India Trip Day 8

We had our last breakfast of the week with Dr. Roy and his wife. This was a "simple" breakfast, meaning only a ton of French toast and eggs. As usual, they waited until we finished to start eating. It's a custom that took a while to get used to-naturally we got used to it just before it was time to go abck.

We thanked Dr. Roy and his wife profusely for their hospitality and left to meet Shajy, his driver and Shine. We weighed the compact car with our luggage and inched our way back to Mangalore airport.

At one point I saw a billboard with an attractive woman selling some flashy product, probably jewelry. At a bus stop nearby a woman in a birka stared in its direction.

We passed small cities and rural villages along with dogs and plenty of cows. Soon enough we were at the airport.

We thanked Shajy for being a good host, exchanged contact information, and parted ways.

After a brief flight we arrived at Bangalore airport to wait for our bags. Thankfully, it was much quicker this time.

Biju, a former student from Priority One, met us at the door. He called our names and recognized us immediately. We found out later the folks at P.O.I. had sent him pictures of us. That works.

Driving in Bangalore makes driving in Seoul look easy and tranquil.

Biju navigated through traffic on parts of the road I didn't even know existed. At one point he turned quickly and drove between a bus and an old lady. Several occasions like this occurred when I thought "Someone is toast." Still, there were no accidents. Great driving.

Biju laughed when we asked if he was afraid of driving. "Around here it's survival of the fittest."

Later, he said, "I drove (in Bangalore) for over ten years. I know the driver's pulse." I don't doubt that, but I hoped he knew the pedestrian's pulse as well.

Our first stop was a park established by the British ages ago. Big and small trees provided shade for young, old, and hot sweaty Americans.

The large trees branched out like a shadowy many-armed god. I'm not being silly; that's what they really looked like.

Seeing trees like that in a park felt like seeing animals in a zoo. You know you're still in the city. Still, they made a pleasant sight.

Our next stop was the Museum of technology. Push-button displays showed how inventions work. It was authentic, since most of the displays didn't work.

At one point Beka, Alexa and I were looking at a display. A group formed around us, wanting their picture to be taken with us. This, too, was a first and hopefully a last.

Next we went to a craft store and bought a few things. A man with a drum stalked me as we walked back to the van. He paused his sales pitch to ask where I was from. "New York," I blurted, brandishing the accent for attitude and emphasis. It didn't work, but neither did his sales technique.

We had a power outage in Pizza Hut during our late lunch. The power stayed off during the first hour of our visit at Biju's home. No more than an hour later, it cut out again. It ran out again in Bangalore airport. That was three times in a few hours.

During one of the blackouts at Biju's house his wife and relatives took out some candles. Later Anna, their two-year-old, blew one out after singing some version of happy birthday. She tried to grab one, knocking it over. I snatched it, and we both got a little wax on our fingers. No biggee.

Around eight, Biju drove us back to the airport. We watched cows chewing grass on the side of the highway as Joel Olesteen told us to be patient. Biju told us the Cd's
were a gift from an American friend. With friends like these...

Soon enough we were mosquito food again. At midnight, we'd board a plane for Bangkok.

And from there, home.