Working Weekend

Saturday we worked all day. It was beautiful outside, but we were in and it was tiring. We got back to the hotel, I had a beer with dinner and it felt terrible, so I went to bed and didn't get up until Sunday around 11.

Our new Blue Team members had flown in overnight and we brunched with them.

During the meal, a lame magician came over to our table and did some tricks. Things like turning two foam balls into three; that sort of thing.

Afterwards, most of us set off and a walk to exciting Brigade road. Shawn needed RAM and we were hoping to find some. On the way we passed the guys above working. They were sawing down this tree. You can see that they are using a giant two-man lumberjack saw to get out chunks of the tree. There are a lot of cool, gnarled trees sprouting up in the middle of streets here. I hope these dudes dont have to cut too many of them down.

We got the RAM, which was great. Brigade road is fun, lively shopping with lots of hawkers trying to get you to buy cheap sunglasses, watches, chess sets, whatever they can find. We were noticing that although there is the crush of people you see above, we had gotten used to it and just worked our ways through the crowds and didn't mind the stares.

On the way home I took a snap of the girls that are working on the wall across the street from the hotel. They are big carry-on-your-head'ers, bringing loads of cement mix back and forth evey day.

That night we went to a restaurant on the 13th floor of an old hotel in the city center that one of the TCS folks recommended. We sat on the deck in the open air, watching the city. It's apparently the place they send the foreigners, because there were several other tables of Westerners. The place served Thai and British fare as well, although the food did not agree with me.

Oh - and I forgot! On our walk, I spotted a guy sitting on the sidewalk with what looked like a crazy giant block of parmegan cheese. I asked him what it was and it turned out to be a root of some sort- maybe taro? He was cutting paper-thin wedges off and told me it was sweet. For 20 rupees, sure I'll try one. He rubbed it with lime, sprinkled sugar on it and served it in a newspaper. It was sweet and limey. Mmmm, Bangalore!