To Cab or Not To Cab.....

We're rather fortunate that our company arranges a car to drive us to and from work. Driving here in Delhi/Gurgaon is, let's just say is a little crazy. Us driving here is just not an option. As you may recall, there was some confusion the first day of work with our cab just not showing up and we arranged a reliable hotel car. The gal in the US indicated that our car would be a hotel car as feedback regarding the cab service was somewhat suspect. When we arrived here, our contact in India indicated that we'd be using the cab service rather than the hotel car. For the record - all the other Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) use the hotel car. After a rather frank discussion with our contact here, I agreed to try to the cab service yesterday. However, she needed to understand that if he was more that 10 minutes late, we'd take matters into our own hands and arrange our own ride. At one point during the conversation she indicated that "the cab is on it's way" then in the next breath she would "call to confirm". When it came time to leave, surprisingly he was waiting for us. In fact, he even took us to a place to get our pictures taken (which I'll explain in a second). We arrived to work without an issue. I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised! Unfortunately the ride home was a little scary. I'll just say this... today, we're taking the hotel car.

We were told that when we arrived in India that we'd get cell phones to use. It's a way of life here - everyone has at least one. I asked if we could get the paperwork early so it would be waiting for us rather than have to wait 2-3 days for processing, etc. That wasn't a problem and within a week or so, I rec'd the cell phone paperwork. I read through it thoroughly and filled it out completely. I found it odd that it needed my father's name... (so sorry dad, I promise I'll be responsible) but whatever - I'll give them Bob's name. It asked for copies of permanent residence which I even copied my IL Driver's License and sent it to our contact here in India. Now... as you may have assumed, to travel to India, you need to take a day, go to the city and get a visa to enter India. Prior to doing that, you need to get passport photos to include with your application - check, did that. Back to the phone ordeal... arrive in India... no phone. After completely combing through the entire application three weeks before, I must have missed the part that required a blood sample, passport photos and my first born (ok, I'm exaggerating here, but you get the point). If we'd have been told to get two sets of passport photos, that would have been way too simple. Now... we need to get MORE passport photos. As a reminder, our hotel is in the middle of nowhere... Luckily, our cab driver spoke enough English and delivered us to a place to have that done. We find the photo place in the maze of buildings and left bread crumbs on our way so we could find our way back to the cab - I hoped that a stray dog or cow didn't come along for an evening snack! The gentlemen set up the "studio" and ask us to follow them. My friend and I look at each other as the shop clerk begins to climb these stairs - imagine stairs that are about 1 1/2 feet steep by 6 inches deep - metal, that you can see through lining a wall that was probably 5 feet wide - these stairs were steep and had a 90* turn... oh, and there was no railing. We both make it up the stairs giggling the entire way - whew! On to the photos! We sit in this room with all kinds of "stuff" - I guess I was expecting a place that had some sort of backdrop - not just clutter behind us, but whatever, I don't care - just need the photo so I can get my phone. Two seconds later, a boy arrives with a poster board he puts behind me... oh.. there it is, my backdrop! I wondered if I'd be able to see his little hand in my photo, but then again, does it really matter? Now if you thought going up the stairs was interesting... coming down was even better! Bottom line - we both made it without incident. My pal did have to take off her heels as surely she would have fallen or ruined her shoes. We were even able to get to work without an issue! Life was good!

I mentioned above the ride home was a little scary. It's 3 am in India when I'm coming home - it's not 430 pm. We're not sure if our driver is there - remember, we don't have a phone or a way he can contact us. Fortunately (we thought) for us - he's there. Our driver doesn't know English let alone where our hotel is. He attempts to get directions prior to leaving work and off we go. Things are looking familiar, so we're thinking we're fine. At one point it was clear that he was lost and not sure where to go. Lucky for us he stopped in the middle of a dark road by a slum to ask for directions. I'm sure one of the cohabitants know where this 5 star hotel is. As he leaves us in the car, we quickly lock all the doors, including his. We can't see him. About 4 minutes later he shows up, we unlock the door and away we went. I can't remember if this happened before or after he tried to blow through the toll booth, then practically fought the attendants before finally giving the proper toll - not sure it matters, right? We broke the speed of light traveling down a dark road, honking and flashing our lights as we went. I most certainly was in God's hands at that point. You know at the end of car commercials when they spin the car around and it's sitting at a diagonal to showcase the car? That's how I envision how we arrived at our hotel... with that kind of flair - not intentionally of course... completely by accident. We all jumped out of the car and promptly called our contact in the US telling her that tomorrow, we'd be taking the hotel car.

Today, we'll learn more concepts - my learners are smart. My DB is subsiding, hopefully tomorrow I'll have a phone.