Hi friends,
As positive a picture as we paint over here and showing all the adventure and good times, there are also times when you really miss seeing family. Especially new granddaughters. It's early morning over here in Delhi, late night in the USA and I just wish I had a few moments to hold my precious little Sadie and tell her how much she is loved. I know she is getting maximum attention this week, as Brad is taking advantage of his paternity leave from work and has full time to establish with his new daughter and my daughter Shayna is on break and is spending quality time with Sadie, too. For once, grandpa is jealous and wishes he was there, too, looking into those expectant, bright eyes and assuring Sadie that despite the crazy world she has been born into, she is going to be alright and love is this amazing thing that gets us through life.
Back in Gurgaon, things have been very busy for me. I have been doing some interesting flights and going to some new places. The most recent trip was a quick one over to the East Coast of India, South of Calcutta (now Kolkutta) and the place is called Bhubaneshwar. It's at sea level and on the ocean on the Bay of Bengal, which is my first time to see this ocean and to look East from India and see water. As soon as I got out of the airplane, it felt so different because even though the temperature was very warm, it was very humid and there was an ocean breeze so there were no mosquitoes. We were only there for a few hours in the evening so I didn't get a chance to go see the city or look around much. People from India know the different way that people look in different parts of this big country and when we went into the airport it was obvious that we weren't in Delhi or Mumbai. Just a different look to the folks here and a different dialect. I was pleasantly surprised that in the airport itself, there were a couple of nice stores, including a book store. Anyone that knows me knows that I can spend hours in a bookstore and almost all of the books were in English. I had my eye on one that tells the stories that are behind many of the gods of Hinduism. I would have bought it but my passengers showed up before I got to the cash register and so that will have to come later. Anyway, I got to see another city and another part of this mysterious country so I was glad for that.
Karen and I have been enjoying doing some new things. She decided to wait til she got to India to get her vaccinations since I had spent nearly $2000 with the franchise called Passport Health that now handles innoculations and vaccinations in the USA. We just went to the brand new (open 3 months) gorgeous highrise hospital that is about 3 miles from where we live. We just walked in, asked to get some vaccinations and innoculations, and were immediately shown upstairs to a doctor's office. He saw us within a couple of minutes and after a 15 minute consultation we had prescriptions for all that she needed. No fees, no forms, just see the doctor and go down to ER where they administered hepatitus B and tetanus, since she hadn't had one for many years. We waited to make sure there was no adverse reaction and then went to the pay desk. I wondered what this would be like. We had tied up a private doctor and the ER for almost an hour. I paid 640 rupees, which is about $13. This is in a beautiful, air-conditioned, modern hospital, not what you might be imagining. I will have to take my camera next time and take a picture so you can see this. I like this country better now. Medicine is affordable. Karen and I were shocked at how inexpensive it was. Our company provides full hospitalization covereage with the medical policy so here medical expense is not one of those things that looms to possibly bankrupt you if you get sick or something unexpected happens. Since we are obviously foreigners we were treated like royalty, with a young man who was assigned to guide us around this big hospital to keep us from getting lost while we went from one place to another.
I have another interesting trip coming up in a couple of weeks. We are going back to Tblisi, Georgia again and my ski guide tells me that the Spring skiing is fantastic so I am certainly going to try and squeeze that in again. But this time we are going on a side trip to Kazakhstan and then to Baku, Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. The best part is that I talked to my passenger and he changed his trip by a few days so that I could focus on a family visit by Karen's mom and aunt, who are coming from the USA this coming Sunday night. They will be here for a couple of weeks and we are obviously trying to give them some focused attention while they are here. One of the things we have planned is a trip to the Taj Mahal, which is about a 4 hour drive from where we live. Then we are going to Jaipur, where there are several famous forts, etc. from the Mogul era. I would love to have done this by train but it's a triangle shaped trip on the map and trains don't run that way here. We don't have time to go down and back and down and back another direction, so we will do it by car. A three day luxury trip with 5 star hotels and personal English speaking guides provided is only $300/person. Another benefit of travel in India, it's affordable.
I think Karen and her mom and aunt are going to go to Katmandu, Nepal. I won't have time to break away for that and so Karen and I will have to do that later. Karen's sister, Lynne, is going to be in Hong Kong on business so is going to take a side trip to come and visit just a few days after her mom leaves so we are excited about all the company and visits.
It's so amazing to watch the second fastest growing ecomony in the world changing gears and getting into their industrial age. I read about this in American history textbooks but to watch it happen is wild.
My debit card number was stolen from the bank back in Pennsylvania. I have been reimbursed for most of the $2500 that was fraudulently used. The company that I bought my new computer here from charged me twice. I am working with the bank to get that back. I finally got my American pay into the bank. It's supposed to go in around the 1st of the month. I got it transferred by many phone calls on Skype on the 20th. State Bank of India in New York City was to blame this time. It's only money, folks. It takes patience to live here.
