Short walk a long distance

Every day we drive to work past a series of small shops and food stalls. I've always been curious about them and today we decided to walk over at lunch and see.
We spend too much time insulated from the culture in expensive hotels and first class accommodations. Time to see reality a bit. So, we stepped out into the blazing sun and walked the several blocks over.
It was an eventful quarter mile.
There were chickens fighting, a near- naked insane man screaming at the world, a midget (yes), a lesson in glass recycling, a couple dozen hard boiled eggs covered in flies, a strangely-charming bakery (pictured above) and a mosque at prayer.
It was a dirty but informative fifteen minutes and an experience of the stripe I'd like to repeat.


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Gift Shopping

After my awesome night of not sleeping I was ready to go to work and watch my computer struggle with a lack of WIFI connectivity.
Watching a computer task is a great way to fall asleep, but it's even better when you are in a hot room.
So, after 6 hours of this, my partner took pity on me and we went downstairs for a coffee and some shopping. At the coffee shop, she surprised me with some Pringles. I had no thoughts at all before this, but upon seeing that friendly can I became excited for the crisp uniformity of these American wonders.
We pop open the can and:


Not one solid chip.
In fact, most chips missing at least 60% of original size. It was like a can filled with the remainders of other cans.
Depressing.
But I was buoyed when I saw a container boldly touting the Perfect Gift Options.
And while its hard to see in this snap, the Perfect Gift is a lonely can of Red Bull. You could also give a bottle of water according to this display case.


I was in the mood for gift-buying now, so I went into the little store in the building. They sell an odd mix of things: trophies, used books, old dollar-store comic book- things like that.
Oh, and this guy: the king of dogs. This is in the high rise office of a major multinational corporation.



I went back to work but the wifi troubles eventually drove us back to the hotel.
After a couple of hours we went for dinner at a pretty- good Indian place in the hotel. I picked a cocktail from the menu purely by its name: The Bad Man.
Upon closer inspection. I found that it contained the perfect gifting option to me: red bull. And booze.
Man, I hope I sleep tonight.


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Work, and doesn't work

We are in Chennai and I am writing this at three in the morning. Since I last posted we worked a long day in Coimbatore, went to the airport, and then flew here.


We pulled into Chennai and got to the hotel around midnight. I had a series of minor frustrations that added up. Couldn't get on wifi (the 7 they drew looked like a two), someone zip-tied my luggage shut and I had no way to open it and there was no iron in the room.
I called down about the iron and they seemed non-plussed. "You want it now?" Yeah, and I want outlets that work when the lights are off.
I understand the need to conserve power, but I need to sleep and charge my devices at the same time and the plug in the bathroom only works for shavers.
What a first world crybaby I am.
The monsoon here wasn't strong this year and a lot of folks are without water full time apparently.


Meanwhile, I've been dining in places that have chandeliers that drop down multiple stories.
But, six hours later I was getting up for a large business meeting. It lasted the bulk of the day and then I got blasted from all sides with work issues.
I was pretty tired when we got back to the hotel. I tried to stay up because our work schedule changes again today, but it's 3am and here we are. I'd unscrew the lightbulb, but I can't get to it.




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Yoga a go go

A couple of additional points I've missed.
Coimbatore is nice. It's fairly small (only a million people), clean, friendly and easy-going. Colleges are on the rise here and the city is becoming an up-and-comer in Tamil Nadu.
We like the hotel. It's new and modern. My room is better than the one I stayed at in Vegas and the amenities are nicer. And reasonable at about $120 USD I think.
This is the lobby:



And the view from my room.



So, we got up after a night of week sleep and breakfasted.
The food was tasty- dosa and the like.

Around noon our contact arrived and inquired what we would like to do. After some chat, we decided to go to the Isha yoga center.
It was about an hour away, so back in the car and off we go.
Now, our contact described this as a yoga center that has retreats and we can have personal growth. My response to personal growth and spirituality is generally to ask who farted.
But off we go. We get there and check our shoes and such. Our guide tried in vain to get the place to end the shoe rules for us, but we were used to it and didn't care.
They showed us a video and we learned that we would get a spiritual boost by first bathing in the waters of a pool that contained a giant linga made out of solidified mercury.
Solidified mercury?
Yes, ancient Hindu alchemists made it.
Ok.
So we walk through, do our bit and then eat to the bathing place.
It's segregated boys and girls by timing and the boys are up first.
I've opted for the sprinkle instead of the dip, so I go and wash up and head into the stone grotto alone.



This image is from their web site. No cameras allowed. These steps go down maybe 150 feet. The stairs are high and slippery but the light is awesome and the silence is affecting.
I go down slowly and step into the low water. In front of me, men are slowly, silently maneuvering about in the water up to the submerged linga.



I dipped my head and hands and let it fall down my face. After a minute I slowly mounted the steps and found the girls. I have to say- might have been the stairs or anything else, but I felt pretty mellow.
I waited in happy lassitude until the ladies were done, then we entered the big linga area. I'm sure that's not the right name, but it was basically a large brick dome with a big black linga in the middle. We went in, made offerings and then sat down cross-legged to think.


