Chris Hansen’s blog

Well, I finally got here. Lots of trauma, especially around getting to and from airports. The number of people who want to “help” you with your luggage is amazing. I do not want to go through that again but don’t know how I can avoid it, as I have to fly to Pune on Monday and then fly home from Mumbai in a week.

I’ve had two days to get accustomed to India. It’s so different from anything I was prepared for that I’m dumbfounded, really. It’s a strange mixture of Third and First World countries. I’m connected via Wi-Fi from my hotel room (after trying to get connected for a whole day), but on the streets outside tuk-tuks ply for trade, horsedrawn carts and cows vie for street space with modern cars and people without helmets on scooters and motorcycles.

There is no public gay scene here, as it’s illegal. I am going to be a nun for the next 8 days.

I decided not to go out today, which is just as well. I have found the food edible, but have been somewhat parched as I’m hesitant even to try the bottled water. However, I’ve brought some British water which I’m brushing my teeth with and I suppose I’ll just have to use the local bottled water shortly. Breakfast was a bit odd, with toast advertised but only plain bread on offer. There was watermelon, which was good, and I was so desperate for carbohydrates I had a small glass of pineapple juice which did not appear to have had ice dissolved in it. No problems so far, knock on wood.

The guy who’s commissioned the course is due soon so we will have a chat and maybe dinner. Then, I have to relax for tomorrow. The course is “on-site” rather than at the hotel. I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come, as almost everything they’ve told me hasn’t been carried out (different hotel in Mumbai, 26 students rather than 25 (I wonder if there will be 26 exam papers at the end of the course?), and God only knows what else. So, save me a thought over here as I start trying to get 26 people to pass the software testing exam.

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 23rd, 2005 at 11:30 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.