Touchdown

I landed in Bangalore around 6 a.m. today. It's now the afternoon. I have had a full day.

Things that caught my sleep-deprived eye:

-- Airport Road, which (duh) leads from the airport, is dusty. But around 7:30 in the morning, there are women cleaning up the sidewalks with straw whisks.

-- Lots of auto-rickshaws, which are a cross between a car and a motorcycle (you sit in the car part, the driver steers with motorcycle-style handlebars). The vehicle is open to the air (Note to self: Do NOT use auto-rickshaws during monsoon season unless desperate. Or wearing waterproof jacket and trousers).

-- Lots of people going barefoot.

-- Bullocks dragging carts (Note: A bullock looks like a cow but has two big horns.).

-- A cow in the street leading to my apartment building, eating trash alongside a couple of dogs.

-- Alongside all of this, gleaming modern buildings bearing company names like "Dell" or "Intel."

I went to the Taj West End for a welcome-to-Bangalore brunch with my new colleagues. The brunch featured Indian, Lebanese and Italian food, in both vegetarian and non-vegetarian varieties. It was very nice and very filling.

That's all for now. I'm wiped out and need some sleep. More later.