The Cell Phone Debacle

Before we arrived in India, we were told that the culture was different and the pace of life moves differently. One of the things we were forewarned about was the concept of "Indian time." It operates a lot like Jewish Standard Time but in a more pronounced fashion. In India things move at their own pace and that schedules are more like suggested times, with actual times being much later. This morning, we were told to be in the lobby by 9:30am to go get our cell phones. Ordinarily, this would have been way too early for me, but being jet lagged I actually woke up this morning at 6:15am so 9:30 wasn't really a problem. We went down to the lobby and we waited...then we waited more...then we waited some more. Finally, at 11:00am, our patience was wearing thin and Danny called the cell phone guy to see what was happening. Apparently, they had forgotten that they were supposed to come and said they'd be there in 15 minutes. Well of course 15 turned into 30 which turned into an hour. The cell phone people did not show up until about 12:30 or 1pm. I knew things were going to be a little different, but wow.

Anyways, they took us in small groups to get our pictures taken (passport size photos required) and to buy phones. I was in the 2nd group and was itching to get out of the house since I had not left since we arrived the previous day. They took us down the road and into an alley way and down a street which was crowded with people, shops, and all sorts of chaos. We stopped close to the end of the street at Raj's photo shop. The place only had two rooms and they took us inside and snapped our photos. They developed them in about 5 mins and we paid about 1 dollar for 8 passport sized photos. I tried to catch up with Jerry who was purchasing the cell phones (about 10 bucks each), but he was long gone. I walked down the alley looking for them and could not find them. Some of the stores and enclaves in the street were run down, so it was an interesting stroll.

I returned back to the car and the driver told me to wait inside (Danny had stayed in the shop and ended up getting a free meal). I started talking to the driver but his English was difficult to understand. He was telling me about his family and where he was from and it was all interesting. One really interesting thing is that within the first 5 minutes of our conversation, he volunteered to me how much money he made (20,000 rupees/year or about $446). I was surprised that he just told me (I didn't even ask and was unsure what to say when he told me). It was a good reminder for me about how much poverty there is here.

We returned to the guest house and I ended up going for a walk with Melanie and Louise. We found a cafe a few blocks down the street and stopped in for a snack (we hadn't had lunch so everyone was starving). I had a piece of black forest chocolate cake and a mango shake. I was hoping that the mango shake would be like a mango lassee (one of my favorite Indian drinks at a restaurant), but instead it tasted more milky and less mango-ey. I was disappointed.

When we tried to pay, the shopkeepers refused to break our large bills. The ATMs dispensed only in 500 rupees and 1000 rupee denominations. The cafe claimed not to have change even for my 100 rupee bill so I ended up charging it on my credit card. Melanie on the other hand had no card and they gave her change in gum (each gum piece costs 5 rupees). This happened to us at two different places. I wonder if we collected gum for the entire time and tried to pay one of these shopkeepers in gum what would happen (I suspect that they would not accept it).

As we were walking, the heat was surprisingly bearable. It wasn't cold outside, but I didn't feel it was very much hotter than being in Florida during this time of the year. Lets hope it stays like this.

At around 7, we met professor Krishnan and he took us out to a really nice restaurant at DLK (a large mall in New Delhi). The drive to the mall was fascinating. On the way there, we passed by a shanty town where several pigs were roaming freely. Immediately next to the shanty town was the sparkling DLK mall, one of the larger malls I had ever seen. There was a security guard on the outside. The inside had a staffed piano player, a fountain, and beautiful marble floors. The glass elevators took us to the restaurant on the third floor. The mall contained stores like Louis Vitton and Armani and other extremely nice and expensive stores. The contrast between the two worlds so close together was absolutely stunning.

We arrived at the restaurant and Jerry and I found out that shorts were not permitted for evening (I wish we were forewarned about this). I exchanged my khaki shorts for a pair of jeans. The hostess correctly guessed my size (pretty impressive!). We sat down to dinner and ordered beers (and other drinks--I had a kingfish draft). We had a hummus appetizer and a delicious whole peking duck. For the main course, I had a buttered garlic crab dish. It was like heaven in my mouth. The crab was not quite as big as a dungeness crab but it was larger than a blue crab. It must be some kind of crab that only lives in this part of the world. It was seasoned a bit differently than in the US, but done in such a way that did not require any butter.

I sat next to Danny's mentor (her name is escaping me b/c I am horrible with names and extremely horrible with long Indian names), but she was awesome. She even let me try some of her food. At the end of the meal, Jerry and I collected our pants and had to wait outside for the others. We changed in the bathroom, which was one of the nicest bathrooms I've ever seen. In addition to having someone to hand you towels (like at the Ritz Carleton), the stalls with the toilets had several buttons along the side. There was one to flush, one to disinfect, one for a fragrance, and several others that I did not know what they did. It was weird.

When we drove home, there were random cows in the middle of the busy highway that our driver had to dodge. It was one of the crazier things I had ever seen in a foreign country. I meant to take pictures, but I forgot my camera in the room. I will upload some pictures on here soon. We returned home and had a tea with professor Krishnan and then retired for the evening. Tomorrow's plan is to go into New Delhi proper and get prepared for the start of my internship on Monday!