I went to the little store at work. He (man who doesn't speak English) sells sodas and water, munchies of sorts... I went to buy a bottle of water. The bottle cost me 12 rupees.
Please allow me to put this into perspective for you in case you aren't familiar with the rupee to dollar conversion.
$1.00 = 40 INR
This liter bottle of water was what, .30 cents??? For a LITER! My first experience relating to the economy. The only other thing I've dealt with as far as money exchange for are dinners here at the hotel which are equal to what we'd pay in the US. Except for my dinner tonight. Broccoli, Asparagus, Red Pepper and Zucchini on the grill with a red wine sauce on the side. And a banana, coffee and a diet coke. That came out to be about $20, which was eye widening on the other spectrum. Probably because it was made to order. I just couldn't have chicken again.
A few tid bits...
>The drains in the bathroom aren't as interesting as I thought. They're just drains. Don't worry- I'll get a picture of a real squatter.
>On the way to work today I saw a police man salute a minister. The car with the minister drove past me with the siren on, and about 4 of the cops on the road stoped what they were doing, stood at attention and saluted. Didn't see any cows tho.
>Fog sets in at night, and the quality of air changes. It's smokey sort of. Or dusty- I'm not sure. But it smells either like a bonfire or sawdust. I think it might be an effect of all of the construction around here.
>The hotel is hosting a conference and it's huge! Someone said it's about how the industries are booming here and a discussion for what they can do to continue the growth. There are police all over the place and security is pretty tight. My driver couldn't pick me up in front like he normally does, he had to wait outside the gate for me.
I have plans to go to the Taj Mahal this weekend, so I'm pretty excited about that. We'll leave right after work (around 430am). The drive is about 250 kilometers (150 miles) but I'm told takes about 4-5 hours to get there. Sounds like rush hour in Chicago!
Until Later, Nameste.
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4 comments:
Loving the blog, I feel like I am with you!
:-)
Mary
two things...
a) i thought for sure that your toilet shots would be turkish "toilets". so i was not too impressed ;-)
b)i also thought for sure you were spelling "nameste" incorrectly. i was like... NO... it is "namaste". had no idea that there were two spellings and differing meanings. learn something new every day.
keep the blogs coming. i am jealous you are there-- i would love to see india!
Ha! e vs a...I've been meaning to change it...From now on. Namaste.
Erin, In case your getting a little homesick, the forecast shows a high of 7 degrees today :) We love it.
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