Friday, January 25--by Kathy (with help from all)

Friday, January 25, 2008
The morning began on the train where we were offered tea, and then ventured to the “bathrooms”. We folded up our beds and prepared to get off at our stop. After getting off the train it was clear that we were in a different climate—further south, on the coast where it was quite humid. After trying unsuccessfully to locate Tom’s missing bag, we followed the porters who were able to carry two to three HEAVY suitcases balanced on top of their heads, to the taxis. After much confusion we were loaded in several taxis and headed to the hotel. During the cab ride to the hotel Dani was thrilled to finally talk to Sydney on her cell phone—yeah for modern technology.

The hotel is very nice—we were especially thrilled that our hotel rooms had the following: i) a hot water shower—no bucket needed, ii) toilet paper was provided; iii) toilets that flushed without a bucket; and iv) wonderful beds with mattresses. We all took showers and felt SOOO much better. After showers we went to get some breakfast and were pleased to see --toast, hard-boiled eggs, and corn flakes--food that we recognized and knew what it tasted like. Of course, there was also a large variety of food that we still did not know or appreciate.

After breakfast we relaxed a little, checked our email and then made our way to the Rotary District Conference—it is right by the bay and a beautiful location. Upon arriving at the conference we again felt like quite the celebrities—many people were interested in having their picture taken with us and to find out where we were from and whether or not we knew their relative who lived in the United States. Even though the English language is used here we still have difficulty understanding what is being said—in part due to different pronunciation and “the emfasis on the wrong syl-lab-bull”. Another very popular activity at the conference is the exchange of business cards—we have decided that we like the cards with their pictures on it since we have trouble remembering their Indian names. There was also lots of food—we tried some and also had some water out of the thinnest cups that feel like holding water in a plastic sack. Susan and Molly watched some traditional dances from Chhattisgarh; and tried a small mouth freshener which had a distinctive soap taste—um um refreshing.

After several hours we went to the opening session and were welcomed by the District Governor and presented with a bouquet of flowers. We were quite tired by this time, so the four women decided to go back to the hotel to unpack and organize the various gifts we brought for hosts, coordinators and others while Tom stayed to visit some more with all the Rotarians. At the hotel we ordered some food from room service and were yet again very happy to discover that french fries, coke (in the old-fashioned smaller glass bottles) and my favorite—diet coke were available for a very reasonable amount of Rupees. Although we all like to try different foods and previously thought of ourselves as fairly adventuresome, we find that we crave some of the tastes that we are used to and comfortable with having.

Tom joined us in the room and was also thrilled to have some Coke. He said that there was going to be some special dancing at the conference. Molly and I decided to go back with Tom to see some of the entertainment program. After tracking down a vehicle (the conference is several miles from the hotel—which made it a little tricky to get back and forth), we arrived back at the conference venue. The dancing was by students in a deaf and blind school that Rotary supports. We enjoyed it very much, although the music was very LOUD, in fact we have noticed that many here speak quite loudly and at most of the sessions and conference meetings all spoke very loudly. Yet another one of our senses that has been a bit overloaded. After the dancers another entertainer, who we gathered is quite popular in India by their enthusiastic response, did some sound impersonations—like a human beat box. It was something we had heard before, but we did not quite share the same enthusiasm that the Indians did. We stayed for an hour and then went in search of a vehicle to take us back to the hotel for some sleep in a wonderful bed!