Today, there were lots of beggars out, because today is Friday, the Muslim sabbath. Apparently, people feel more persuaded to give coming and going from the mosque. There's a mosque near the Enable India office, and we can hear the prayers over the loudspeaker at 1 and 5.
Work was good again today. Lauren and I are still pretty jet-lagged, but we caught the end of the staff Q&A session with the folks at Enable India. I was struck by the number of questions they had about the sorts of services and technologies available in the US. They asked about dogs, thinking many blind people in the US use them, but Mickey told them that only like 3% of the blind people at home use dogs; they just have good PR. They also wanted to know about technology like the electronic cane that just isn't used much in the US.
Today, we've had several short blackouts. In fact, we are sitting through one right now. I've never been so grateful to have brought a flashlight in my life (thanks, KP!). Earlier today, we were in the grocery store, and the lights went off for about 2 minutes on two different occasions. No one even batted an eye. They just kept on shopping. Oh, and at the grocery store, eggs are sold sitting on shelves. No refrigeration at all. And... We went to buy cheese for our grilled cheese lesson tomorrow. They had Kraft American singles, but they were 450 rupees ($9) for 16 slices. We settled for the Indian "sliced cheese product," and they were only $5 for 24 slices. We'll see how they taste.
The dinner report: Again, I slept through breakfast. I've yet to have an Indian breakfast. Maybe tomorrow. For lunch, we had the same, but with some variation. There was a different kind of rice; it was tinted green and looked really yummy. It was yummy, but it burned my mouth so much! Everything is soooo spicy. For dinner, Lauren and I ventured out alone, and we went to a place recommended by Melissa. It's just around the corner, and they had a really extensive menu, so I think we'll go back. It was super nice inside, but the prices were pretty reasonable (entrees for 200-300 rupees or $4-6). Oh, and they give 15% off for using American Express. Woot! We killed two liters of water, and it was chilled! We can't have ice here, not that it's been offered, so we've been drinking everything room temperature. They kept trying to push drinks and juice on us, but we were good with the water. I'm a little leery of fruit juice. Lauren had fish and chips, and I had chicken lasagna. It was interesting; it was constructed like regular lasagna with what tasted like a vodka sauce, but with chicken (of course), and broccoli, zuccini, green beans, and carrots instead of layers of cheese. It was nothing like regular lasagna, but it sure was a nice change of pace. Nothing about that meal burned my mouth; it was wonderful!
Anyway. On to the pictures...
Proof I'm actually teaching...
The park where we've been working every day.
Along our walk home.
Crossing the street.
Indian scaffolding. (that's wood lashed together, btw)
A cow on our corner. (That's my traditional, "this is awesome" pose.)
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