Last week began in an odd way in that four of our group of six went to the IIT hospital. Three were due to food poisoning (although they all got different treatments) and one was to check out an injury he got over the weekend. I luckily didn't have to go but still managed to get food poisoning sometime Tuesday night but felt fine in the morning.
Morgan and I celebrated July 4th by doing a tensile test of our first sample but unfortunately we didn't like the results. We eventually got home and decided to go out with everyone to a restaurant called the Flying Elephant at the Hyatt hotel because we heard good things about it. We also met some friends of friends of Morgan so it was nice to talk to them because they just got to Chennai and we gave them a bunch of advice.
The travel arrangements to get there were frustrating though because I called a taxi to pick us up at a certain time but they didn't get there for almost another 45 minutes because they didn't know where our building was. It took much time, a local security guard giving him directions on the phone and us calling to have a few back up options before he finally showed up. This wasn't too surprising though because going anywhere via taxi or auto is usually frustrating to some degree but that night I was over it. To his defense, I don't think our building is well known but still, if a customer tells the exact location it shouldn't take that long to get there. I think the problem with nearly all of the drivers here though is that they never say "I don't know how to get there." I wouldn't mind if they just said that up front and we give them directions but this just never happens.
Friday I then went to T-Nagar, a shopping district of Chennai, for the first time with Morgan and our new friends we met the night prior, Julia and Greg. This was cool and we went in a giant store equivalent to Meijer and then had food at a Chinese place. Oh, and I took my sari to a tailor and am going to pick it up today!
Bangalore
I slept for about 2.5 hours before waking up to take a train from Chennai to Bangalore. The train station smelled bad but the train itself wasn't that bad. I was able to sleep for about half of it and then read my book for the rest of it. We had a bit of a confusion once we got there because the person who was suppose to pick us up went to the wrong train station but eventually we met him.
The guy picking us up is a brother-in-law of one of the advisors of this trip and it was really nice of him to pick us up from the train station and arrange our hotel. We paid a bit more than we wanted for the hotel but it was worth the money because it had a nice bed, shower, lobby, internet, and also a really good continental breakfast with even baked beans, pasta, and French toast.
On our way to the hotel though we saw a Taco Bell not far away so that's where we chose to have lunch. The food wasn't too bad but after we ate we were a little nervous that it wouldn't settle well. But I think everyone was fine from it. Oh, and my mom gave me these obnoxious "Happy Birthday" glasses so nearly everywhere I went that day I got a picture with them on, including Taco Bell.
Tim, Morgan and I then decided to go out but the other guys were lame and stayed at the hotel. We first went to the Bangalore Turf Club not knowing if there'd be a horse race or not because it was on the way to our desired destination and there ended up being a race when we got there! We paid 20 Rs. to get in (~40 cents) and found it was packed on the inside. I was surprised by this because the only other horse race I went to was in Florida and wasn't too packed and just had old people smoking. I also didn't expect in general for Indians to be so interested in horse racing. But we sat to watch one race and then left because we felt we got the whole experience by just watching one.
We then wanted to get to the science museum because it got good reviews and were trying to have auto drivers take us but they were charging us way too much. Soon enough this guy came to us and offered us a fair price. He only understood "museum" though and took us to the modern art museum. It was kind of funny that this happened because Evan wanted to go to this museum, not the other, but decided to stay back because we weren't planning to go there.
Once we got there we found we only had a half hour to see the museum because it was closing soon and would have to pay the foreigner 150 Rs price which is a lot to only see the museum for a short time. We tried to get a discount and I even pulled the "it's my birthday" card but nothing worked. So then we decided to just walk around the museum to kill time. As we were walking around the back though we saw we could enter through the back without being asked for tickets and the security even guided us through where we had to go in the museum. So we got to see the art museum for free which was actually pretty cool, I really enjoyed it.
Then our auto driver insisted on taking us to the Parliament Building, a shopping place, and the Bangalore Palace for a good price so we went with it. The Parliament Building was really cool with its architecture but it was kind of a bummer that we couldn't see much of it because we couldn't go inside the gate and then there was construction outside the gate.
He then took us to a shopping place which really was the last place I needed to go because I already have too much stuff. But I was able to bargain a bag I wanted and also one other thing that I paid 750 Rs. in Hyderabad but got it for 300 there. Oh, and I was able to throw in two small elephant figures for free. It took a while to bargain but me insisting that I really didn't need the stuff and also saying that it was my birthday helped drive the price down. Even when I went back to the auto the driver asked how much I paid for my stuff and he was impressed.
