and one that has its own degree of uniqueness, hence my choice.

I plan to begin drinking at about 11pm tonight, but it will not be from this bottle. The JD I will save until I unpack at whatever guest house I choose in Goa. My 11pm drinking will be with Naser, in Dubai, at Carter’s in Wafi City. My layover is long, and he has elected to help me kill it at the most convenient bar to the airport. The last time I drank in this bar with Naser before an early AM flight, I met a beautiful girl that I had to depart from as soon as I was making progress. We’ll see what happens this time.

So, to fill in: I never ventured out in Bahrain. Just didn’t have the energy for some reason. In fact, yesterday I was filled with a deep malaise, as I answered emails and sat around my hotel room. I met with the student and her family at 4pm, putting on a happy face for a time. At 10pm I fell asleep, but woke up around 3am and could not go back to sleep. So, I cruised the internet until the gym opened. A work-out is exactly what I needed. It cut right through the fog in my head. I then pigged out at the buffet and packed my bags in preparation for my departure, but these I left with the concierge while I made two school visits on the south side of town.

I really liked my taxi driver, Mahddi. He was a friendly, gnarled old man who didn’t talk too much, but just enough. When he gave me his card, I actually used it – a first for me with taxi drivers. He picked me up from the schools when I was finished, taking me to the hotel for my bags before going to the airport.

Now here I sit, remembering my last mid-trip break, in Seville. Dios mio…

Warning: Discussion of bodily malfunctions

Right now I am sick (this always happens in Bombay). Not the respiratory stuff I usually come down with caused by the pollution. I got myself some real Delhi Belly this time. I was up at 7am expelling all sorts of things from my body. Again at 9am. Again around 3pm. I have not eaten all day (the thought nauseates me), barely had any water, but I did just order a milkshake and ice cream from room service. And I had a Fanta from the mini-bar. Wheee.

On top of this, I was forced on a 4 hour (10am to 2pm - luckily in between bouts) excursion by cab to recover my lost luggage from the international airport. The cabs here are not big enough for me to sit up straight, and not wide enough for me to stretch out. So, not a happy camper up to this point.

I did finally get my stuff and get out of the same old clothes, wash my hair, etc. The ritual will be complete after I shave. Right now I am just achy all over, but I think the worst has past. I took a nap and feel better. I think I'll also skip the evening dinner with all the other reps. I don't think I could stand sitting there trying to be congenial while the smell of food was making me want to vomit.

I will be better in the morning and ready for a big breakfast. Or else I will be one very cranky university rep at the college fair.

Goa is great, Goa is good

OK, so here are some of my pics from Goa. I stayed at Baga beach, in a little room at a guest house that cost less than $10 per night. Typical day was sleeping in, reading Shantaram (check it out), eating wonderful seafood masala, getting some sun, and hiking around to other beaches and sites, including Old Goa. This city used to house 200,000 people and rival European cities. Due to malaria and cholera it was emptied, but the churches remain. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.


Cliff's Beach Shack - in a little cove on the headland between Baga and Anjuna Beaches.


Anjuna Beach, from the headland


The Royal Enfield - bike of choice in this area


Bom Jesus in Old Goa - contains the remains of St. Francis Xavier, one of the first Jesuits


Church of St. Francis of Assisi


Inside Se Cathedral - the largest church in Asia

Who needs luggage?

A quick vacation update: I am in Goa, but my bags did not make it. The idiot at the counter in Bahrain registered my bags under the name of another passenger. The earliest they said (in Bombay) they could have them to me is Wednesday, tomorrow, so I just said screw it, send them to my hotel in Bombay. So, I arrived in Goa with my backpack and the clothes I was wearing. Good thing I am a simple traveller. I found a cheap room in a guest house, then went out for clothes. The beach is wonderful, I'm having a good time, I will update more later.

WANTED:

My French/Arab intellectual/radical look.

This is the alternate personna I have been cultivating while recruiting in the MidEast. I think the glasses and facial hair work well here. Yeah, I certainly can't pass for native, but I definitely don't look so American. I'll probably go back to normal this afternoon. From here I fly to Goa, where I'm gonna get some sun.

Today is a "free" day - Friday is the weekend in the Gulf. However, I'm using it to catch up about 60 student emails and I'll be meeting with a student and her parents in the hotel lobby in a couple of hours. I also have expenses and other piddly details to keep track of. Much fun.

The fair last night was decent. I had meant to go out afterwards, but I was too damn tired. I fell asleep before my room service arrived, but of course I woke long enough to eat my burger. Then I was conked out again - for 10 hours.

I am really looking forward to Goa. I planned the trip out using my guidebook while on the plane yesterday (didn't take long).

