One Fair Down...

...many to go.

Finally, I am better able to capture what these fairs are like, now that I have a little digi-cam with video. I took two shots. The first is walking throught the hallways about an hour before the fair begins, on my way to the ballroom to set up my booth. As you can see, it is already quite crowded.



The second was taken about two hours into the four hour fair. This is about as busy as this event got for us, which is pretty sparse relative to some fairs that we have. I've seen ballrooms this size so full of Indian students that you could walk from one side to the other, on their heads. The two ladies next to me are the rep from one of the SUNYs and her daughter, who is a student there.



Tomorrow we have interview sessions in the morning. I am expecting a few students to come in and turn in applications. The group checks out in the afternoon and fly to Ahmedabad - a city I am well aquainted with, but have no love for. The hotel staff here at the Taj Palace will probably be glad to see me go, due to my total unwillingness to let them serve me. Carrying my box of materials from my room to the ballroom where the fair would take place, I had to shoo away no less than five hotel employees trying to take my box and carry it for me. I have not let the cleaning crew into my room once. It really, really bothers them. Last night one of them tried to follow me in the door - "Please, sir. Please, sir." I had to close the door on him. Otherwise he would have been in there straightening up for me. Hate that.

Because you demanded it...

...the new do. Yes, I'm wearing a bathrobe. I have been for three days. Look closely - you can see the mark where I head-butted the TV.

Does the Pope Shit in the Fan?

This kid's a cynic already. I adore him. Maybe I will have children. I will dress them just like that.

OK, if you've been paying attention, you know that the Pope said some things on Tuesday that have upset the Muslim world. He did it in kind of a pussy way, quoting someone else, who said what he'd apparently like to say himself, but it ain't politically correct to do so. C'mon, Pope-man, don't put others' words in your mouth - use your own. I quote him quoting a long dead Byzantine emperor:

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Paleologus

Incensed Muslims are condemning the Pope's words and demanding an apology. Here's my idea: The Pope is a scholar, and so was Manuel II. Rather than just getting pissed off and demanding meaningless apologies, why not bring out your Muslim scholars to do intellectual battle? C'mon, if you think he is wrong, show the world why...

If Ratzi gives an unconditional apology, I'll be really disappointed. People who know me know what I think of apologies in general.

Back to Travel-blogging

9/11/06 - 9/15/06, Part II

Below is a view of traffic in New Delhi, from the airport to the diplomatic section. Very mild for India, but you get a look at the variety of vehicles on the road - cars, tuk-tuks, bicycles, etc. I love the music that kicks in just as the guy on the bike appears. We must have been pulling up next to a taxi or something.




The travel itself: On the 11th I flew from Southville to Atlanta, Atlanta to Newark. Both flights were delayed, so I was not checked into my room at the airport Hampton Inn until after midnight. This left me about 5 hours to sleep before freshening up, taking my last glorious swig of tap water, and heading back to the Newark airport where I boarded the first of two Virgin Atlantic flights towards New Delhi, pausing in London. I finished my first book of the trip, James Ellroy’s Black Dahlia, before touching down in India. I spent the rest of my flight time playing Backgammon and studying for the GRE. Couldn’t sleep. Therefore, after checking into the Taj Palace Hotel, I crashed for about 5 hours. To get my body on local time, I decided I’d have to stay up most of the night, get a few more hours sleep, then wake up at a typical morning hour. I accomplished this by watching a little TV, going for a late night workout at the 24-hour gym, and having a few cups of coffee at the 24-hour restaurant. Hit the sack around 3am, woke at 6am, went back to the gym for a run on the treadmill.



After pigging out at the hotel breakfast buffet, it was time to catch a cab to the US Embassy. My passport was full yet again, and I needed more pages – desperately. Security was tight, but the process of having more pages added was surprisingly quick and simple. I was in and out in 20 minutes. Actually, on my way out, I was flipping through my passport, looking for where the new blanks were pasted in, when... Wham! Walked right into a wall-mounted TV, in full view of about 200 Indians in line for visas. Now I have a nice red mark on my forehead.

