We could have died tonight!!!

Yes, I know, that is a pretty dramatic title... But you were not in the car with us 30 minutes ago!!!! As we were driving home from work this morning (2am) not only were we on the road with a couple dozen huge trucks that drive around in the smoke filled night with not one single light on... There was random, unannounced lane closures! I mean huge MFN blockades with no reflective tape, lights, nothing! It was so bad... That not only did Brett stop breathing and pucker up, he grabbed the "oh shit" handle and held on for dear life! Just to give you some background... Brett hasn't actually grabbed that handle, until now... I have seen his hand lingering around it... But he hasn't physically grabbed it! After I stopped laughing hysterically (the only thing I could do at the time) I told Brett to breathe! We will be very relieved to move to our new hotel tomorrow that is only 15 minutes, of stunt driving, away!

More cows... there were a lot
of them this time!

As I mentioned in my first post... I am going to try to keep this blog as clean as I can... And Brett warned me again tonight not to let my favorite word slip out... But it is right there on the tip of my fingers!!! Deep breath! Ok... I am over it... But that was fn scary!!!!!!

Also on the subject of driving around here in New Delhi... I have to give a shout out to our driver! I don't know his name (I think it begins with an M) but he is a pretty cool guy! Always on time, smiles alot, doesn't speak English, but has gotten us to and from our destinations alive and with only a couple pairs of soiled underwear! So... Our driver, I will just call him M, he is a horn honking, light flashing, crazy man! He is not afraid of anything! Huge truck who's exhaust could blow us over "honk, flash" get out of the way! Huge herd of cattle that we would bounce off of like a fly "honk, flash" get out of the way! 300 deadlocked cars, motorcycles, bicycles, busses and little green things "honk, flash" get out of the way! He has worn a thumb impression on his steering wheel by honking so much! Hey... If that is what it takes for us to get somewhere alive... I am all about it!

I have some more pictures I will upload with this post... But my prize photo opportunity is eluding me!!! I want to show you what we see at least 10 times every trip we take... A man peeing on the side of the road!!! And they are not shy about it!!! But when you are traveling at 70 miles an hour in 2 of the 3 lanes on the road and clenching your butt so tight ... It is hard to get the shot! I will though!!! And yes, I said 2 of the 3 lanes... Those little white lines in the road are just a suggestion of where you should try to drive... But if you don't feel like it... No problem! "honk, flash" get out of the way!

The lobby of Hotel #2 - photo by Brett Bohannon

As I mentioned earlier... We are moving to our third and final hotel tomorrow!!! It will be so nice to finally unpack and get settled somewhere! And, I hate this hotel we are in now (although it is absolutely beautiful)! Not only does the coffee still suck! The Internet service is spotty... AT BEST!!! You will be chugging along, working your little heart out, and BAM! Nothing! Every 25 minutes, or so, the Internet connection is lost for 4 minutes! It is ridiculous and makes it very hard to do anything, productively!

We did have an absolutely amazing experience tonight/this morning at work!!! For dinner (or midnight snack) we were taken by our entire Indian work family to an authentic Indian restaurant! The "room" we ate in had a thatch roof and fabric for walls. The chairs were wicker (I think). To be honest... I was absolutely afraid of what might come out as food... But it was dark... And seeing it is most of the problem! But... The food was AMAZING!!! The "pepper chicken" was to die for!!! I could have drank it out of the pot!!! (granted I hadn't eaten in a little over 24 hours) but it was still good!!! It was an awesome experience! We learned a lot about the different Indian cultures, saw a clay pot that they use for water that actually chills and purifies it! (I will stick to the bottled water, thank you!) and we saw some Indian cots... Or wicker beds that they sleep on! It was awesome! The atmosphere, the food, the company... It was an all around great experience!

Well, that is it for now... I am getting tore up by Mosquitos... And I don't take my anti-malaria pill for another two days! I heard there is a mall across from our new hotel! I hope so!!!! I need to shop!!!

Honk, Flash... get out of the way!

Mr. Walton

The food we had for dinner tonight. YUMMY!

The team we are working with and the "room" we ate
from. Yes... I am the only one with boobies!

