Glædelig Jul/Merry Christmas!

Thursday, Dec. 22, Last Day in India (Part II)

I went to the cyber cafe I used when I was in Mumbai in September. Then I took a train to see the Victoria and Albert Museum. Unfortunately, it was closed (and has been since 2003) for repairs. I considered going to the zoo next to it, but instead I walked back along a long route. I passed a huge outdoor laundry area. Then I walked down Desai Road and through Kemp's Corner, areas with lots of fancy shops.

I stopped at a bookstore, but they didnøt have the cookbook I wanted. I figure I can probably find the recipes I want on the Internet. Next year, I'll look for the cookbook when I am back in southern India.

I ate a delicious lunch at a Muslim restaurant near Kemp's Corner. I had Chicken Afghani. It was two pieces of chicken wrapped in an omelet and covered with a very tasty curry sauce that had spinach in it. I had two chipatis (like flour tortillas) with it and drank the water they served at the table.

I've spent the afternoon in the hotel. I napped for about 30 minutes. Then I watched a movie on TV. It's 6:30 now. I'll stay in the hotel until 8:30 or 9:00.
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It's 9:45 and I am at the airport. It went well getting here. The biggest problem was all the people in the streets. People go out at night here. I left the hotel at 8:30 and had to fight both crowds and traffic to go the 3-4 blocks to the train station. Two lanes of cars were parked leaving only 1 1/2 lanes for all the moving cars and the people who were walking.

I got in the last car of the train. It was always full, but it was never crowded. I did not feel I was in anyone's way. I stood with my legs stradling my suitcase and my backpack directly above the suitcase. The people on the train were friendly and helpful. They let me know when to position myself to exit and which side it would be.

The crowds outside Andheri Station were worse than the ones in the Grant Road area. People were stumbling over my suitcase, but I never lost hold or control of it. The first trishaw driver said his meter was broken. Whether it was or not is questionable. The second, who had seen me leave the first said he would use the meter. It worked out well the way I came. The train was 7 rupees and the trishaw was 33 + 8 for luggage, so I gave him a 50 making the whole trip to the airport cost only $1.31 U.S.

Before leaving the hotel, I went to the same place as last night and got 3 of the spicy potato+pea samosas and two of the sweet ones. It made a perfect snack to tide me over until they feed us on the plane.

Now all I have to do is wait two hours until check-in begins. It's hard to believe I will be in Copenhagen tomorrow. Wish Arne were going to be there to meet me as I exit customs control.

Some final thoughts about India (some of which I have written before):

1. People don't seem to see dirt here. Even in nice places, window panes and the window sills never seem to be cleaned. At the school, it would be days between cleaning the top of our dining table, and even then a DRY cloth, rather than a wet one that would have been much better and more effective, was used. Oh, switches for lights are ALWAYS caked with dirt!!

2. In general, there is no danger to tourists here. I have walked through terrible slums, down streets lined with homeless people, on crowded buses and trains, etc., and there have been no attempts to attach me or to try to steal from me. Indians tend to be honest. Their one fault is to think that westerners have an obligation to pay more than others because it is assumed we are wealthy.

3. The dowry system is a horrible burden on Indian society. Families with girls go into deep debt to pay for a man to marry them. It's a form of social security system providing money for the retirement of the groom's family, but it has terrible consequences. When sonograms were developed, women pregnant with girls started choosing to abort the fetus in many cases. It has led to there being many more men than women now, so that maybe 20% or more of the men may never be able to find a bride. It's now illegal to tell the prospective parents the result of a sonogram, but this is a country where even doctors are happy to make a little extra money from bribes. Bribes are much cheaper than dowries, so the problem with abortions continues.

4. Traffic is a problem here for two reasons. First, there is so much honking. It's irritating, and some of the horns are too loud creating a problem of hearing loss. Second, Big Man rules when it comes to traffic. Trucks and buses come first followed by cars, trishaws, motorcycles, bicycles, and finally, pedestrians. Legally in an accident, however, the bigger party is considered at fault her. Theorhetically that makes everyone have to watch out for those smaller than they are. In practice, though, it's the small man who is having to constantly give way.

Friday, Dec. 23, Mumbai to Frankfurt to Copenhagen

It's 00:39 (12:39 a.m.). I had a very easy time getting checked in and my luggage screened--no wait at all. I'm now at the gate with 2 hours 15 minutes to go until boarding. I was surprised there was no airport tax; my guidebook had warned to have 300 rupees for a fee. Actually, I have about 7000 rupees left, but that's no problem. I'm coming back next year and can spend them then.
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The flight went well. No one was in the middle seat, so I could stretch and lean. Also, the man in front of me never reclined his seatback. After the dinner service, I inserted earplugs and slept about 3 1/2 hours.

I had a surprise in Frankfurt. For some reason, I was thinking that my flight to Copenhagen wasn't until 11:40 or so, and we arrived at 8:00. I saw an abandoned US Today newspaper, so I sat and read it casually. At 9:15, I decided to look at my boarding pass for Copenhagen, and it showed 9:20 as the boarding time! I had to go through customs, through the main check-in lobby, through security again, and down another concourse past 25 gates to get to mine. Fortunately, there were no lines either at customs or at security. I arrived at the gate just in time to fall in line behind the last person handing over his boarding pass to board!

The man sitting beside me was unshaven, so I asked if he had traveled all night. He said he had come from Houston and was going home in Norway north of Bergen. He's in the oil business and just took the job in Houston. I gave him my card and told him to contact me if he made a trip to San Antonio some weekend.

Grethe was home when I arrived at 1:30. We had a nice lunch of Danish open-faced sandwiches with snaps and beer. I took a quick shwer and shaved, and we left for town to enjoy the atmosphere. Today is the last shopping day here, since tomorrow is a holiday. We went to Hviid's Vinstue and had two glasses of gløgg. We watched the ice skaters at Kongens Nytorv. We walked through Magasin, Illus's, and Illum's Bolighus, the big department stores. We walked down Strøget, the walking street with its lighted garlands of live greenery and red hearts. We saw the Christmas tables at Royal Copenhagen done this year by restaurantuers. For me, it was all a trip down memory lane of the best moments of my life.

It began to rain, so we caught a bus home. It brought us by Town Hall Square, by Evy's and Arvind's apartment, down Frederiksberg Alle, past the Frederiksberg Have skating rink, and back to Valby. The memories just kept returning.

Grethe made rice porridge for us in the evening. I called Evy and Arvind, Jens and Robert, and Old Grethe. Then I spent some time at the comptuer in an effort to stay awake until 9:00. At that time, I took a melatonin tablet and went to bed. I slept until 7 a.m.

I had a slight sore throat most of the day. It went away at night, but my nose was stuffy. I'm thinking it may be allergies rather than a cold. I'm just sorry to have it at this time when I would like to be on the top!

Saturday, Dec. 24 (Jule Aftens Dag), Copenhagen (Part I)

Glædelig Jul! (Merry Christmas!) This is the day for celebrating Christmas in Denmark. Grethe has been cooking much of the morning--potatoes, roast pork with crispy skin, roast duck stuffed with apples and prunes, stewed apple halves to fill with jam, and rice-almond pudding. While she did that, I wrapped gifts, unpacked, got on the Internet to transfer funds, etc. All the time, Christmas music has played in the background. Now I must clean up so we can take wreaths to put on Ander's and Arne's graves.