We then went to Bangalore Palace which we didn't really want to go to because we heard it was a tourist trap and would cost 450 Rs. for a foreigner which is a ridiculous price. We just got to the gate though, found that it was closed, took a picture outside the gate (which we should've paid for), and left.
Morgan, Tim and I then went to a restaurant that Tim's guide book recommended to have a steak dinner and a pitcher of beer. We got both but the steak dinner was of quality from Bob Evans or something I think. Nonetheless, it was still nice to sit down, have my first legal beer, and relax for a bit.
After we wanted to get to the Biere (French for beer) Club because I read it was a good and unique brewery. Bob and Evan eventually met up with us and I had a mango beer that didn't have any mango taste but was still good. It was nice to hang out with everyone and this Indian guy was insisting that we had to go to a club and then his place after but did not want to go.
Over all, my birthday was really nice because we didn't have any big issues and it was over all a relaxing and enjoyable day.
Sunday at the zoo
After stuffing ourselves at breakfast we left for the zoo in the morning in a taxi we had for 8 hours. Our goal was to see a safari and then ride an elephant and we got to do one of those two things. This "safari" was cool but I felt weird about it because they really weren't in the actual wild, it was like a glorified zoo. It was nice though because we could see lions and tigers and bears (oh, my) up close. We later went to the actual zoo which had some cool animals and I saw a peacock with all of it's feathers out for the first time. I also petted an elephant but it felt way more weird than I expected because it had coarse black hair coming out of it about an inch long and the skin itself was like a dry, leathery feeling. The vibe there was weird though because the elephants seemed really sad with their living conditions.
Our next thing on the agenda was to get food and we decided to go the Hard Rock Café. It was expensive but well worth it. I had a had a drink, a salad, and shared a dessert with Morgan. Over all satisfying. We then went back to the hotel to relax for a bit, I took a nap, and then eventually went out to another brewery place that was better than the night before with good music.
The guy who picked us up from the train station also went with and it was handy because he was able to insist on using the meter with the auto driver which kept the price way down and it was also cool to talk to him. It was funny when somehow we started talking about his girlfriend and found out that he's been dating her for ten months but has only seen her in person once on their first date. It was because his friend was going on a date with a girl and he was nervous so asked for him to also go where he met his friend's date's sister, now his girlfriend. She lives in Punjab, a northern state, which has been the reason why he hasn't seen her since. They Skype, text and call constantly though and its cute because his eyes lit up whenever he talked about her. The tricky part though is that he hasn't told his parents because she's a Hindu and he's Muslim so he knows it will be an issue with them. He'll only tell them if he's sure he wants to marry her and then will just go with it whether they like it or not.
Monday at GE campus
It took us a while to find the GE place where we were suppose to take a tour at but we finally got there. We went through the most serious security we've gone through since landing in India and went to about six different labs throughout the day. It was really interesting to see the research they were doing and how diverse GE is as a company but was a bit long by the end of it. At lunch we were able to meet an MSU alum which was cool and the campus was beautiful with its landscaping and whatnot which gave reason to why the employees seemed to be happy there.
Eventually we took a taxi back to the city center, met up with the guy who picked us up from the train station, Junaid (I'm not sure why I didn't say his name from the beginning) at the mall to hopefully see a movie but found we were slightly too late for any of the movies. We ended up just eating at the food court where I had a good potato and mushroom crepe and just sat and talked. I later was able to finish my book and then felt accomplished.
Soon enough it was time to go to the bus station and Junaid waited with us until the bus got there which was really nice of him. The bus was actually comfortable because it was a semi-sleeper so it had an extended seat that could lean kind of far back. About seven hours later we got to Chennai in the morning, we took a nap and then went to work.
Now I only have two days left in Chennai and honestly, I'm happy about it. South India really was awesome to experience the culture but I'm ready to move on from our project that kept getting delayed at IIT and leaving Ginger Hotel. Getting cooped up in a hotel for five weeks can get annoying. Although, when I do have that thought I do try to remember that it could be way worse and they could've had us in a dorm on campus so over all it really wasn't that bad.
