Tuesday, February 5:

Tuesday, February 5, 2008:
In the morning Susan’s host stopped by my hosts since they are business partners—my host makes burlap bags for seed, and Susan’s hosts fills them with seed for cattle. They took us to see both work places. Unfortunately it was rainy, and with the dirt roads this made for rather unpleasant touring conditions.

We stopped at a school—but due to the rainy weather it was closed. Evidently a little rain here makes getting around very difficult. Fortunately today was primarily a travel day for us, so the rain did not affect our plans too much. We had one stop first, to one of the largest earthen dams in India. Security was of course very tight, and we were not allowed to take any photos. The weather was very foggy so it did not really matter that we couldn’t take any photographs. We went up an outlook tower which had a rotating observation area (about 12 feet in diameter). There were a few small breaks in the fog where we were able to get glimpses of a spectacular view.

To get to Korba we were again scheduled to take the train. Our coordinator had arranged for a packed lunch on the train—we were glad to have a break from eating in front of a group, and having to say no thank you. The train ride went fine, and we took advantage of the opportunity to download everyone’s photos. Then we spent an hour looking at them (and not even getting through all of them). We also discovered that we were yet again, entertaining the other passengers who also enjoyed seeing our photos.

The train did not go all the way to Korba, so we were met at Champa by most our hosts who then took us by car to our homes. My host, along with his father was in the automotive part business, primarily for trucks. They had recently built a new home for their joined family, i.e. his family, and his parents to live in. It had some very interesting modern art both on the exterior and the interior. Like all of our hosts they are very gracious and eager to do all they can for us. This means that we are immediately offered some food. I was feeling quite well so I tried all the different things that they brought out for me. Unfortunately I can not remember all the names. The names here in India are very difficult for us to remember and pronounce, in part due to the combinations of letters that we are not very used to.

Later that evening our hosts brought us to a wedding reception—again it was quite the lavish affair, with an elaborately decorated entrance, food of all kinds, shapes, colors, and tastes around the perimeter, and then the grand seating area for the bride and groom. As always the guests were very colorfully and beautifully dressed—especially the women in their sareess, many with elaborate beadwork and gold thread designs. The men typically dress in western clothes, suit and tie, but some wear the more traditional Indian dress, consisting of a long tunic type suit, often decorated with embroidery.

My host’s young son was very attentive and kept bringing me different foods and drinks to try. I was feeling adventurous so I tried most of them. After having our photo with the bride and groom we went home with our hosts—it was the end of another long day and we were all tired.