It is 6:02am, and I'm awake. Why am I awake when I really should be sleeping? I'm hungry. The hotel has continental breakfast at 7am and I'm forcing myself to stay awake for free food. If I had gone to sleep when I got here at 4:30, I would have slept through breakfast and woken up a lot later, a lot hungrier. Also, the lunch here is really expensive, and I don't have any alternatives. Yesterday, my lunch was over Rs 900 (appx. $22). I have a per diem, but I'd rather spend the money on other things (that last longer). There is a method to my madness. I'm spending the time catching up on emails and paying bills. I'm also listening to Barack Obama's speech on race, but it keeps stopping at the same point. Don't they know I don't have time to stop and read the full transcript!

I went to work on Monday night and was pleased to finally get out of the hotel. I also had the opportunity to see the area around the hotel in daylight. There are office buildings on the same street and an open lot across from the offices. That lot has a couple of make-shift tin houses and cows. Yes, cows. The drive from the hotel to the office is around 30 minutes. There's a lot of traffic because people on the day shift leave at the same time. I saw the sunset on my way to work. It's amazing to think that I'm watching the same lowering sun that my family is watching rise. The office is located in an area that was formerly a village. When you drive into the business park, you'll still see a few leftover tin houses, more aptly described as lean-tos, and various street vendors. The actual office building is better that I imagined, and the associates are very friendly. As soon as I told them where I was staying, they knew that there was nothing for me to do in the area. Several of them live in close proximity and said that they would show me around. Thank you Jesus!

I went to the mall on Tuesday afternoon. My friend, Sarika, came to the hotel to pick me up and her friend drove us there. I met Sarika when she came to The Woodlands over 2 years ago. On the way to the mall, we passed several buildings that are under construction and look nothing like the rest of the city. This is probably the area that I passed on my way from the airport. We went to Center One Mall, which is across the street from another mall, which is next to a new mall under construction. Materialism at work. The funny thing is that in the midst of all these new structures and shopping malls, there is a field of cows. Cows just appear randomly here. The cow field is next to a large bookstore on a busy street that connects the 2.5 malls in the area. Very random. The mall is relatively small compared to American monoliths. It had several stores that you might see in the US, as well as distinctly Indian stores. Before entering the mall, we had to go through a metal detector and the guards checked our bags. I had my laptop bag with me because we were going directly to work from there. I bought a kurti (shirt) and salwar kameez (top with pants). See the links for examples. I also bought some beautiful material for making your own salwar kameez, but I want to use it to do something else. I will be firing up the sewing machine when I get home.

Kurti:
http://eshop.ahmedabad.com/shop/product/apparels_&_accessories/womens_wear/kurtis/True_Bllue/30986
Salwar Kameez: http://eshop.ahmedabad.com/shop/product/apparels_&_accessories/womens_wear/salwar_kameez/InVogue/50386
http://eshop.ahmedabad.com/shop/product/apparels_&_accessories/womens_wear/salwar_kameez/InVogue/50385

I saw another black woman at the mall. I thought I was the only one! After shopping, I called my driver to take us to the office. Sarika had to speak to him so that he understood. He speaks limited English. I went to work and came back to the hotel.

The hotel staff makes me feel like a minor celebrity because they all know me. I asked the guy at the front desk about breakfast, and he told me he would call my room with more details. I asked him if he knew my room number, and he said, "Yes, Elizabeth". He knows my name? Wow. I wonder if they talk about me amongst themselves. I have to watch out for the paparazzi.

I've decided to start taking my malaria pills right before I leave for work. Hopefully, it will be easier for me to remember since I leave around the same time everyday. I spray myself with OFF before leaving the room in the hopes that the mosquitoes won't come near me anyway. Let's see how that goes.

Follow-ups to previous posts:

• Dr. Hak, thanks for the suggestion. I'm getting a lot of ideas here. I actually considered bringing my crochet hooks and yarn right before leaving, and I decided against it. I could have made several projects while stuck at the hotel.
• You've probably heard of Tata this week. The Indian car company unveiled "The People's Car" yesterday in Geneva. It is small and costs $2500. This is very significant, because this car is expected to make car ownership easy for a country of over a billion people. You can also expect an exponential rise in carbon output, which impacts climate change.
• I remembered the Nina Simone song when I laid down on Tuesday morning. It's called Sinnerman.

Time for breakfast.