Two New Yorkers spend six months 18 months!?! in Bangalore and other places in India.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Busted in Heathrow

Don and I arrived in Bangalore in the early, painful hours of Sunday. Don flew Air France business; I flew Air India's accurately named Economy Class. No champagne, but the food was pretty good -- pictures to come.

My flights were long but bearable, with a stopover in London Heathrow. I had enough time to leave and walk around the airport a little, but I didn't realize that everyone had to leave, and they were supposed to have taken their luggage with them. When I got back I got a scolding. My carryons (including an innocent-looking sweatshirt and books) had been removed and put in the hands of a security guard. But nothing was blown up as a suspected bomb up or anything, so it worked out fine. I don't care; I had the London Times and enormous Cadbury bars to comfort me. Might be worth trying to listen to airplane announcements from now on.

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

So Many Boxes, Out the Door


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Originally uploaded by Wisco.
Don and I have put about 32 boxes in storage. Most of those boxes were full of books, but it still seems as if there are a lot more. If we can't seduce Housing Works into coming here and taking away the ones we want to get rid of, I'm not sure what we'll do. Probably a free-for-all on the street.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Off to the Consulate

Don and I spent most of Friday morning and afternoon getting our India visas. The lines were long, and the crowds various degrees of grumpy. You had to arrive between 9:15 and 12:15 to hand in your passport, pay your
cash, and then come back later to get everything.

The consulate is right next to Gianni Versace's former house, but whatever glam the Indians may be hiding upstairs was hidden by fully drawn blinds. You head to the basement for visa and passports. Fluorescent lighting and not enough chairs. I got DMV flashbacks.

According to the six-month visa the Indian government gave me, I'm now a journalist. I applied for a year-long tourist visa, but evidently they didn't think that jibbed with working as an editor. Getting a six-month visa isn't perfect, because the clock starts ticking when you get it, and Don's job will keep him there until nearly the end of July. Not sure if I'm going to travel for a couple weeks after the trip or not -- we'll see.

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Saag Paneer at Spicy Mina in Woodside Queens


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Originally uploaded by Wisco.
Spicy Mina's a great place to get ready for heading to India, or at least I'd like to think so.