That is our dinner... the stuff on the bottom left is the "Pepper Chicken?" Yum, yum, yum. That is Brett's tray on
the bottom of the picture... I am to the right. - Photo by Brett Bohannon

A Big truck... please note... the back of it says...
HORN PLEASE!!! LOL!

The lovely pigeons out front of Hotel #2.
If you have an iPhone text yourself the bird head
and the pile of poop. Now you know what
Brett gets at least once a day.

Not our car... Wouldn't mind though!

Yes!!!!! The Domino's delivery guys!!!!!

McDonald's... Maybe one day!

Standing room only

Look closely at the driver's helmet... we saw him dialing someone's number, and
then he opened his helmet and slid his phone to his ear and was riding around talking!

Yeah... I don't know either

Ok... I think I am finally getting a routine!

The sun rising over New Delhi

Well, it hasn't been 24 hours yet... But I think I am finally going to get on some sort of routine!

I stayed up all day and night yesterday so I could go to bed in the morning... Sleep through the day and wake up in the afternoon... So I went to be around 8am or so, after eating breakfast (technically dinner) and woke up around 230pm. Now I just have to stay up to at least 5am and I should be good to go! Now if only I can keep Brett up as well, so he can get on a normal schedule! Yes, I am using the term normal very loosely! We shall see!

While checking in on Foursquare (I am racking up on "first of your friends" points!) today, I noticed that there was a Ruby Tuesday somewhere near here! So Brett and I went on a little tour of the complex, staying well within the heavily guarded gates of our hotel, and we think we found a mall!!! Or something equivalent! We almost contemplated venturing out to cross the street ... But decided that it was almost dark and neither one of us feels comfortable enough to venture out in the streets while it is dark ... Yet! Yes, call us whatever you want.

There were a couple of power outages today... Or at least that is what Brett is saying, I was sleeping. One lasted 30 minutes and another lasted 4 minutes. It is sad that Brett's first thought was that I was probably stuck in an elevator somewhere after waking up and feinding for my first cigarette and cup of coffee (which still sucks here at the new hotel!)

There is a funny smell in this new hotel... Beside the smoke from outside. It smells almost like diesel fuel... Or some kind of fuel. To ease our minds we are calling it lacquer, and pretending that they have just refinished the floors and polished the wood.

Speaking of the floors... They are amazing here! Everywhere you go the floors, counters, and walls are covered in marble and with the most intricate designs! It is just beautiful! It is also very slick! I almost busted my ass at the airport! And Brett described his experience of the slick floors in our new hotel rooms as something I am imagining from the movie Risky Business! Lol!

The first ever Indian Formula One race was held today! It was a quick 60 laps, but is was very exciting for the people here! The racetrack is situated about 5 to 10 minutes from where we are working!

We finally ventured in to a couple of shops here in the hotel today! We have been driving the shopkeepers crazy just walking by and nodding our heads all the time. The jewelry is exquisite! I found a set of gold playing cards that I really want ... They will be mine!!! (if my husband says yes... Lol)

Pics below! Have a great day my friends!

Holy cow!

Beautiful earring and pendant sets.

More beautiful earrings

The gold playing cards I want!

Another day... I think it is Saturday!

The days and nights are still all running together! We are going to try to get in some sort of routine this weekend. Sleeping 2-4 hours a day is beginning to take its toll!

So I will apologize now that this blog probably won't be the most entertaining. We moved to a new hotel this morning and the coffee sucks! So I am not bogging today under my normal caffeine induced stupor! However, I have included some photos below.

The weather here, right now, is absolutely perfect! And I have lived and visited some absolutely gorgeous cities around the world. During the day you can't even feel the temperature. It is not hot, not cold, just perfect. It is kind of weird not feeling the heat or humidity that I have become accustomed to in southeast Georgia!

I got a little brave last night (this morning) and had a mixed drink with ice in it! It was ok... For $20 I was a little disappointed! Yes!!!! Liquor here (especially in hotels) is VERY expensive! I can't believe I am about to say this... But... I think I am going to stick to beer!

The food here is great! Brett and I were talking today about how we hadn't popped any tums since we had arrived... Very weird! That also could be contributed to the fact that we really haven't eaten that much... And they don't have macho nachos or Joe's Undeground here!