Back at the hotel, I packed up a few things to take to my first school visit – the American Embassy School. It was only myself and another rep (along with her daughter). We set up in a conference room, and students dropped by on their lunch break. It was a good casual way to get back into the game. I can tell that I’ve gotten rusty over the summer. Still, I talked with several promising students.




Back at the hotel, I bought a new book (Philip Roth, The Plot Against America, awesome so far) and bought lunch across the street at Café Coffee Day (Mmm, chicken tikka sandwich and samosas). Then it was time for the group meetings with all the Linden Tour participants. At the point where we got to the briefing on the Indian educational system, which I have sat through many times by now, I was about ready to pass out. Jet-lag was not yet done with me. I had to excuse myself and take a nap before going to dinner. I’m always confused at traditional Indian restaurants – the waiters bring food out and pile it onto your plate for you. I never know how much to take, because I don’t know how many courses will be following. I paced myself pretty well this time. I even ate the ice cream, though many try to avoid dairy while in India. I’m still here.

This morning I awoke at 6 again, and went to the gym for an hour-long run on the treadmill. Luckily, it happened to coincide with Friends and Seinfeld re-runs, so it went by in a flash. More buffet pig-out, then another school visit – Delhi Public School (which is actually private – don’t ask me). This was a more standard visit, with about a dozen reps participating. There was a break in the afternoon, during which I napped some, and now we are all sitting at an outdoor college fair held by the British School. A huge fan positioned behind me is keeping me cool, and blasting mosquitoes away from my general area. I feel like I'm in a wind tunnel. Tomorrow is the fair. We have the morning off, which I will probably end up using to answer work emails. Bleh!

New Beginnings

9/11/06-9/14/06 Part 1

First off – travelling on the fifth anniversary of 9/11. No big deal. No one seemed overly on edge or testy, and that includes the security types. If not for all the specials running on the news stations, broadcast on TVs throughout the airports, I would not have known the day had any grave significance. For the record, where was I when it all went down? I was in Southville, woken by a phone call from my sister. The first plane had already hit. I shook off my hangover (9/12 was the first day of classes, so everyone was out 9/10 partying one more time) and woke my roommate Andy. Like everyone else, we glued ourselves to the TV the rest of the day and wondered what the new world would be like. Then it was huge, now it’s history. We’ve adjusted (or have we?). This September 11th, I was calm, cool, and collected.

Let’s talk about that for a minute - Calm, Cool, and Collected. This is exactly what I have not been over the past two months, ever since returning from my 30th Birthday Extravaganza in Central America. I’ve been trying to come up with a way to describe how I’ve been feeling, and I have thought of many, but the best single word for it is misaligned. I’ve felt like a stranger in my own head, behaving in ways that are uncharacteristic of me, a Twilight Zone version of myself. Now it’s not odd for me to experience short bouts of mild mental weirdness – it usually happens just after the occasional bender or before an extended term of travel, but this was consistent for two solid months, and not what I would call mild. Funny thing is, this state dissipated completely as soon as I hopped in the cab for the airport on September 11th, and I’m so glad that it did. In hindsight, I see that a variety of factors created and affected this misalignment, that I will only mention briefly (you should know better than to look for deep introspection here – I’ve done it, but will not share it): my 30th birthday and the self-examination that comes along with a significant birthday; the process of making plans for the next couple of years, which will hopefully include graduate school; the unpleasant end of a relationship; the realization that my circle of friends seems to be steadily shrinking, and that the time I spend with one of my best friends is quite often very counter-productive; problems at work, with my house, with my tenants, with my car; weekends too full of visitors, road trips, weddings, and partying – not enough down time. Whew. One more thing – I think that in my 30th Birthday Extravaganza I gave myself something of a white elephant. It was too much fun, too stimulating, for too long, and reminded me of how simple and enjoyable life was when I lived in Central America for a year. The catalyst for my misalignment might have been that I did not resettle into my “home-state” upon my return. I was dissatisfied with that state. Leaving town again removed me from it, hence the return to myself. Now, question is, how will I feel when I get back from this trip? I’ll worry about that when I get there. For the time being, anyone who might have been a little concerned for me, or noticed that I might have been a bit off, fear not – I am now re-aligned.

More tomorrow - I'm jet-lagged as hell and need sleep.