Life after the Bombs

I'm sure you are aware by now that there were several bombs that went off in Bangalore last Friday. We are all safe, but our lifestyle in Bangalore has changed. We can not go out except to work and to restaurants. This is for at least two weeks, to ensure we are as safe as possible. They still have not found who is responsible for the blasts. Unfortunately, one lady lost her life in the blast. The bombs were low intensity, so no major building or infrastructure damage.

Bombings are considered a way of life in the northern India area. I don't know if I would say a way of life, but they are more accustom to the incidents. This is the first time Bangalore has been impacted.

On a funny note - We have coined our bombers as the "Apple Dumpling Gang".

Pune India

Pune is different from Bangalore. Traffic is easier for one thing. However, I did see wreck in Pune. I stayed at the LeMerdian - it was very nice. The team in Pune was great and took great care of me :-)

The building that I worked at was on what I have coined the "New" Pune side of town. From the hotel, the ride goes through "Old" Pune, then as you cross a bridge you see "New" Pune. New Pune has trendy shops and mall with McD's and KFC to welcome you into town. It also has a lot of new condo/apartment high rise buildings.

For those of you that live back home, picture old panama city beach and the beach now. Kinda the same ;-)

I did do some shopping in Pune. Bought some DIET DR PEPPER! and some gifts for the family. I got to eat at Mc Donald's - it was good!!!! This one even delivers. I also got a very useful swiss army knife with my meal.

I was only in Pune for 2 days, but I did take a few pics and some video. I have found that my videos are to large to load to the blog, so this weekend I am going to try my technical hand at UTube. I'll let you know if it works.

Tasneem's Elephant

Wanted to share a picture Tasneem gave me. She saw this on her way to Bangalore from Pune.

When she showed it to me I screamed out (as all of you in the US know that I can do), however the poor guys sitting out side my cabin jumped up and looked in like what happened to you.

Airport Check In for Pune

Good Morning

I am on my way to Pune to meet with the Mphasis team there. Up at 2:30AM, an hour drive to the airport, and now I am waiting for boarding. WIFI Free at Bangalore Airport.

Now let me tell you about check in.....First you have to get a pass from your airline at a booth outside to gt into the airport. Then you have to check in and check your luggage. Everything you have, even your purse, must have an airline tag on it. I found that out the hard way. I got yelled at in security for not having one on my purse. Thank goodness on of the MANY military men assisted me. I am sure they were thinking crazy American thinks she can come in here and checking line in the states. haha Women and Men have separate security lines. You are wanded down - and I literally. The wand touched every inch of my body. Even had to have my bra checked for metal!! Very tight security here...

Now some more interesting tidbits.....I am one of 3 white individuals in the airport. The other two are males. As you might imagine I am getting some looks. Not in a bad way, but I notice some people checking me out. LOL

Hope you all are having a good day. I will let you know what Pune is like.

Jungle Pictures

For more pictures go to rich-melissa.smugmug.com - go to the India - Jungle Trip Gallery

Jungle Trip

Have you been wondering how our weekend went….thought I would keep you in suspense for a few days.

There is so much to tell, so I am breaking it into categories.

Driving:
Our driver was very aggressive. Riding is town with bumper to bumper traffic is much different from taking a 5 hour trip to the jungle.

Short Version – It was like a roller coaster dodging moving obstacles.

Long Version – Picture the narrow roads to the Smokey Mountains, with cows, dogs, and people moving randomly back and forth across the road. Then picture a van carrying the 6 of us driving about 55 mph on the road. Now add in cars, tractors, motorcycles, and ox carrying carts coming at us and also moving with us. There you have it – a vision of our 5 hour road trip. (5 hours one way.)

There where a few times we had to check and make sure our heart had not really dropped to our stomach. Jerry had the best experience – when we almost hit a tractor he slid out of his seat and into the back of Tasneem’s seat. Did I mention – no seat belts. Only the front seats had seat belts. From Jerry’s experience we all braced ourselves via the arm rest. Even Tasneem and Philip got nervous a few times. The ride was certainly an adventure.

Mysoor Palace:
On our way, we stopped at the Palace in Mysoor. It was beautiful. For those of you who have been to the Biltmore House in NC, it was like an Indian version of the Biltmore. There was a lot of Marble and gorgeous wood doors and ceilings with amazing carvings. We could not take pictures inside, so you will just have to go to the palace and see it for yourself.

