Cake Smashing

This morning I actually had time to go out before I had to go to work at 1:00 pm. I went to the grocery store, "FabMall" where I luckily found contact solution, but unluckily found a smell I do not want to remember. My coworker wanted to go to a Chinese restaurant for lunch down the street from where I am staying. I wasn't too fond of Chinese food in China so I wasn't sure I wanted to try it in India, but I went anyway. We walked there and almost lost our lives several times in the traffic. The Chinese restaurant was closed so we ended up back at the 100 Feet Boutique near my flat. We only had 45 minutes until our car was coming to pick us up for work, but the waiter said it would only take 30 minutes to get our food and eat. I should have known from my experience with my Indian coworkers in Salt Lake, where 2 minutes actually means 40 minutes, that we would not be done in time. I ordered spaghetti and it was delicious, but it did take longer than 45 minutes. Luckily my driver waited for me.

It was my coworker, Sunoj's, last day at work today. Even though I just met him on Tuesday I have talked to him on the phone several times, and I really liked him and was sad to see him go. (He's the one in the middle with the tan shirt). Mid-afternoon another person on my team sent out an email to the entire floor and everyone came over to watch Sunoj's "cake smashing." Because I am part of a few different distribution lists in India I get emails all the time to gather around someone's desk for their "cake smashing" on their birthday. I have never been able to gather and watch because I was in Salt Lake, so I never knew what that meant until today. Sunoj cut his cake and then another guy on our team smashed a piece all over his face. It was great.

One last thing. Before I came to India, I was warned several times that it would be hard to find certain personal hygiene items such as deodorant. I made sure to pack enough of this item for myself to last two months. However, I did not consider packing enough for a country of 1.2 billion...one regret. I suppose they have more crucial items to purchase with an average annual per capita income of only $727.