I'm really excited to go to New Delhi for a week on Saturday, see the Taj Mahal on Monday, and then go to Nepal the following Saturday. I'm really looking forward to my program in Nepal mostly to meet all the new people in the program but also because I think the Nepal will be a beautiful country and the program will give me a consistent schedule with stuff to do. And yes, I'm also looking forward to coming home on August 18. I miss my family and friends and am looking forward to seeing them soonish!
Morgan and I celebrated July 4th by doing a tensile test of our first sample but unfortunately we didn't like the results. We eventually got home and decided to go out with everyone to a restaurant called the Flying Elephant at the Hyatt hotel because we heard good things about it. We also met some friends of friends of Morgan so it was nice to talk to them because they just got to Chennai and we gave them a bunch of advice.
The travel arrangements to get there were frustrating though because I called a taxi to pick us up at a certain time but they didn't get there for almost another 45 minutes because they didn't know where our building was. It took much time, a local security guard giving him directions on the phone and us calling to have a few back up options before he finally showed up. This wasn't too surprising though because going anywhere via taxi or auto is usually frustrating to some degree but that night I was over it. To his defense, I don't think our building is well known but still, if a customer tells the exact location it shouldn't take that long to get there. I think the problem with nearly all of the drivers here though is that they never say "I don't know how to get there." I wouldn't mind if they just said that up front and we give them directions but this just never happens.
Friday I then went to T-Nagar, a shopping district of Chennai, for the first time with Morgan and our new friends we met the night prior, Julia and Greg. This was cool and we went in a giant store equivalent to Meijer and then had food at a Chinese place. Oh, and I took my sari to a tailor and am going to pick it up today!
Bangalore
I slept for about 2.5 hours before waking up to take a train from Chennai to Bangalore. The train station smelled bad but the train itself wasn't that bad. I was able to sleep for about half of it and then read my book for the rest of it. We had a bit of a confusion once we got there because the person who was suppose to pick us up went to the wrong train station but eventually we met him.
The guy picking us up is a brother-in-law of one of the advisors of this trip and it was really nice of him to pick us up from the train station and arrange our hotel. We paid a bit more than we wanted for the hotel but it was worth the money because it had a nice bed, shower, lobby, internet, and also a really good continental breakfast with even baked beans, pasta, and French toast.
On our way to the hotel though we saw a Taco Bell not far away so that's where we chose to have lunch. The food wasn't too bad but after we ate we were a little nervous that it wouldn't settle well. But I think everyone was fine from it. Oh, and my mom gave me these obnoxious "Happy Birthday" glasses so nearly everywhere I went that day I got a picture with them on, including Taco Bell.
Tim, Morgan and I then decided to go out but the other guys were lame and stayed at the hotel. We first went to the Bangalore Turf Club not knowing if there'd be a horse race or not because it was on the way to our desired destination and there ended up being a race when we got there! We paid 20 Rs. to get in (~40 cents) and found it was packed on the inside. I was surprised by this because the only other horse race I went to was in Florida and wasn't too packed and just had old people smoking. I also didn't expect in general for Indians to be so interested in horse racing. But we sat to watch one race and then left because we felt we got the whole experience by just watching one.
We then wanted to get to the science museum because it got good reviews and were trying to have auto drivers take us but they were charging us way too much. Soon enough this guy came to us and offered us a fair price. He only understood "museum" though and took us to the modern art museum. It was kind of funny that this happened because Evan wanted to go to this museum, not the other, but decided to stay back because we weren't planning to go there.
Then our auto driver insisted on taking us to the Parliament Building, a shopping place, and the Bangalore Palace for a good price so we went with it. The Parliament Building was really cool with its architecture but it was kind of a bummer that we couldn't see much of it because we couldn't go inside the gate and then there was construction outside the gate.
He then took us to a shopping place which really was the last place I needed to go because I already have too much stuff. But I was able to bargain a bag I wanted and also one other thing that I paid 750 Rs. in Hyderabad but got it for 300 there. Oh, and I was able to throw in two small elephant figures for free. It took a while to bargain but me insisting that I really didn't need the stuff and also saying that it was my birthday helped drive the price down. Even when I went back to the auto the driver asked how much I paid for my stuff and he was impressed.
We then went to Bangalore Palace which we didn't really want to go to because we heard it was a tourist trap and would cost 450 Rs. for a foreigner which is a ridiculous price. We just got to the gate though, found that it was closed, took a picture outside the gate (which we should've paid for), and left.