Outside the palace were worship temples. Jerry, Tasneem, and I were blessed by the Vishnu Hindu god.

In the basis Hindu Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva, the Hindu god Vishnu is the preserver and protector of creation. Vishnu is the embodiment of mercy and goodness, the self-existent, all-pervading power that preserves the universe and maintains the cosmic order Dharma.

Vishnu is often represented resting on the coiled serpent Shesha, with Vishnu’s consort Lakshmi massaging his feet. Vishnu never sleeps and is the deity of Shanti, the peaceful mood. Vishnu does not however tolerate Ego.


After our blessing we headed off to the reach the jungle.


Lodge/Accommodations:
Well, for those of you who know me really well, you would never believe I stayed where we stayed. It was all about roughing it!!!

We stayed in a cottage, in a sort of bed and breakfast set-up. The cottage was about a tenth of a mile walk from the main house. It had 3 rooms – a bedroom with a fridge (this room was the size of my walk-in closet), a bathroom, and the living area. Tasneem and I took the bedroom – there were two cots in the room for sleeping. The guys took the living area – there were two cots, they brought another one and Jerry slept on a cot/couch. I should mention the cot – not so comfy. Also, no hot water – see the picture attached about hot water. Tasneem was the only brave enough to take a shower. The rest of us opted for extra deodorant and a shower back at home. Oh and we had a mouse, a grand daddy long leg, and a lizard as a house guest.

Wildlife:
We saw a whole of monkeys. My favorite time was watching them interact with each other and ignoring us humans. We saw Deer (it is illegal to kill deer in India), Water Buffalo, Elephants, Red Squirrel looking animal, a beaver looking animal, and many peacocks (India’s national bird).

Food:
……..We (David, Jerry, and I) tried some new stuff. David was about the only one who liked any of the India food. Jerry unknowing ate some very hot mango pickle stuff. That was FUNNY. We ate at a community table under a shed beside the main house. They cooked all the food for us and served it buffet style. We were all very eager to get hotel food when we got back.

Elephant Ride:
After much negation, we got to our Elephant ride. YEAH – It was great. We took two elephants – three persons per elephant. The ride lasted around 30 minutes. We saw monkeys, the red squirrel thing, and peacocks. We also wanted an elephant getting a bath in the river, along side locals washing their pots. We played with a baby elephant. That was FUN too.

We have had a fun/busy week. Training is going well - I wish the agents would talk to me more about how they feel about the material. I am working on that :-) Everyone has been putting in a lot of hours and we are going to relax (we hope) this weekend. We are off the jungle at 9AM (that's 11:30PM Central). It will take about 5hours to get there and then we will see what happens. FYI - Yes I am taking my pink heels! Now to the streets - Mark, Philip, and I took a rikskaw(I have no idea how to spell it) - it's a taxi in India - to Hard Rock Cafe. Yum Yum Good old American Food Attached are pictures from the trip and dinner with the team. Notice the dog, I feed him my left over chicken. The bus is a school bus. The poor pony was being whipped by his child driver. I felt really bad for him - he couldn't go anywhere but the boy kept whipping him. There is also a picture of us at dinner. Have a great weekend!

India Update

I got 12 hours of rest yesterday - so I am back on track! All trainers are doing well. Not much to update on - we are just working. Maybe we will have some fun stuff to tell you after the weekend. Raju and Melissa's Corner Income Taxes Did you know that women pay a lower income tax? Regardless of what their male counterpart may make. Different Meanings of a Word India word/action = US word/action Cabin = Office Strike = Riot Shaking head no = I understand I added a video of a section on the drive to the airport.

Weekend in India

Saturday Philip and his fiance took us to the mall and movie. The girls had to go through a different line at the movies (I think because our purses needed to be searched). I noticed a few differences in going to the movies in India ....
No butter for the popcorn (the popcorn was still good)
Intermission 1/2 way through the movie (US should adopt this idea)
Guards everywhere. Even at the exit.

We did some shopping at the mall. I bought some outfits for my nieces and nephews. Mark got a shirt. The mall is similar to ones in the US - it just is build up versus out. We did get to cross the street - and we survied!

Sunday - Mark and spend all night and morning picking Jerry and David up at the airport. We had breakfast at our favorite resturant in Bangalore (Lido) and then crashed. I just got up (6PM India time).

We all are meeting at 7 to plan for the week of training.