I did not say mediate because this place is so turned on that you just sit down and the mediation just happens.
Mm hmm. But dang, if ten minutes into it I was really placed out and far away.
But the bell rang and dragged me out. We had to head to work.
We were all affected and enjoyed the drive home.
Then it's suit up, game on, eight hours of talking to vendors.
First work day down.


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Location:Coimbatore

Lost in the Half Hour

Hello sports fans. I'm back in India and somewhat bewildered.

My story begins last week when I set out to get a visa. That was an adventure on its own and not the subject of this missive. But the point is, I had to go to Houston to get it and have pretty much been on the road since. It's been a scramble to get myself ready to come here even before the travel

The trip itself (Dallas to San Francisco, to Hong Kong to Bangalore and now to Coimbatore) wasnt bad. We got stuck in a long layover in Bangalore though. 7 hours in the airport in the middle of the night. The first 3 hours we were given bad info from the security guy and spent it waiting outside. It wasnt bad, but by then we were starting to run out of steam.

But at last we caught our flight and ended up at the hotel. It's quite nice I must say. Better than some of the others we've stayed at here. I like Coimbatore as well - its more laid back and friendly than some of the other cities we've visited.

Yes, yes Steve. But what about the monkeys?

Ah! Well, we got here, met our contacts and took much-needed showers. At that point it was only about 11am on Sunday. What to do now? We went to the travel desk and arranged a trip to the local waterfall. it was a pleasant ride; we got to see some of the countryside- bamboo, lumbering and some rice paddies. The area is flat but ringed by small mountains on several sides.

We arrived at the station and waited in a long line to board a bus that would take us to the next phase. 

There were some humble food stands and vendors and that was where we saw a small troop of monkies. They were fun and sporty, even the locals were tickled. There was a lot of attention paid to us as well. People shaking our hands, inquiring where we were from and welcoming us to India.  

 So, we board the bus and take a bumpy ride up a thin road. From there we debark and walk the remaining half mile or so up to the waterfall. The scenery is pretty and there are some unsual clouds clinging to the tops of the neighboring hills. We see the waterfall, which is nice and all, but then we start hearing hooting and hollering.

Ah ha~ the natural beauty is only half the reason to come. Most of the tourists are dipping in the lower half where the stream pools up.

 We hang out and continue to provide diversion to the kids and then feel its time to walk back. On the walk back down we feel some sprinkles. Refreshing! Guess those clouds held some rain.
Hmm hmm hmm. So we get back to the pick up point and see that there is a good-sized line queued up for the buses. We fall in as the rain starts blasting us good. It's raining hard and the buses that show up arent quick in coming.
Finally, an open-backed truck pulls up and they mob it. They squished in like sardines: 9 deep and 5 wide easily on the back. Now the lines have broken down into a mob and the ranger is yelling at people to line back up. People are getting restless. Another set of buses come and go and we are closer still to the front when the truck come back.  Now the question: do we push through and get on or wait?
My sporting side says Go! How awesome would that be? But I see there are able-bodied young men in line with us that are looking at the ride with measured caution. Sit tight they say: no reason to get on that dangerous thing. No reason except awesomeness.
But I think it through and decide against it. Another bus comes and we fight our way on. There's 40 people in a bus built for 12 so thats fun too.
We get back to the parking lot and find our driver in the downpour. Suceess!
He takes us to a temple next and I wish I had snaps, But- no pictures allowed.
Why? Because awesome elephant painted with the Vishnu stripes inside the stone temple, thats why!
He was great~ you give him an offering- he takes it with his trunk and blesses you with a touch on the head. The temple was excellent too with murals on the ceiling and lots of iteresting sculptures.

Missions

n.b. click images for full-size view

I found myself in need of a mental break last weekend, so I took Friday off and drove down to San Antonio. Just as everything in the Universe is apparently moving away from everything else, so too everything in Texas is five hours away from everything else. So, I woke up late and made a day of the drive.

I had hoped to see a different, more rural side to the state, and I was a bit disappointed in that. There were some rural areas that I liked, but it was mostly all the same. I found the Outlaw Country station on Sirius and just tucked in to the ride. 

About half way I decided to find some lunch and spotted a BBQ place off the highway that had a hand-painted sign that looked like it was there in the 1950's. It was a giant, dumb cowboy so I pulled right in.

The place had walls made out of pressboard and the food you ordered was measured on scales in front of you in the serving line. The girl gave me extra jalepenos and I was pleased.

I rolled into San Antonio early evening and checked into the Emily Morgan. This is a gothic, somewhat spendy hotel in the heart of downtown. I got it because it was right next door to the Alamo. That's the Alamo in the snap above. It's a pretty busy spot as you can see. I wandered around and took the lay of the land before going back to the hotel to clean up and eat.

My idea was this: the Alamo was going to be bongo all day long. If I wanted to get photos without people I would have to go at night. 

So I got up at 4am and walked over. I realized that I had forgotten to pack my bulb release, but the thing was blasted with lights, so 30 second exposures were fine. 