Morgan, Tim and I then went to a restaurant that Tim's guide book recommended to have a steak dinner and a pitcher of beer. We got both but the steak dinner was of quality from Bob Evans or something I think. Nonetheless, it was still nice to sit down, have my first legal beer, and relax for a bit.
After we wanted to get to the Biere (French for beer) Club because I read it was a good and unique brewery. Bob and Evan eventually met up with us and I had a mango beer that didn't have any mango taste but was still good. It was nice to hang out with everyone and this Indian guy was insisting that we had to go to a club and then his place after but did not want to go.
Over all, my birthday was really nice because we didn't have any big issues and it was over all a relaxing and enjoyable day.
Sunday at the zoo
After stuffing ourselves at breakfast we left for the zoo in the morning in a taxi we had for 8 hours. Our goal was to see a safari and then ride an elephant and we got to do one of those two things. This "safari" was cool but I felt weird about it because they really weren't in the actual wild, it was like a glorified zoo. It was nice though because we could see lions and tigers and bears (oh, my) up close. We later went to the actual zoo which had some cool animals and I saw a peacock with all of it's feathers out for the first time. I also petted an elephant but it felt way more weird than I expected because it had coarse black hair coming out of it about an inch long and the skin itself was like a dry, leathery feeling. The vibe there was weird though because the elephants seemed really sad with their living conditions.
Our next thing on the agenda was to get food and we decided to go the Hard Rock Café. It was expensive but well worth it. I had a had a drink, a salad, and shared a dessert with Morgan. Over all satisfying. We then went back to the hotel to relax for a bit, I took a nap, and then eventually went out to another brewery place that was better than the night before with good music.
Waiting outside Hard Rock Cafe
The guy who picked us up from the train station also went with and it was handy because he was able to insist on using the meter with the auto driver which kept the price way down and it was also cool to talk to him. It was funny when somehow we started talking about his girlfriend and found out that he's been dating her for ten months but has only seen her in person once on their first date. It was because his friend was going on a date with a girl and he was nervous so asked for him to also go where he met his friend's date's sister, now his girlfriend. She lives in Punjab, a northern state, which has been the reason why he hasn't seen her since. They Skype, text and call constantly though and its cute because his eyes lit up whenever he talked about her. The tricky part though is that he hasn't told his parents because she's a Hindu and he's Muslim so he knows it will be an issue with them. He'll only tell them if he's sure he wants to marry her and then will just go with it whether they like it or not.
Monday at GE campus
It took us a while to find the GE place where we were suppose to take a tour at but we finally got there. We went through the most serious security we've gone through since landing in India and went to about six different labs throughout the day. It was really interesting to see the research they were doing and how diverse GE is as a company but was a bit long by the end of it. At lunch we were able to meet an MSU alum which was cool and the campus was beautiful with its landscaping and whatnot which gave reason to why the employees seemed to be happy there.
Eventually we took a taxi back to the city center, met up with the guy who picked us up from the train station, Junaid (I'm not sure why I didn't say his name from the beginning) at the mall to hopefully see a movie but found we were slightly too late for any of the movies. We ended up just eating at the food court where I had a good potato and mushroom crepe and just sat and talked. I later was able to finish my book and then felt accomplished.
Soon enough it was time to go to the bus station and Junaid waited with us until the bus got there which was really nice of him. The bus was actually comfortable because it was a semi-sleeper so it had an extended seat that could lean kind of far back. About seven hours later we got to Chennai in the morning, we took a nap and then went to work.
Now I only have two days left in Chennai and honestly, I'm happy about it. South India really was awesome to experience the culture but I'm ready to move on from our project that kept getting delayed at IIT and leaving Ginger Hotel. Getting cooped up in a hotel for five weeks can get annoying. Although, when I do have that thought I do try to remember that it could be way worse and they could've had us in a dorm on campus so over all it really wasn't that bad.
I'm really excited to go to New Delhi for a week on Saturday, see the Taj Mahal on Monday, and then go to Nepal the following Saturday. I'm really looking forward to my program in Nepal mostly to meet all the new people in the program but also because I think the Nepal will be a beautiful country and the program will give me a consistent schedule with stuff to do. And yes, I'm also looking forward to coming home on August 18. I miss my family and friends and am looking forward to seeing them soonish!
No comments:
Post a Comment