Raju and Melissa's Corner
There was a Dog Show this weekend in Bangalore
While I wear heels almost everywhere - I have only seen 3 people in heels here - everyone wears flat sandels
Security is much greater here than at home (Armed guards at the airport)
Even at work security is high - we have to scanned with a wand before entering the production areas. This is to ensure we are not taking electronics, pens, paper, etc into the secure area. (Secure to protect NPI data)
I noticed on the way to the airport to get David (first time we have been on the road to the airport in the day time) there is a place where you can not urinate on the street. Per the signs no urinating infront of the teburculois institute.

Off to get ready for dinner. Check out the pics from the mall and the road we crossed. Also Philip's fiance, a moutain of stone that is being broken apart,and some shots from my room at our new hotel.

Another Video and Pics

Can you find the Monkeys??? Make sure to let Linda know we have located a family of monkeys for her when she comes over.

First week of work completed

Hi All Few things have happened since I last wrote. Mark and I moved hotels. We are living it up at Ista now. It is AWESOME. The food is great and they offer a lot of western items. The gym is great - a 15 inch TV attached to my treadmill. The gym overlooks a contemporary pool.I have a view from my room now. It over looks the lake in Bangalore and local housing. I watched monkey's play this morning and a dog playing on top of his house. The hotel has a mall and movie theater next to it. We can walk to it and not be in any danger of getting hit by a car!! That is where we are going tomorrow. We are meeting Philip and his girl friend to see Hancock. The service at Ista is phenomenal. There was some kind of ruckus yesterday - no big deal and no where near us. I am adding a special section going forward - Raju and Melissa's Culture Class Raju and I have been discussing the differences in culture between the US and India. Let me share the McDonald's story. In India McDonald's is considered an expensive restaurant, most of the families in India have never eaten at McDonald's. Where as we view McDonald's as a cheap place to eat. In India they can get a 5 course meal at a local place for the price of a hamburger and coke at McDonald's. Also - did you know that cars in India can be converted to run on propane gas? Yelp, just hook some wires and hoses up (probably a bit more work - but you get the drift) to the tank and replace it when it runs out. Cool. JOY - Tasneem wanted you to see the food we had for dinner a few nights ago. See the food under "Day 2"

Attached is a video on part of our drive to work from our old hotel. (Notice the guy walking a black Great Dane!)

Day 2

Paris Pictures

Here are some pics from Paris

Me on a street in Paris and at Sacre Coeur
Mark at the Louvre and in the Metro

First Day in India

Well our first day was a long one - we worked 13 hours. Mark and I were at different buildings. The training facility is not that nice. It was the first building Mphasis used and has sentimental value to the team. I think my American friends will find the following interesting...on our 20 minute drive to work we saw:
13 Dogs
2 Goats
1 Ox pulling a man and a cart
3 men on the side of the road (taking care of business)
0 Rats
Later when our driver took me to the training facility to meet up with Mark I saw 5 cows and an Ox resting on the side of the row.

Now to the hotel - it is nice. Power does go out a lot. It is out now actually. We have a balcony and standard hotel stuff. (Picture of my view attached)

The driving - CRAZY - the area we are in does not have red lights - they have men who stand in the middle of the road and blow whistles. Not a job I would take for any amount of money.

Walking around - Mark and Philip walked to KFC for dinner...Mark was grabbed by numerous people. Philip tried to get between Mark and the people but there were too many. They will be taking a car from now on.

Off to work - Miss you guys!

Paris

A dream come true. I have wanted to go to France since I was in High School. Dad, those French classed have finally paid off. Yes I was able to chat a bit with the French. Mark and I had a great time. We went to the Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral, Sacre-Coeur Cathedral, Lunch outside a street cafe, Dinner on the River, and Eiffel Tower. We also walked around a lot, to the point our legs were barking (that is tired to most of you - Rich that was for you :-) We used all of the 18 hours we had and took in as much as possible. My favorite was the view from the Sacred Heart and Eiffel tower at night. Thanks to Mark we were able to use the Metro for transportation - it was like being in New York. Most everything was closed since we were there on Sunday, so no shopping stories to share. Next time I go it will be for shopping, Rich start saving some $.

I'm Off

I am about to leave for the airport. Spending my last minues with my baby Emma. Man I will miss her and Rich. It is all setting in....2 months....sad but exciting.

I will be leaving PC at 11:30 Ctl and arrive in Paris around 12AM ctrl (assuming no airline delays.)