1. It was hot.
2. It is still hot.
3. It will be hot tomorrow.
Here's a sign that would be nice, however, how would I know if a tuk tuk was about to run me down with out the horn?
Here's another sign:
"Fork You" puzzles me. I get the reference if you replace the center two letters of FORK so it can be a play on words, but welcoming you to a restaurant with that double entendre? Above "Fork You" in little letters, it proclaims this is a steak and burger restaurant. So is "Fork You" a double slam against the sacred cow? Or are the proprietors oblivious to the potential extra meanings and are simply proclaiming that here a fork is needed to eat? That is possible, since many foods here require no utensils, bread sops up part of the meal, chicken and lamb are on the bone to provide a handy means of bringing it to your mouth and rice can be grabbed up with the bread after a little sauce is sopped up. I'm still pondering that sign.
There are trees everywhere. Under a tree it is a lot cooler, so people must have planted them intentionally for shade. The leaf color is a faded shade of green; a rather dull, dusty green. Here's a picture of what lives in these trees in a park right in the heart of everything:
If you look carefully, the monkey has a piece of bread in its right hand and is holding a baby in its left, or the the baby is just grabbing on. They're both happy as clams, totally ignoring me.
On this particular road, it was originally a brick road, and later had about 3 inches of black top applied over it but not on the shoulders so there is a considerable drop. Nevertheless, people drive on the shoulder to pass, park, or just stop for a hot food or vegetable/fruit vendor; it sees plenty of action. This photo shows bolts set in the shoulder, probably for light poles or some other tall vertical thing:
Guess what these would do to your tires? Some of them have bricks between the bolts to make them safer, but plenty of them don't. Imagine passing someone at night and puncturing one or both tires on the right side? Oops.
Here's a youtube of India traffic: Traffic Video and I think it is pretty accurate. See how everybody just does what the need to do? This isn't really a 4 way intersection either. It is just chaos. That lack of regard to rules and taking turns (unless they are in fact taking turns in a chaotic way) is everywhere. Stop where you want, double park, triple park - let everybody else deal with it. Today a car pulled around me, jerked to a stop 5 feet in front of me and as I continued to walk, 2 kids threw open their doors and jumped out. I almost knocked them over and could have walked into their doors. Chaos. I have observationally gleaned 2 rules: the guy in front of you is always right and the bigger your vehicle, the less rule 1 matters.
Finally a hint of India bureaucracy:
Yesterday we received a letter that required Deb's signature. She signed it and I put it in the FedEx return envelope I found inside the one it came in. It had the label all printed up with the bar codes and that funny square new style bar code. I called FedEx and requested a pickup. That was no easy task, they had an expectation I'd travel somewhere to do it myself. I needed help from the reception desk at our hospital. Finally I made myself understood that I wanted a pickup. We waited an hour and the guy came. He looked at it and asked for a "mail copy". I didn't know what that was so I asked for an explanation. He looked at me like I was stupid. "You know, a mail copy!!!". I asked the reception desk for a translation, and they said he needs a mail copy but couldn't describe what that was. Finally the manager of the whole place was called and she questioned him and found out it was an authorization he needed. I thought the FedEx form on the outside was sufficient, but that didn't count for anything, in this bureaucratic society, having the account number, address, name and bar codes could just be a clever ruse on my part to cheat FedEx out of the cost of the envelope. I just happened to have a short email from the this envelope's potential recipient that had the words "I approve" on it, but the approval was for a different matter. I printed that and the FedEx man accepted it as proof that I was legitimately sending this envelope. But who was I? He didn't know me. He wanted my passport number. I got the passport and then he wanted a photocopy of it. He was asking for too much. I don't want my passport information floating around, who knows what can be done with it. I'd hate to have 2 Robbin Carlsons flying home, especially if the other one arrived first Imagine returning after 3 months and have to explain that the other guy was the phony? So I let them copy my drivers license. I guess they could rent a car and screw me somehow with that, but at least I could go home. The manager told me nothing is simple in India. She's right.
2. It is still hot.
3. It will be hot tomorrow.
Here's a sign that would be nice, however, how would I know if a tuk tuk was about to run me down with out the horn?
Here's another sign:
"Fork You" puzzles me. I get the reference if you replace the center two letters of FORK so it can be a play on words, but welcoming you to a restaurant with that double entendre? Above "Fork You" in little letters, it proclaims this is a steak and burger restaurant. So is "Fork You" a double slam against the sacred cow? Or are the proprietors oblivious to the potential extra meanings and are simply proclaiming that here a fork is needed to eat? That is possible, since many foods here require no utensils, bread sops up part of the meal, chicken and lamb are on the bone to provide a handy means of bringing it to your mouth and rice can be grabbed up with the bread after a little sauce is sopped up. I'm still pondering that sign.
There are trees everywhere. Under a tree it is a lot cooler, so people must have planted them intentionally for shade. The leaf color is a faded shade of green; a rather dull, dusty green. Here's a picture of what lives in these trees in a park right in the heart of everything:
On this particular road, it was originally a brick road, and later had about 3 inches of black top applied over it but not on the shoulders so there is a considerable drop. Nevertheless, people drive on the shoulder to pass, park, or just stop for a hot food or vegetable/fruit vendor; it sees plenty of action. This photo shows bolts set in the shoulder, probably for light poles or some other tall vertical thing:
Here's a youtube of India traffic: Traffic Video and I think it is pretty accurate. See how everybody just does what the need to do? This isn't really a 4 way intersection either. It is just chaos. That lack of regard to rules and taking turns (unless they are in fact taking turns in a chaotic way) is everywhere. Stop where you want, double park, triple park - let everybody else deal with it. Today a car pulled around me, jerked to a stop 5 feet in front of me and as I continued to walk, 2 kids threw open their doors and jumped out. I almost knocked them over and could have walked into their doors. Chaos. I have observationally gleaned 2 rules: the guy in front of you is always right and the bigger your vehicle, the less rule 1 matters.
Finally a hint of India bureaucracy:
Yesterday we received a letter that required Deb's signature. She signed it and I put it in the FedEx return envelope I found inside the one it came in. It had the label all printed up with the bar codes and that funny square new style bar code. I called FedEx and requested a pickup. That was no easy task, they had an expectation I'd travel somewhere to do it myself. I needed help from the reception desk at our hospital. Finally I made myself understood that I wanted a pickup. We waited an hour and the guy came. He looked at it and asked for a "mail copy". I didn't know what that was so I asked for an explanation. He looked at me like I was stupid. "You know, a mail copy!!!". I asked the reception desk for a translation, and they said he needs a mail copy but couldn't describe what that was. Finally the manager of the whole place was called and she questioned him and found out it was an authorization he needed. I thought the FedEx form on the outside was sufficient, but that didn't count for anything, in this bureaucratic society, having the account number, address, name and bar codes could just be a clever ruse on my part to cheat FedEx out of the cost of the envelope. I just happened to have a short email from the this envelope's potential recipient that had the words "I approve" on it, but the approval was for a different matter. I printed that and the FedEx man accepted it as proof that I was legitimately sending this envelope. But who was I? He didn't know me. He wanted my passport number. I got the passport and then he wanted a photocopy of it. He was asking for too much. I don't want my passport information floating around, who knows what can be done with it. I'd hate to have 2 Robbin Carlsons flying home, especially if the other one arrived first Imagine returning after 3 months and have to explain that the other guy was the phony? So I let them copy my drivers license. I guess they could rent a car and screw me somehow with that, but at least I could go home. The manager told me nothing is simple in India. She's right.
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