Saturday was affected by arriving in the wee hours and not getting enough sleep. Himself managed to get out for a couple of walks while I shook out clothes, steamed his suit, and stowed our belongings in a convenient way. I don't mind setting up house in a hotel for long stays. Ironing out the quirks of the room takes doing, for instance, one has to figure out the electricity in this place and what switch does what, where the best light is...oh man, lighting in hotel rooms....Although this hotel is really very fine and goes against all the warnings in the travel guides, we were not glad to see that the pool and sauna are under renovation: Himself could have used some steam bath and swimming. I wish hotels would tell you before you arrive.
And this hotel does not have clothes drawers. Six desk drawers, narrow and shallow, and two lingerie drawers in the closet; so undies sit in one suitcase, personal gear in the other. Boy, am I happy I bring extra hangers. But it's a workable accommodation. There's a restaurant open all day as well....
When He was ready to take walk number three, I went too. Next door is a sari emporium. We took a look. Two floors of the rainbow fairy's cavern of delights. I wish I was brave enough to ask to have one draped on me just to see. Goodness me, the fabrics and colors and sparkly bits are just enchanting. On our walk, we found a grocery and bought water and fresh ginger for my already suffering tummy.
We like grocery stores in other lands. It is interesting to see how alike/not alike the shelves are. As small as this emporium was, it had a wide variety of items; the British influence is still apparent.
The heat started to affect us so we toddled back to our room, stowed water, rested some, and had dinner with our student who had arrived Saturday afternoon fresh from a 40 hour train trip from up north. He's been in land for two weeks "doing" India all by himself. Brave kid.
Our coughs and congestion made sleeping unusually poor that night.
Sunday we went to church. We found there are more than one units in Bangalore. One is just 5KM away in Richmond Town district. It's a big building with CES offices and Family History facilities. And amazingly, completely in English. Huh. Lots of younger men and women. I was not aware of many children, but on our way out we peeked into a children's class busy singing away, so there are families. The chairs are a misery so we did not stay the entire block of meetings...two days of poor sleeping takes its toll. The women wear traditional dress and look so vibrant compared to what I am used to. The colors! The sparkly bits! No two saris or shalwaars are the same. Just multiply that by a couple million and think of the textile genius it takes to make so many splendid combinations. it boggles my mind. A feast for the eyes.
Our conference host provided us with a car and driver for the day, which is wonderful, but the poor driver had nothing to do for long periods of time. He, as every driver so far, was excellent in negotiating the traffic. It defies description. No apparent rules or lanes. constant tooting. It takes nerves of steel. And I hear that the Bangalore traffic is nothing compared to other places.
In fact, Bangalore, they say, is much different than other cities. Cleaner, less crowded, traffic less chaotic (???), less smelly. Huh. I guess it is a good introduction for folk like me.
Because we had a couple of hours, we asked to be driven to a local market. No tourists. It was grand. Saw fruit and veg I have never seen but read about in books. We were offered jackfruit, which He tasted, but after I saw the bugs, I declined. The babies are so cute. We found a fabric store which had pre selected lengths in a pack for the making of shalwaar: top , pant, wrap. Again, no two alike. Since I would never wear some of the combinations in staid Netherlands, it took a little convincing but the man found some neutral combinations of which we chose two. I see some nice tropical weight two piece outfits with wrap for the summer in China....not Indian style though.
Sunday night we were expected at the University for registration and dinner. It was disorganized, chaotic, boring, long and time wasting. I had my knitting and my book. am always prepared.
I finished this entry Tuesday morning. Monday deserves its own post.
No comments:
Post a Comment