Our new hotel, for the next couple of days, is nowhere near as swanky and modern as our previous one. (Yes, I used the word swanky) It reminds of a scene from an old mobster movie. Old, elegant, rich. The view from the pool is completely different as well (see picture). Lol!

Next weekend we are going to get out and go shopping!!! Any requests?

That is all for now...

Mr. Walton (lol!!!)

A picture of us driving the wrong way down a one-way street... FUN!!! Especially when there was a truck and a bus next to each other! I was too busy trying not to sh@t myself to be able to take a picture of that!

A beautiful little girl riding on a moped with her father AND mother. 

It is amazing to me how most of the women can ride "side saddle"!!! I would be splattered all over the road!

Traffic Jam - Car Accident

The underside of the car ... and the side of Brett's face! I might win a Pulitzer one day!

More Cows... Holy Cow!

The new view from the Hotel #2 pool... just not the same.
My poor husband would have a heck of a time doing the PM's on that place!

Just a picture... :)

Day 2 - I think... I have no idea what day or what time it is

Good Morning, afternoon, evening... Whatever it is where you are! I have no idea what it is here... All I know is that I am exhausted! Is this what they mean when they say it takes a couple of days to get acclimated? Who is "they" anyway?

Well, once again I am writing this from the pool deck of my hotel! And yes, I am drinking the crack filled coffee! Did I mention how friggin good this coffee is? I hope they have this good of coffee at the Hotel #2 we move to (sometime today or tomorrow, I have no idea what day it is... So I figure if we get back to the hotel tomorrow morning and we can't get in our rooms, that must mean we should have checked out today!)

Yesterday was pretty uneventful, which I am thankful for! We went in to the office and began the training. I did drink WAY too much coffee, and when Brett came down to meet me for more coffee I totally freaked him out with my caffeine induced ADHD! At least I think it was the caffeine! Damn this coffee is good!

On the drive in we experienced more honking and the utter amazement of making it through any intersection alive! We were also witness to the Holy Cow! Not really, but there were a lot of cows out and about. And... They do not care how fast you are driving straight at them! They walk around like they own the place! I think ultimately they would win in any collision. They are huge... Or my perception is off, because the car we are in is so small!

Rice Design on the ad production floor

One of the rice designs in the hallway.

I am blaming the cows we saw on they way in for my excessive use of the phrase "holy cow" all night long! I must have said it 59 times! And every time I said it I would hear Brett snicker... I couldn't stop! It was "holy cow" at the gym facility on the work campus, "holy cow" and the Xbox and kinect stations, "holy cow" at the pool on the roof, "holy cow" at the colored rice designs on the floors, "holy cow" at the guards with guns, "holy cow" at everything!!!

Speaking of guards with guns... After we had finished our day, night, morning (whatever you want to call it) we decided to head back to the hotel. We went outside and woke up our driver, yes, woke up our driver! He had to sleep in the car the whole time we were at the office. As we head through security to leave they pull us over, the driver gets out, and there is a heated discussion. I wish I would have taken a picture of Brett's face! It was priceless! The driver gets back in the car, Brett asks what the problem is... The driver, who speaks no English, is visibly nervous. The next thing we know there is four armed guards piling into a "jeep" next to us and signal us to follow. We follow going slower than we have driven the whole trip. (side note: if we were in true danger, wouldn't you be driving as fast as you possibly could? Yeah, me too!) we followed the jeep for a couple of miles to the main "interstate," they pulled over, waved us goodbye and we took off back to the hotel.

Our escort.

Surprisingly, at that time of morning, night, whatever, the roads were pretty empty! There were just a few big trucks (again compared to the car we were in) that had no lights and just snuck up on you in the fog (or smog).

We get back to the hotel and decide to grab a beer real quick (since we only had about 30 minutes until the bar and grill closed at 2am). We walk in order a beer and were told they were no longer serving drinks! What??? I think the looks of disappointment on our faces softened the bartenders heart and he said fine one beer. And yes, for those of you who know me... I drank a beer! I figure it is the lesser of two evils! Beer or New Delhi Belly? Which would you choose? Thought so! We sit there and finish our beer... And the patron behind us fills us in on a loophole to their beer serving policy. He said if you go back up to your room and order beer from room service, they will bring it up, and then you can come back down to the bar. I agree! That made no sense to me either! So we just finished our beer and headed to our room.