Great, so over I go and set for shooting. I get into it and lose track of time. I'm bracketing to see if HDR will help out the tough lighting, plus the shots take a half minute or so apiece, so an hour or so goes by quick. 

I hear a someone shifting position behind me and although I can't see, I recognize that it is a security guard who has been watching the whole time. I greet him and we shoot the breeze for a while. He's a cool guy and likes my idea to come when there are no people. He likes the peace of the night too and that's one reason he works the late shift. Yes yes. This guy's great. Cool old latin guy in a cowboy hat. Maybe I'll ask him to stand in for some shots. 

Well some point after that I hear him talking to someone else. Apparently it was the changing of shifts.

I found that out because I was setting up a shot right in front. During the course of doing that one leg of my tripod slipped slightly off the stone and onto the grass. Just barely touching part of it.

Immediately I hear "Hey!! gittertridangalangoffinthegrass!"It's a new voice and it's early in the morning and I just don't understand. What? Angrily now he screams "AH SED: GITTCHER TRIPOD LEG OFFIN THE GRASS!!!" I consider several options but reply "Ok!"

He doesn't say anything else but is clearly agitated and doesn't sit back down. My presence there is upsetting him. What if I tried to walk on the grass? Keep in mind he was a good 50 yards away in the dark and I was just barely on the grass.

I polish up my work and wave him a good night.

I go back to the hotel, sleep a couple hours and then start getting after the other missions. First up was Mission Concepcion. This place is well-preserved. I discovered that, like most of the others, this is an active chapel as well as a historic site. There was a small area of holy ground with a Virgin Mary shrine that had very recently been used. 

With most of these you get a couple empty rooms in the fort with some informative plaques and such.
In this one we learned that the Franciscans were all about being apart from the world; poverty and asceticism and such. It said they chose to have no influence in the world.
Then without a trace irony, in the next panel we see them supervising as the subjugated indians lined up bringing them food and doing all the labor.  The monks smiled at them beatifically.

Mission San Jose was more of the same. Sprawling compound- the kind of place that tour buses drop off dozens of septuagenarians while brides take photos in front of the doors. Here you learned that not all of the Indians went so quietly. For protection they built walls and made the acculturated indians live inside them.

Mission San Juan was being rebuilt and it was really nothing to see anyway.
But I went a little further and found Mission Espada down by the aqueduct.
This place was mostly just the remains of walls around an old chapel.
It was in a neighborhood and, like the others still in use. This one wasn't much of a tourist destination though, so the  draw was really the services. These areas had signs about being sure to lock your car and the church sat maybe 60 on hard benches.
But when I went in the church I saw a (white) Franciscan monk in his robe talking to a latino family after they had done a first communion. Kids running around in fancy dresses and such. They were clearly neighborhood people and he knew them. I think they were giving him money.

I liked that the link to the past was pretty much unbroken here. I didn't love the story the history told all the time, but it was interesting to see a scene playing out that could have happened a hundred years ago.   I hopped in the mustang and got on the road.

Heat Challenge

Summers in college I was a pizza man in a shop that had a stone oven. My job was minding the oven; timing pizzas so they came out with calzones and garlic bread on time, turning them, taking them out and sending them on their way. Basically, I stuck my face and arms into an oven all night. One night as the shifts were changing my buddy Rob accidentally closed the door on my arm as I was reaching in. I was badly burned, but my shift was just starting, so I spent the night putting a blistered arm into an oven.

That was heat.

It blasts you and comes at you. Sharps needles of directional pain surrounding your arm. But you got in and got out. As long as you didnt linger in there; the heat never really got you. I suppose it's like walking across hot coals- as long as you keep moving you're fine.

Well, my Pop asked me what the heat was like here. It's been over 100° every day for over a month. It's in the 90°'s well after dark.

After work I step into the underground parking garage and it's like stepping into a furnace. The pressure of the air changes as you step in. It rushes up and surrounds you. I walk maybe 40 yards to my car and I wonder how this state was settled. How anyone survived without air conditioning.

There aren't any trees, so there isnt any shade. There isnt any breeze so there isnt any relief. You're inside or you're a mess.

I sit on my deck at night to try and acclimate myself. It's shaded, so you dont get the sun, but the heat finds you. After a while it makes your head hurt. My eyes start to feel strange and I go inside. So you live a life indoors I guess until you can take it.

But my father posed the challenge, so I thought I would see what I could do.

I started by putting a block of ice on my deck. That's it above. I thought it would be interesting to take time lapse shots as the block melted away.

That lasted for about 8 seconds.

The block immediately melted on the bottom and slide to the edge of the bar. I touched it lightly and it exploded into its component pieces and helter-skeltered around the deck.

This was around 8 in the morning.

So, I put them into a bowl and set up the camera. It took a couple rounds to get the results, but here they are below. The time lapse was set for one picture every minute. I thought an hour would be enough, but it took two. You will see the slight jump halfway where I had to reset the camera to take an additional 60 shots.