"Why American is Great" by Amy

Salads.

Hey, look--I'm in Portugal

[Note: This entry is suffering from my serious sleepiness.]

So, as it turns out, India is not my only travel destination. I'm in Lisbon for two weeks to help out the Portugal deployment. Since most of my India project team is in the UK and most of my questions get answered by email anyway, it only made sense for me to come out for a couple weeks and help out when I can (the full Portugal team busted some serious abacaxi here and deserves a break). I'm here for a couple weeks, then I go to London for a day. The same night a few of us head to Mumbai, then drive to Pune for three days of meetings. After that, it's unclear if I will return to Seattle, Lisbon, or London before making a trip to Madrid. It's not as glamourous as it sounds, as it generally means lots of meetings and stuffy rooms full of tech people.

Lisbon is pleasant
We stay in the area along the river near Vasco de Gama Center. The architecture is very modern, and the area was the site of the 98 World Expo. I've spent the bulk of my time working in a suite with some of the project team and the other part at the customer site, though I have had a nice dinner every night. The hotel is nice, and I'm well cared for. Mom, stop worrying.

I hope to see the aquarium (more or less across the street, maybe catch an art museum, and visit something historic. Because the work is pretty heavy, I'm not likely to get to do much touristing, but at least I can eat well.

Now where did I put that metronidazole...

I've been back from Mumbai for several days now, but a little piece of India decided to come back with me. I don't know if it was the food at the fancy hotel or stuff I ate later in the week, but my stomach's been out-of-whack. It's getting worse daily, and I today I noticed light rash covering my body. I'm assuming whatever it is will not leave without encouragement, so I gave up on letting it run its course and popped some pills.

Mumbai was ok. I didn't do anything exciting. Josh and I hung out and had snacks. I never got proper chai masala (the tiny cups of sweetened milk tea brewed with ground cardamom and other spices), nor did I take any auto rides. Autorickshaws are simply not permitted in South Bombay (the uber-snobby, wealthy area of Mumbai). I had some nice fresh juices (mango and pomegranate, and, no, I don't think that's what made me sick) and ate panni puri and other treats at Josh's favorite chat place. We also fake-shopped for more rugs and felt smug that Josh's rug guy gives us nicer rugs at good prices.

Mumbai on Too Many Rs Per Day

I've spent most of my first three days in Mumbai in the 4-star wanna-be hotel by the airport. It was sort of like not being in India, except for the pods of obsequious staff in the hotel who tried so hard to make my experience exceptional and ended up annoying me. Nonetheless, it's been a good trip. My travel companions are upbeat, and we had several hours of productive meetings. I'm excited about the implementation, despite the fact that I couldn't get proper chai in the hotel.

I've since shifted to a smaller hotel in south Mumbai, the most expensive are in the city and possibly all of India. The staff here is trying hard but hits closer to the mark. My room isn't as schmancy (no hardwood incense burners to match the chairs ans a smaller flatscreen), but the hotel looks and feels cleaner. Unfortunately, this hotel is as pricey as a nice hotel in downtown Seattle but doesn't have the nice room.

You can take the girl out of India...

...but she just turns around and goes back. That's right--call your aunties, I'm headed to Mumbai. Chai. Autos. Proper breakfasts! MORE CHAI!

However, instead of working for The People, I'm going on behalf of an Atlas client who has a customer in India. I'll be in meetings most of the week, and then a couple friends are coming from Bangalore and Kathmandu. I come back Sunday. It's a quick trip, but with this client, I'll be traveling to India at least a couple more times, and--if I'm lucky--I may get to visit totally new countries, too.

Growing Soft

I have to say--this new client is later-stage than our usual partners. I have an office, a desk phone, a laptop, and a global cell. They provide free snacks. I never have to wonder if the lights will turn on. In fact, my office has a sensor and lights up when I enter. It's this strange, lovely world where all the bills can be paid and you get whatever equipment you need.

Of course, it's still a start-up, and that means chaos, huge workloads and nutty people, so I still feel at home.

Woo! Thanks (and feel free to keep giving!) !!

Carie exceeded her target, but don't let that discourage you if you still want to give. In fact, as Peter says, "Give until it feels good."

Everyone is awesome.

Help Carie reach her goal?

Most of you know that my friend Carie has what we call "the cancer." She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2004. Now, she's on her second bout at the ripe ol' age of 32 (but her 33rd birthday is this month!), and it seems to be not so much going away. In fact, it appears to be rudely persistent despite chemo and radiation and all sort of other activities that are hellish to endure.

Carie is walking in a Charity Thingy. She's going to walk five miles while having cancer and a post-chemo body. She's not met her donation target, so if you want to contribute, click this link. And I saw that lots of you (who have met Carie maybe once?) already donated (as well as having donated last year), so big thanks for being teh awesome.