First day at work

Didn't get much sleep the night before, but I managed to be up, get breakfast at the Tower Club, and be ready in time for Keval to pick me up at the hotel. I managed to survive another frightening ride into the office. We got there at 10:00 and I set up in the conference room. I got to meet Bhargavi and the rest of the Photon team that will be working on the ThomsonNOW project as they all filed in and set up around me, eager to hear what I had to say and ready with questions. It was a bit overwhelming at first, having never done such a formal presentation before. I really could have been better prepared, but I just winged it and managed to get through the day. I think I managed to come across fairly knowledgeable and informative, and I only had to bunt on a few questions. We took a break around 13:00 and Keval and Bhargavi took me down the street to their other office building to meet up with Prakash and Mukund for lunch at one of their regular hangouts. This restaurant specialized in Southwest Indian cuisine. We all shared a delicious family style lunch and talked about work and my impressions of India so far. I did my best to eat and tear nan with only my right hand, something I need to work on. I thanked them all for an excellent lunch and we headed back to work.

My nose and cheeks were a little red from being out in the sun the day before. Sunblock was another thing I forgot to pack. I made a mental note to pick some up after work and some spare batteries for my camera.

We picked up the presentation at 14:30 and pressed onward. They could tell I was getting a bit fatigued around 16:30 so we took a short break for tea, spiced with cinnamon and very delicious, and went back in to try and finish my syllabus for the day. I got through my first lesson plan by 18:30 so we packed it up for the day. I'm going to be exhausted by Friday I can tell.

I talked briefly with Keval and Bhargavi about what else I could try to see while here in Chennai. They suggested we take a short excursion to Ashta Lakshmi Temple during lunch the next day. I'm looking forward to it.

Keval took me back to the hotel and I told him I'd be fine for dinner and just grab something there. When I got back to the room I got changed and headed downstairs to browse the shops. I was shown lots of rugs and pillow covers and wooden and stone carved curiosities, but nothing too inspiring. I was tempted by a few of the pillow covers and rugs, but I really couldn't justify it, since they seemed steeply priced, and they looked fairly mass produced. I did stop in a bookstore and picked up a cheap CD of Indian pop, something fun to listen to while writing my blog posts.

I grabbed a bite to eat at the cafe, not too impressed, and then headed to the Westminster bar for a drink. I had a stiff Long Island and watched a bit of the all cricket all the time sports channel before calling it a night. I found an invitation to a guest party Wednesday night here at the hotel club, Dublin, in my room. Sounds interesting, so I might check out the scene when that comes up. Dublin is one of the only nightclubs listed in the guide books.

Time to get back to work. Hopefully I till get to go see that temple today and have new pics tonight. Ciao.