That is it for now!

Damn this coffee is good!

Day 1 - really just 12 hours in...

The view from the pool deck of the Hotel... with the best coffee ever! LOL!

Well... After a long day of traveling, with one flight lasting over 14 hours, we have finally made it to India!

I won't go into the monotonous details of the flights, since those are pretty much the same no matter where you are traveling to. However, I do have to mention the incompetent TSA staff at the Chicago O'Hare airport... But that is as far as I am going to go on that subject.

I am sitting outside on the pool deck of my hotel right now, drinking what has to be the best cup of coffee I have ever drank! Maybe I am delirious and exhausted... But damn this coffee is good!

Ok... Back to the subject at hand... India!

Upon arriving to India, I started getting really nervous about customs! Mostly for my travel partner (Brett), because I made him stash a carton of cigarettes in his luggage! Lol! So, we get off the plane, go through the passport checkpoint, get all of our luggage (6 bags total, and getting them all in the states is impressive!) and head to customs. We both had a flash back to a conference call we had a few days ago "go throught the GREEN entry" was mentioned a half a dozen times... So we went through the red entry way... Just kidding! We went through green! We continue to walk through a group of armed security... No one pays us any attention... Next thing we know, we are outside! No customs check! Phewww!

Now to find our driver! There were a couple dozen people standing outside of the airport with signs... All I could read on all of them was "Mr. Toad" (from the movie outsourced). Next thing I know Brett says "there he is" and sure enough there is a man standing there with a sign saying "Mr. Danielle Walton." No, that is not a typo ... It said MR.

The driver was great! He ran to grab the car... That is when we began looking at all I'd the other cars and taxis... Wow! We have six bags and neither one if us are tiny! Lol! Brett had a look of terror and exhaustion on his face. Poor thing! I just thought I was in Tijuana!

The car pulled up and the driver threw our bags in... We hopped in back... And away we went!

Now, we had read about traffic and driving in India... But that is nothing compared to actually experiencing it! I don't think we drive within one lane the while time. There were cars everywhere, motorcycles everywhere and little mini motorbike cars everywhere! Honking and flashing your lights is the norm (I would fit in well!) as well as aggressively moving other drivers out of your way! We saw a man and a little girl riding on a motorcycle... The little girl was sitting "side saddle" and carrying a TV!!! Brett saw a whole family riding one motorcycle! It was a wild ride!

Upon arriving at the hotel, we pulled up to a security gate ... The car was inspected... Under the hood and in the trunk (with the flashlight not even on by the way)... We were waved through and drive up to the front door. That is when we see the bag screening machine and the metal detector. Our bags were screened and the conveyor dropped them off in the lobby, we walked through the metal detector, Brett was wanded and patted down. Lol!

The hotel is absolutely gorgeous!!!! The rooms is comfortable and first class! Oh yeah... when I checked I had a greeting letter waiting for me... yes... it was addressed to MR. DANIELLE WALTON! Lol!

Hotel Room

Bathroom - Very Nice!

Toilet - Yes! That is a phone!

Not a bad bed! Go Hilton!

We had our first meal in the hotel bar and grill. I had the Bollywood burger (spicy chicken on a bun) and Brett had a lamb burger (that looked really rare). The food was pretty good!

I forgot to mention that we arrived on the Indian holiday of Diwali! Lights were strung everywhere and the fireworks haven't stopped since we arrived ... 12 hours ago!

I have no idea what time it is or why I went to bed, slept for 4 hours, and have been up drinking this amazing coffee and writing this blog. I think we are going to work some time today... Good times!

The people here (so far) are great... They go above and beyond to get you anything you want... At dinner we had 3 waiters and this morning I have been asked 50 times if I want more coffee... I could get used to this!

The Internet and cell service here is spotty at best! Just ask my poor husband who didn't receive any of my messages last night and was frantically trying to find out if I was still alive! (love you baby!)

More to come!

Danielle

View over the wall from the Pool Deck

View 2 from pool deck