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9/11/06 - 9/15/06, Part II

Below is a view of traffic in New Delhi, from the airport to the diplomatic section. Very mild for India, but you get a look at the variety of vehicles on the road - cars, tuk-tuks, bicycles, etc. I love the music that kicks in just as the guy on the bike appears. We must have been pulling up next to a taxi or something.




The travel itself: On the 11th I flew from Southville to Atlanta, Atlanta to Newark. Both flights were delayed, so I was not checked into my room at the airport Hampton Inn until after midnight. This left me about 5 hours to sleep before freshening up, taking my last glorious swig of tap water, and heading back to the Newark airport where I boarded the first of two Virgin Atlantic flights towards New Delhi, pausing in London. I finished my first book of the trip, James Ellroy’s Black Dahlia, before touching down in India. I spent the rest of my flight time playing Backgammon and studying for the GRE. Couldn’t sleep. Therefore, after checking into the Taj Palace Hotel, I crashed for about 5 hours. To get my body on local time, I decided I’d have to stay up most of the night, get a few more hours sleep, then wake up at a typical morning hour. I accomplished this by watching a little TV, going for a late night workout at the 24-hour gym, and having a few cups of coffee at the 24-hour restaurant. Hit the sack around 3am, woke at 6am, went back to the gym for a run on the treadmill.



After pigging out at the hotel breakfast buffet, it was time to catch a cab to the US Embassy. My passport was full yet again, and I needed more pages – desperately. Security was tight, but the process of having more pages added was surprisingly quick and simple. I was in and out in 20 minutes. Actually, on my way out, I was flipping through my passport, looking for where the new blanks were pasted in, when... Wham! Walked right into a wall-mounted TV, in full view of about 200 Indians in line for visas. Now I have a nice red mark on my forehead.

Back at the hotel, I packed up a few things to take to my first school visit – the American Embassy School. It was only myself and another rep (along with her daughter). We set up in a conference room, and students dropped by on their lunch break. It was a good casual way to get back into the game. I can tell that I’ve gotten rusty over the summer. Still, I talked with several promising students.




Back at the hotel, I bought a new book (Philip Roth, The Plot Against America, awesome so far) and bought lunch across the street at Café Coffee Day (Mmm, chicken tikka sandwich and samosas). Then it was time for the group meetings with all the Linden Tour participants. At the point where we got to the briefing on the Indian educational system, which I have sat through many times by now, I was about ready to pass out. Jet-lag was not yet done with me. I had to excuse myself and take a nap before going to dinner. I’m always confused at traditional Indian restaurants – the waiters bring food out and pile it onto your plate for you. I never know how much to take, because I don’t know how many courses will be following. I paced myself pretty well this time. I even ate the ice cream, though many try to avoid dairy while in India. I’m still here.

This morning I awoke at 6 again, and went to the gym for an hour-long run on the treadmill. Luckily, it happened to coincide with Friends and Seinfeld re-runs, so it went by in a flash. More buffet pig-out, then another school visit – Delhi Public School (which is actually private – don’t ask me). This was a more standard visit, with about a dozen reps participating. There was a break in the afternoon, during which I napped some, and now we are all sitting at an outdoor college fair held by the British School. A huge fan positioned behind me is keeping me cool, and blasting mosquitoes away from my general area. I feel like I'm in a wind tunnel. Tomorrow is the fair. We have the morning off, which I will probably end up using to answer work emails. Bleh!