Around the World 3.2.06

I am now on the other side of the world! My flights were good, relatively uneventful. Sitting in BC for the first time was wonderfully comfortable but also a little confusing. Example: Attendant brings over a tray of food. I reach up to grab the tray. "No miss, you need to take the whole tray." Later, she came by again to pick up the tray. A ha, I thought, and hand it to her, but "Miss, I only need your plate." They also didn't believe that I was 21, which I thought I was beginning to get past!
Entering the airport, the first thing I noticed was the heat. Also, the walls and hallways were quite plain, very little advertising and not in your face with food and merchandise everywhere like at U.S. airports. In fact I saw a lot of handprinted signs (example: the "Customs" sign was made out of a marker and 8x11 paper) Both of my bags got lost in Frankfurt, we only had 30 minutes to make the flights, so that was expected! The lost baggage episode was interesting, a group of people congregating all around this one poor woman with no order to anything. People complain just as much here about the process as at home. The good news is we got Rs 8,000 to cover expenses which will help me since I need to get clothes for Goa!
Our driver met us outside; I couldn't see much in the dark, but already I was in amazement as we drove with all of the buildings and people standing around everywhere despite that it was 2 in the morning. Our driver gave little "beeps" as we zipped along and used the lane lines more as a suggestion than a rule. The guest house was about 30 min from the airport, Swarne (our housekeeper) met us and showed us everything in the place. The picture above is in our dining area -not quite sure why there is a Christmas tree...She offered to make PBJ -needless to say I liked her immediately.

After a brief call to home I'm now off to bed. The adventure is just starting and I am excited for what's ahead. Good thing I am finally here so I can post some more exciting stories.