Delhi Belly

I never thought I would be in India shopping with my boss helping him pick out shoes, however, that's what I did yesterday. Saturday, June 16th, I finally got to see Bangalore. My boss flew in on Friday night and this is his seventh visit to Bangalore so he was able to show me around. In the morning we walked down the street to a cafe for breakfast. I had a strawberry smoothie and blueberry muffin. They were both pretty tasty. It is incredible the things you see here just walking down the street. Everything is under construction on the street where I live. Their construction is a lot different here than at home. They build everything by hand and their scaffolding is bamboo. I saw several piles of sand being moved by women with big plates and picks. I also saw several old men with stacks five feet high of bricks and concrete on their heads. And this is all besides the cows napping in the middle of the street. It's crazy. We went back to my flat and rented a car for the day. Our driver's name was Ramu and he liked Kenny G. We went to a place called Commercial Street to go shopping. Commercial Street was totally Asia. There were people everywhere and shops with the same things over and over. There were big neon signs and once again people everywhere. I bought some red sparkle shoes. All the shops owners called me Ma'am. I don't like to be called Ma'am. After that we went to Brigade Street. It was a bigger street with more neon signs and more people. We ate at Pizza Hut and that's when the Delhi Belly began. I don't know if it was the smoothie or the pizza or something else, but Delhi Belly is not something I would recommend. My stomach cramped up and I thought I was going to die. The driver came to get us and we drove through some government areas. On one government wall there were several painted signs instructing passersby not to urinate. I can see how this sign would be necessary considering I have seen now three men urinating on the sidewalk. The smell on the streets is just delicious. We then went shopping at Forum mall which was pretty similar to a mall at home. That is where I helped my boss pick out some new shoes. I just really can't even describe the number of people here. They are just everywhere. The number of people we saw in Forum mall is probably comparable to the number of people in Salt Lake. We went back to my flat and had Pepsi's on the roof. It is strange to do such casual things with my boss, but I have been grateful to have my coworker Melissa with us because she's a talker. For dinner we walked to the Leela
Palace, which is a hotel near the airport. It was the most amazing hotel I have ever seen. The gardens were beautiful and the food was delicious. I was still experiencing the Delhi Belly so I stuck with rice, but I did taste my boss's meal and Melissa's meal and they were very good. We walked home after that and once again, it was reaffirmed to me that this is the most random place. We walked out of that amazing hotel and right next door there were little hovels where people lived in trash and dirt floors and nothing else. It's hard for me to understand how they don't want more. I went home and battled with the Delhi Belly a bit more until it finally left me after a few hours. Avoid the Delhi Belly at all costs on your next trip to India.