Kuwait, and Cultural Commentary (but no insight)

Another Valentine’s Day came and went while I was overseas, which is fine with me, as I find it nauseating. It is not celebrated much in Kuwait, so I was not forced to witness yet another nation adopt some useless piece of our culture (I’m talking to you, India).

Kuwait is pretty damn boring. It is bone dry. The ex-pats wet themselves (ha ha) at the UK or US embassy, or sneak booze in and party at home. Some of these affairs, I hear, get pretty elaborate, even having bands booked. So maybe it isn’t so dry. If you are non-Arab, I suppose it is slightly moist. I don't know anyone in this scene. So, I used this social pause to catch up on some laptop work, go to the gym, and watch Seinfeld DVDs. Oh, and to catch up on US news. Good ‘ole Dick Cheney. Gotta love that guy.

Our one school visit was to an Indian high school. It was a good event. Later in the evening we had the fair proper at the hotel. It had steady attendance, and I was happy to speak to many more native Kuwaitis this time around. I had one group of 4 girls who are now eager to all move to Southville and live together in a house off campus (I think this is seen as better than living in co-ed dorms). Sounds like the beginning of a WB or UPN sitcom to me. Kuwaitis Gone Wild! Whoooo!


Kuwait airport. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha. Pitiful smokers.

I write this as I sit in the Kuwait airport, waiting for our flight to Bahrain, digesting my food. I love a good breakfast buffet. It sets me right for the rest of the day. I also think this is why I typically lose weight while travelling – I fill up in the morning, then cruise the rest of the day on small bites. I’ve discovered a great East/West breakfast combo: French toast dipped in hummus. Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm. I filled my mouth with this cultural harmony as I read about new protests due to the release of further Abu Graib photos, and further protests due to the cartoons. I wish I had some clever insight into this, or a way to relate it to the French toast and hummus, but I don't. Come up with your own allegory. Or read Thomas Friedman.


Yes, more towers under construction. This time in Bahrain. My hotel is in-between them.

Update in Three Parts

Leaving Atlanta

It is now 1:45 AM on February 10, 2006. I just checked in to the Tulip Inn, inside Knowledge Village, Dubai, UAE. I entered the Hartfield-Jackson airport in Atlanta at 7:00 PM on February 8. It actually didn’t seem that long.


The first 25 stories of the Burj Dubai, which will be the tallest building in the world, by about 200 meters. They are completing a floor per week.

Had to do some last minute re-packing. The airlines have lowered the weight allowance on international flights to 50 lbs per piece. I used to like to just check one piece, but it would weight around 70 lbs or more. One trip to Target later, I now have two pieces to check. The cheap collapsible I bought will work well for my excursion to Goa later on. Then there is my carry-on, which is a backpack. It is kind of like a Christmas stocking, just full of fun goodies. I won’t give a list. Finally we have my personal item, the Nikon D-70 that I take all my lovely pictures with. I bought a third battery for it so I don’t have to lug the charger around.


The new skyline of Dubai Marina

Back-tracking, my last night in Atlanta I met another college chum at the Vortex on Peachtree. We will call him Whiskey. Whiskey is about to finish up his studies for his MBA and MIB, at the same time. He recently spent six months working with the US government in Shanghai. Through a series of circumstances I won’t explain, the little jackass got to be the judge for the first ever Ms. Hooters China, on the chain’s first anniversary over there. Talk about a cultural exchange. That’s a cultural organ transplant. Whiskey had a big day ahead of him, so he went home while I met up with Codename: Winter Nun and Xmas Tinsel in Virginia Highlands. Another tame night. However, Winter Nun’s girlfriend offered me a personal tour of the CNN Center, where she works. After checking out of my hotel the next day (and going to Target) I took her up on it. A lot goes on in that building. Not sure if I could handle working there.


Front view of towers going up at Dubai Marina

In Dubai

So the first night I obviously went straight to bed. It was almost 2 am by the time I was settled in my room. The next day I slept in and got my eight hours. Hopefully that will put me on local time. Naser picked me up from the hotel and we met friends of his at one of Dubai’s 42 five-star hotels for brunch. Pigged out, of course. It was all in the interest of overcoming jet-lag; you are supposed to eat your meals whether you feel hungry or not, to re-set your body-clock. After that we drove to Dubai Marina, which is basically a brand new city west of Dubai proper, being built from scratch. Not kidding, there are scores of towers going up simultaneously, and that is not counting the work still under way on the Palm island. Sheesh.


The buildings in the horizon are the "stalk" of the growing Palm Island.

