Arriving in India

room balconies at The Oberoi
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Thursday 3:30 local time, 1600 home

Here I am on the other side of the world. Unbelievable. Truly. It doesn’t seem possible that I am that far away. So far it doesn’t feel much different than being in Panama. Except for the fact that the flights were soooo LONG. I left Austin about 1330 on Monday, Jan 2^nd. I arrived in Bangalore half past midnight on Wednesday, Jan 3^rd. It is a full 24 hours of travel with 20 hours of flight time. I flew Austin-Dallas, Dallas-Frankfurt, Frankfurt-Bangalore.

The driver said the dogs rule at night.

room at The Oberoi
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One comment on the Frankfurt airport. It seemed out of date, not in the same way as a third world airport. Simply inadequate for the volume going through it. It was very crowded. As we were landing I counted 9 flights taking off or landing within my field of vision. Many, many people everywhere within the airport, of course from all countries.

My very first impression of the Bangalore airport was that it reminded me of the airport in Athens. I think that was because of seeing signage in Sanskrit. I cleared immigration and customs immediately. Michele had to answer questions a couple of times and had one bag inspected. Apparently it was because she carried both a computer and a CD player.

The airport was not too crowded, certainly because we arrived in the middle of the night. The Oberoi Hotel sent a driver. The drivers actually work for Avis and we were in two very clean, upstyle cars (leather interiors). The drivers wear white uniforms with caps and look very smart. At the office later, a woman told us that the drivers have “false egos” and are “very particular”. My driver offered me a cold, wet cloth wrapped in saran wrap and bottled water. Very nice welcome. All of the people I have met so far are very deferring, very eager to please. Almost obsequious.

Driving to the hotel in the middle of the night was fine. Very little traffic, which I knew was unusual. The biggest impression was the number of stray dogs roaming the streets. The driver said the dogs rule at night.

The Oberoi is lovely. My room is very western and very comfortable. The view on to the garden and the pool is beautiful. My balcony looks right into a very large tree with intertwining, snakey branches, not unlike a live oak back in Texas, just much larger. The hot shower was terrific. I unpacked and had a driver take me to work at 3:00.

Driving back to the hotel in the early morning, now with sunlight I could see snippets of the city. A woman sweeping a front stoop with pounds of dust, it seemed a useless (or an endless) task. It is dry season and everything is quite dusty despite the humidity in the air. A dog now curled up asleep, practically in the road. Four or Five cows on a sidewalk, a man milking one of them. Traffic beginning to bustle, “cabs”, bicycles, cars, trucks and people walking – horns tooting. Car horns is the chief sound I can hear from my hotel room.

I laughed when the driver crossed the middle line to pass at the same time a large bus coming at us crossed the middle line to pass. I am sure this is why Kristen told me to “not look” when traveling in the car. The driver said no one pays any attention to the traffic rules but there are few accidents because they can only go about 30 mph top speed. Although it was not yet rush hour, it didn’t strike me worse that traffic in Panama or Mexico City.

Back in the room I ordered a waffle for dinner, put in earplugs and went to bed. I slept soundly until 1700.