| Mar 20, 2006 - Ahmedabad - our first day
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 | | show all 5 | | View on the morning commute to the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) | | The American architect Louis Kahn designed this campus. There is heavy use of arches and brick to control the heat. | | The Louis Kahn garden at IIM | | |
| Highlights of my first 24 hours in Ahmedabad:
• Our outdoor work session at IIM was interrupted when a monkey on a branch 20 feet from our table started to pee down towards us. At first, we just huddled in closer under our table's umbrella. When crap started to drop from the sky, we moved inside.
• We saw a camel pulling a cart down the street this afternoon.
• We have a budget from the University of $50/person for food each day. Today, we spent about $3/person. This includes snacks, fresh juices, bottled water, and meals.
• I think the professors we were scheduled to work with here didn't really believe that we were coming. When we tracked them down today on campus, they seemed a little surprised that we were actually there, and more surprised that our professor is coming tomorrow.
• The city feels very safe. We are careful, but people seem to be very trusting and crime is low. People tend to eat late, so if you are out at 10 pm, the streets are busy and lively.
• Ice cream is very popular here. I haven't had any yet, but in never seems to be more than a store or two away.
• English is the official language. Those who know it, speak much more quickly than people at home. I sometimes have a hard time understanding them, more based on the speed than the accent. Those who don't know English speak Gujarati, Hindi, or both.
• I haven't seen anyone begging yet.
• IIM is a top notch facility that is respected worldwide. It is extremely competitive to be one of the 640 students accepted to the school. The grounds are nice and well manicured. The buildings and classrooms are a unique architectural style and remind me a bit of a prison. The institution appears to be well funded but do not have wireless internet, central air, or some of the other amenities we have become accustomed to.
• About 80% of the people who live here are vegetarians. Therefore, many restaurants do not serve meat, or only have a few meat items on the menu.
• $31/night doesn't buy a luxury a hotel here. We have seen mice and bugs in ours, but the air conditioning works, and we have free internet in our rooms, so we will probably stay. |
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