Miss you guys,
Dan
As positive a picture as we paint over here and showing all the adventure and good times, there are also times when you really miss seeing family. Especially new granddaughters. It's early morning over here in Delhi, late night in the USA and I just wish I had a few moments to hold my precious little Sadie and tell her how much she is loved. I know she is getting maximum attention this week, as Brad is taking advantage of his paternity leave from work and has full time to establish with his new daughter and my daughter Shayna is on break and is spending quality time with Sadie, too. For once, grandpa is jealous and wishes he was there, too, looking into those expectant, bright eyes and assuring Sadie that despite the crazy world she has been born into, she is going to be alright and love is this amazing thing that gets us through life.
Back in Gurgaon, things have been very busy for me. I have been doing some interesting flights and going to some new places. The most recent trip was a quick one over to the East Coast of India, South of Calcutta (now Kolkutta) and the place is called Bhubaneshwar. It's at sea level and on the ocean on the Bay of Bengal, which is my first time to see this ocean and to look East from India and see water. As soon as I got out of the airplane, it felt so different because even though the temperature was very warm, it was very humid and there was an ocean breeze so there were no mosquitoes. We were only there for a few hours in the evening so I didn't get a chance to go see the city or look around much. People from India know the different way that people look in different parts of this big country and when we went into the airport it was obvious that we weren't in Delhi or Mumbai. Just a different look to the folks here and a different dialect. I was pleasantly surprised that in the airport itself, there were a couple of nice stores, including a book store. Anyone that knows me knows that I can spend hours in a bookstore and almost all of the books were in English. I had my eye on one that tells the stories that are behind many of the gods of Hinduism. I would have bought it but my passengers showed up before I got to the cash register and so that will have to come later. Anyway, I got to see another city and another part of this mysterious country so I was glad for that.
Karen and I have been enjoying doing some new things. She decided to wait til she got to India to get her vaccinations since I had spent nearly $2000 with the franchise called Passport Health that now handles innoculations and vaccinations in the USA. We just went to the brand new (open 3 months) gorgeous highrise hospital that is about 3 miles from where we live. We just walked in, asked to get some vaccinations and innoculations, and were immediately shown upstairs to a doctor's office. He saw us within a couple of minutes and after a 15 minute consultation we had prescriptions for all that she needed. No fees, no forms, just see the doctor and go down to ER where they administered hepatitus B and tetanus, since she hadn't had one for many years. We waited to make sure there was no adverse reaction and then went to the pay desk. I wondered what this would be like. We had tied up a private doctor and the ER for almost an hour. I paid 640 rupees, which is about $13. This is in a beautiful, air-conditioned, modern hospital, not what you might be imagining. I will have to take my camera next time and take a picture so you can see this. I like this country better now. Medicine is affordable. Karen and I were shocked at how inexpensive it was. Our company provides full hospitalization covereage with the medical policy so here medical expense is not one of those things that looms to possibly bankrupt you if you get sick or something unexpected happens. Since we are obviously foreigners we were treated like royalty, with a young man who was assigned to guide us around this big hospital to keep us from getting lost while we went from one place to another.
I have another interesting trip coming up in a couple of weeks. We are going back to Tblisi, Georgia again and my ski guide tells me that the Spring skiing is fantastic so I am certainly going to try and squeeze that in again. But this time we are going on a side trip to Kazakhstan and then to Baku, Azerbaijan, on the Caspian Sea. The best part is that I talked to my passenger and he changed his trip by a few days so that I could focus on a family visit by Karen's mom and aunt, who are coming from the USA this coming Sunday night. They will be here for a couple of weeks and we are obviously trying to give them some focused attention while they are here. One of the things we have planned is a trip to the Taj Mahal, which is about a 4 hour drive from where we live. Then we are going to Jaipur, where there are several famous forts, etc. from the Mogul era. I would love to have done this by train but it's a triangle shaped trip on the map and trains don't run that way here. We don't have time to go down and back and down and back another direction, so we will do it by car. A three day luxury trip with 5 star hotels and personal English speaking guides provided is only $300/person. Another benefit of travel in India, it's affordable.
I think Karen and her mom and aunt are going to go to Katmandu, Nepal. I won't have time to break away for that and so Karen and I will have to do that later. Karen's sister, Lynne, is going to be in Hong Kong on business so is going to take a side trip to come and visit just a few days after her mom leaves so we are excited about all the company and visits.
It's so amazing to watch the second fastest growing ecomony in the world changing gears and getting into their industrial age. I read about this in American history textbooks but to watch it happen is wild.
My debit card number was stolen from the bank back in Pennsylvania. I have been reimbursed for most of the $2500 that was fraudulently used. The company that I bought my new computer here from charged me twice. I am working with the bank to get that back. I finally got my American pay into the bank. It's supposed to go in around the 1st of the month. I got it transferred by many phone calls on Skype on the 20th. State Bank of India in New York City was to blame this time. It's only money, folks. It takes patience to live here.
Miss you guys,
Dan
