The pictures on this post are of PSI's activities in Bangalore (or the scenes around our activities)- we do one-on-one communications about getting STIs treated with high risk groups like these guys in the vegetable market.
But that was a week ago. I had a wonderful weekend, got up early Saturday to go rollerblading. Although the only place we could think to go was the driveway of the local "country club". Still it was fun. Then I played squash with another friend. Went to lunch to two other friends. Bought some fabric so I could have my tailor duplicate my favorite GAP pants for $6 (including fabric), met up with two other friends for coffee. The one is recently pregnant so very excited! It was an exhausting day, particularly because it's getting so hot here but it was a really nice Saturday.
Then the beginning of this week I spent in Mumbai. I felt really good about the work but didn't get out to see much. After one day that I spent at a meeting a colleague and I walked down to the beach. There was a wonderfully green park. People here tend to walk only in parks and in circles as the streets are not at all pedestrian friendly but it's always nice to see ocean! It's what I miss most living in Delhi. Then that night the group of
us went to see some of PSI's activities in the "red light district". Mumbai has a very large area where each street is just lined with brothels. We sat down for an evening of entertainment, the crowd probably had 300 people and our folks did various entertainment and educational activities around getting HIV tests, where, why, how much it would cost, how long it would take, etc. It was all in hindi so I only understood about half of it. But an older sex worker (as she was a women in the area I assume she was a sex worker) was sitting next to me and could tell I couldn't understand so kept explaining everything to me but IN HINDI. So that didn't help much!The cat, Kali - goddess of destruction, lived up to her name while I was gone. Broke this
wonderful vase I had recently bought. Guess she's feeling better! The last picture is of the water bottle they gave me in the Mumbai office. I love the idea that the selling point is more oxygen. My first reaction is wouldn't the amount of oxygen change the entire property of H2O? I.e., it wouldn't be water anymore? But someone tried to explain that they put more oxygen between the water molecules. Whatever, I still think it's funny!
Kali, Goddess of Destruction - that's fabulous!! Why does the woman in the first picture have white hair? She doesn't look nearly old enough....
ReplyDeleteAre they giving you expired water bottles in Mumbai or is that the filling date? Or perhaps the oxygenation date??
ReplyDelete12 Rupees? What a deal!!
You'd go prematurely gray too if you had to cross these roads!
ReplyDeleteCheinan, you have ridiculously good eyesight. But does water really go bad?
Nah, my eyes are normal, I just have a really big monitor...
ReplyDeleteWater won't go bad. It might grow bacteria, but it's not like that happens at 11:59 PM the night before the expiration date. A year later, maybe, but a couple of weeks won't make a difference. That 300% extra oxygen was probably gone so you were just drinking regular water.