Daily life

It's official. My body has officially thrown in the towel. It's had enough curry and spices and it's definitely letting me know that. Thank goodness for Imodium A/D. I'm doing much better now. Decided to put in some more pictures. Here's a shot of the swimming pool. I've been in it once and if it weren't for the fact the temperature feels around 80 degrees, it would feel much more refreshing. I believe I mentioned that the only thing that separates the poor from the rich is a wall. Hopefully you can see that from this next picture. This area on the other side of the hotel wall is actually one of the nicer little neighborhoods.My normal day consists of getting up and heading down to the hotel buffet, the only chance I have of eating somewhat familiar food. The driver then picks me up out front of the hotel and thank goodness the cars are air conditioned to compensate for the 95 degree/90% average humidity outside. There's a constant dust cloud that hovers over the roads due to the lack of paved roads on many of the side streets. Pedestrians, bicycles, cars, busses, and motorized rickshaws all have an equal right of way on the main roads. I'm amazed that the cars all have their side view mirrors still. I wouldn't be at all surprised if people were wearing secret body armour underneath their clothes for the occasional side swipe by vehicles. It still amazes me that I get to the office without hitting anyone. Here's some pictures of the thousands of rickshaws on the road including some other forms of transportation. Here's a shot of a typically dressed Indian woman walking down the street on the way to the office. These potholes are pretty mild compared to some of the roads I travel on. This road already has something going for it . . . it's mostly paved! The Indians at work claim that the roads are bad here because there's a lot of construction going on. Uh . . . nice excuse. Here's a typical street corner that doesn't look too bad. Coming back to the hotel is actually very refreshing. However as the car comes through the gates the security guards stop and take one of those convex mirrors at the end of a long pole and walk around the car looking for bombs. I like to think they're looking for people clutched to the underside of the car hanging on for dear life just to get into the gates of the hotel. That's one thing that everyone has around here . . . their own personal security guards. It's comforting, but sometimes I wonder how much security they really provide. Back in the hotel room I turn on the TV and am bombarded with the World Cup on almost all channels. Don't forget the Cricket 24 hour channel. Someday I may actually look up the rules and try to figure out this strange sport. I have gotten pretty good at understanding the heavily accented English that the Indians speak here. Just a final tid bit . . . thanks to Brett, my colleague at work for giving me a copy of Angels & Demons (the prequel book to the Da Vinci Code). I stayed up until 3:30 in the morning finishing it. By the way, very very good book. I just started the Da Vinci Code this afternoon. I've been ordered by Brett to read the book before seeing the movie, which is fine. I like Dan Brown's style.