First 19 hours

You know you are a long way from home when you fly over Iraq to get somewhere.  After 27 hours in transit I landed at the Bangalore (Bengaluru) Airport at 1AM on Saturday January 7.  I stayed in a hotel for a few hours and flew on to Mangalore in the afternoon and settled in to my room at the NITK Guesthouse at 8PM.  Here is a list of initial experiences and observations:

Happiness is: being very tired and walking out of the terminal building and amongst the 100+ people with signs for arriving passengers finding one with your name on it for transport to the hotel.

Do it with labor: 2 young men picked me up, one to stay with me and one to get the car.  Arriving at the hotel/resort, small and not fancy or Western, 2 more young men, I think the night guards, help unload and carry bags.  A receptionist is waiting at 2AM.  I think only one other party was staying there that night.  5 people for one customer.  In the morning there are several ladies sweeping the grounds with palm fronds to pick up the leaves before an afternoon event (Microsoft employees family day). While in the US labor is expensive and reduced as much as possible through automation and efficiency, India has 1.2 billion people and is expected to be the most populous country in 2-3 decades, so labor is relatively cheap. 

Everything will take longer to do than you expect:  This warning from the books is certainly true.  The society does not have a western focus on time or efficiency.  It took 2 receipts and 3 phone calls to confirm that I had prepaid the hotel room.  A courier was supposed to pick up supplies I brought for a colleague of a colleague before 1PM, but never showed.  Three signatures and four forms were needed to check out of the hotel.  But it all works in the end.

“You will be treated like a god”: The hospitality extended to a visitor is tremendous.  I am met at the Mangalore airport by Dr. Shrihari, my main contact at NITK, and Mahamood, a scholar (PhD candidate).  The flight is late and they have waited 2 hours.  Everything is arranged, they want to make me comfortable in every little way and are very understanding that I am tired.  Rattnakara is the attendant for the wing of the guest house I am in and he embraces his job of taking care of his guests.  I feel very welcome here.

Driving:  They have hired a taxi to take us from the airport to the University.  The airport is east of the city, we drive 30 minutes into the city then north to the University.  Highlights include driving on the left side, no stop signs or traffic lights or seemingly traffic control of any kind (and this is on surface streets, not freeway), lots of traffic (but no major slowdowns), lots of pedestrians, and using the horn and lights a lot to communicate.  Roads in Italy and Mexico were calm compared to this.  It all works, it is just very different.

5 right fingers: We stop at a restaurant for a light dinner.  We eat in the vegetarian room rather than non-vegetarian; each has its own kitchen.  There is a little room for washing your hands because fingers are used rather than utensils.  We each have dosa, a large crispy crepe filled with potato curry.  I had these a couple of times before the trip and was never sure how to eat it, now I learn how to eat it with the right (clean) hand only.  I am slower than my companions, but manage to keep my palm clean.  Hands are washed after dinner.  

My room at the Guesthouse


Happiness is: landing in the guesthouse and after 19 hours in country, a working air conditioner, and getting a good night’s sleep for the first time in 3 days.  

Next: Mahamood and David's excellent adventure