Pondicherry, India

Wednesday, May 14, 08
(An Ambassador, which is a vintage car mostly used as taxis)

Up at dawn, I walk to the dining room for my first meal. Again, a system to learn - Drop shoes at the door, pick a line, two of them to choose from, which takes you along a row of tables. Pick up a tray and choose your porridge. More? No thanks! Milk or yogurt, sugar, banana, large slice of brown bread, and a scoop of mints. Find a spot either at a table inside or anywhere in the courtyard. Cleanup is a walk around to the left where organic matter is dumped in a bucket. Silverware is in one area and the pewter tray and bowls go to a waiting attendant who has her hand out and dumps them into a large square cement tub containing water. My end of the process is finished, find my flip flops, and leave.
Breakfast is 6:40-7:30. Lunch is 11:15-12:15. Dinner is as posted. But, most often 8:00-8:30. The food is vegetarian.
Taking a walk along the ocean front, this is the Bay of Bengal, I turn inland after a km and walk to the large boulevard on which the International GH is located. Noticing some painters, I stop to watch. A man is painting a deep yellow up above hanging from the flat roof. Below is a scaffold with a painter trimming in white. Ground floor is a man applying filler to holes and depressions. Two young men hold the scaffold. Suddenly, with a yelp, the top man tips the yellow paint bucket. Below, the middle painter, the filler, and the scaffold holders take the brunt. One of the scaffold boys take a direct hit on his head and right shoulder. His companion scaffold holder gets the same dose. The filler dodges most of the paint. I have yellow paint splattered on my shorts, shirt, hat and arms. Any on my face? No! I laugh. They grin. I remember lessons in younger days of not standing under ladders or paint buckets. Too late! Walking three blocks to where Milan works at Cottage GH, I buy a new shirt, a long white linen shirt, which is worn out and hangs nearly to my knees. Returning home, I change into my long pants and am out looking for an electronics store to ask about purchasing a SIM card. India is paranoid about such things.
SIM card - I will need a passport picture, photo-copy of my passport front page and visa, and proof of residence, a statement or card from the GH. No problem with any of these, I now have a cell phone for India.
Everything closes for the afternoon. The heat is unbearable and no one is shopping, anyway. I nap and listen to music till 3:30, when I again walk around the general area of the GH. This internet spot is half a block away from the GH along Pondicherry's main street running east and west, from the coast and inland.
Pondicherry used to have a beach. Now, it is only rocks till the water. Tomorrow, Milan and I will put some energy into planning our time together.
Pictures: While loading pictures in Chennai, a helpful internet owner may have deleted most of my pictures. I have a few posted, but that may be all I have. Fortunately, the pictures are while I was traveling with John, Stewart and Claire. I have asked them for a copy.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/musungi/AngkorWat