After the driving tour we stopped at the Jumeirah Beach hotel, which is part of the complex where the famous Burj al-Arab is located. We walked out the pier that encloses the marina, where there is a bar/restaurant called 360, due to the views it offers of the Gulf and the beach (see pics).


Burj al-Arab at sunset, from 360

Afterwards, Naser dropped me at my hotel. I quickly changed clothes and went to dinner at the home of an applicant to my university. The weather was actually very pleasant, so we cooked out and ate on the back porch. After dinner, the student’s mother dropped me off at the previously mentioned Marina. Naser was at a friend’s condo. I joined him and met many of his “regular” friends (Mike, his fiancé Iman, Marian, and Don, the condo owner). After some wine, Naser, Mike, Iman, and I drove back in town for a private party on the rooftop of another residential tower. The host had always wanted to be a DJ, so he decided to indulge himself and invite all his friends. However, the party was winding down when we arrived. We relocated to Cu Bu Bar, one of Naser’s favorites, where he knows the entire staff.


The Jumeirah Beach Hotel from 360

The next day I had two school visits. In the evening Naser picked me up again and we met Damara for dinner and drinks at Long’s Bar – a pub-style place with the longest bar in town (appropriately) and Guinness on tap. Damara is the rep for a Canadian university that travelled with me in Africa (see previous entries). A group of them is in town having a fair at the same time as our group of American universities. Great timing. Even though we had fun catching up, we had to call it quits early, as we both had appointments in the morning.

So, I was at my next appointment all morning. For lunch, Naser and I went to the Hard Rock Café. After that it was back to the hotel at Knowledge Village to meet up with the other US reps and get the official tour under way. Our fair was very conveniently located right next to the hotel, and went from 4 until 9. Afterwards I went out with Naser and Katie for dinner and drinks.


Another rep pitches some local students.

Off With Their Hands!

Today we rose early and hopped on the bus for a day trip to Abu Dhabi, the capitol of the Emirates. It hurt. Naser, Katie and I stayed up way too late last night (we went to Bar Zar, Carter’s at Wafi City, then Long’s Bar again). However, we were unable to sleep on the bus due to the number of reps stuffed on it, and the erratic weaving of the driver.

In town we set up our tables for a mini-fair at a local public school. Our morning session was attended by the female students, all in traditional dress. Most were Emiratis or Saudis. I went through materials pretty quick, but saved some back for the afternoon sessions. For lunch were dropped off at the marina mall. After eating at the food court we decided we REALLY needed a nap, but nowhere to accomplish this. Since there was still over an hour until we had to be back on the bus, I decided that it would be a good idea to buy a ticket to a movie and get some sleep once inside. Naser and Katie agreed. We bought our way into Casanova. However, it was pretty interesting, so we ended up not sleeping. Even worse, we had to leave just as it was getting good. Dammit!

Back at the school, we discovered that the materials we left behind had been ransacked. Luckily, I was left with my personal copy of the university catalog, but that was about it. Now I have nothing to hand out to the male students who are supposed to visit this afternoon. Sigh…

Gluttony to Austerity

Lovely Midtown Atlanta

The trip has begun. I am in Atlanta. I fly out Wednesday evening for Dubai.

Update (oops, forgot):
Our first stop in Atlanta with the guests was the High Museum. We stayed for about an hour and a half. I spent the entire time wandering about the Andrew Wyeth exhibit, wondering why I don't get off my ass and start producing some serious artwork again. His skill with a brush is amazing. Incredible drawing skills as well. Aargh!


Beautiful, beautiful dead birds

Our international guests were re-released into the wild around noon (at Hartsfield-Jackson Int'l Airport). Loved having them, but being a round-the-clock chaperone for almost 5 days is hard on a guy who is kinda anti-social in the first place. Now I need some hermit time. I can't really complain though, we had some incredible meals. For instance, last night we went to Emeril's in Atlanta. Great, great meal, if you can ignore the fact that it was served during the hours corresponding to the Super Bowl, and a place like Emeril's has no TV's. Here is a tip: If you need reservations for a good restaurant, try for Super Bowl Sunday. If it has no TVs, it will be empty. For good reason. But again, it was a great meal (crab cakes, sausage encrusted redfish [yes, you read that right], layer cake and wine). We also dined at many of the best restaurants in Southville. Now I'm feeling a little bloated. Time to get back to a healthy diet, but not yet. I ate two burgers today - lunch and dinner. But to mitigate, I did go work-out.


Happily working from the hotel room.

So, I decided to blow off a little steam tonight. I met up with a couple of college chums at Limerick Junction. Call them Winter Nun and Xmas Tinsel. It was actually pretty tame. A few pints as we recounted old stories, rather than a lot of pints and making new ones.

Tomorrow I get the hair cut. I'll post an after pic.