Mumbai Day One: Settling In

Well, I did ok on the jet-lag front, but not great. I worked on e-mail all morning (exciting, huh) and into the afternoon, taking breaks to read chapters of Neal Stephenson's Cryptonomicon. I'm now 300 pages in - this isn't going to last me as long as I'd hoped. On one of these reading breaks, lying in bed, I decided to rest my eyes, then woke up at 6pm, the time I was supposed to be meeting the rest of the group in the lobby for dinner. Luckily I had some non-wrinkled clothes I could pull on fast.

There are just three other reps on this trip (1 Yank, 2 Canucks), and one Brit who represents an educational periodical. Hussein, our organizer and guide, along with his wife Rupali, took us all to dinner at a local Chinese restaurant. There we were introduced to about a dozen Indians somehow involved in the educational scene of Mumbai. At one point, I thought dinner was done, then realized we hadn't been served the main course yet. It is going to be a struggle to keep the pounds off if they keep putting so much food in front of us and talking for so long.

After dinner I went to my room and answered MORE E-MAIL. Due to my long afternoon nap, I was not able to get to sleep until late, and then woke promptly at 6:30. I knew I wasn't dozing off again soon (I felt way too clear-headed), so I just went down to the gym.

I should start putting up some new pictures. Today we visit three local schools.