October 14th - October 22nd
A month or so ago my PM was trying to get me to run in the Delhi half marathon because he had heard I had done one before. There was no way I was in any shape to do a half marathon but the race also had a 7k that went along with it. Me and some of the other SMEs signed up to do that. When the race day came around, the 5 or 6 SMEs that signed up to run turned out to be 2 that actually did it! Earlier in the week we had met some ex-Military guys that were in town working with the Indian Government so two of the guys joined Folake and I for the race. Below is Lee and I in action! You can see some police in the background. They were in a lot of places along the race path. At one point I saw a policeman with a big ole' gun standing right on the curb - it was just so alarming to see this guy with a big gun as you are doing a 7k - Only in India!
The race was interesting to do - a fun, different experience. In the US if you were to do a 7k, a majority of the people doing it would be about 80% athletes of some caliber. In India I think it was about 80% non-athletic type people running the race. As you can see below there were a lot of people wearing jeans. But they were so enthusiastic about the race. At one point I was hot and tired so I was walking. This guy with an umbrella came up beside me and was trying to encourage me to run. So I told him if he'd run - I'd run. We started running and he seemed so excited to be running with me. He kept trying to hold the umbrella over me as well, but he just ended up poking me in the side of the head with it - over and over again. He didn't realize he was doing it because he was working so hard to run with me. He was in some type of non-running pants that had to be hot. He was also telling me that he was fasting because he was Muslim and it was Ramadan. So basically that meant he couldn't drink water either. I would never be able to run in the heat and not drink water - so I was impressed. He was asking all kind of questions - the first one I always get - 'was I married', what was I doing in India, ect. Finally Folake caught up with me (she had started the race a little late). So all three of us were running together at first, but Folake had a much faster pace than I so eventually my little friend couldn't keep up and we lost him. I tried to keep up with Folake too but eventually I had to drop off as well!
Below is Folake and I trying to recover after the race. Frank (one of the military guys) was trying to take our picture and was taking a few minutes to get it ready. The group of guys in the background noticed that he was going to take a picture so they got all together - like he was going to take a picture of them. Not sure if they just wanted to be in the background of our picture or if they just thought Frank wanted a picture of them. It was a little strange - but in India it didn't surprise me!!
Below is the winner of the Half Marathon. He is from Kenya. I think he was the guy that lapped me in the Bermuda marathon!! :o)
Half way through my stay at the Taj Palace they made my floor a Taj Club floor - which basically meant I got better shampoo, lotions, and I now get conditioner. It also meant I could now go to the Taj Club for free! All the people that are here for longer and have suites have been going to the Taj club and it means free drinks from 6:30 - 8pm. Obviously we can't take advantage of this often because we don't get home from work until after 10pm but on the weekends it is a nice perk to have. Below is Elliott and I enjoying the perks!
I organized a dinner at Olive - a great Italian restaurant that I went to when I first got to India. All the girls backed out so it was me, 4 of the military guys, and Eric from Hewitt.
Sometimes the beggars sell newspapers to get money from you. These aren't newspapers you would want to read and they don't really cost any particular amount of money. I guess they just figured they would have more chance of getting money from you if they give you something in return. The girls are usually so cute. They are always smiling and love to have their picture taken. There are times when we take food (fruit or leftovers) from the hotel and give it to the beggars. Some are very appreciative but others get mad at you b/c even though they did the sign for 'I'm hungry' and you give them food, they really want money. It sometimes makes you not want to give anyone anything if they are just going to get mad at you because you gave them what they asked for - or even sometimes if you don't give them enough money. I know this might sound mean but 'beggars can't be choosers'.
Sunset at the Taj.
We just finished a batch of training - below is their graduation picture. All these associates were trained on 3.x.
A month or so ago my PM was trying to get me to run in the Delhi half marathon because he had heard I had done one before. There was no way I was in any shape to do a half marathon but the race also had a 7k that went along with it. Me and some of the other SMEs signed up to do that. When the race day came around, the 5 or 6 SMEs that signed up to run turned out to be 2 that actually did it! Earlier in the week we had met some ex-Military guys that were in town working with the Indian Government so two of the guys joined Folake and I for the race. Below is Lee and I in action! You can see some police in the background. They were in a lot of places along the race path. At one point I saw a policeman with a big ole' gun standing right on the curb - it was just so alarming to see this guy with a big gun as you are doing a 7k - Only in India!
The race was interesting to do - a fun, different experience. In the US if you were to do a 7k, a majority of the people doing it would be about 80% athletes of some caliber. In India I think it was about 80% non-athletic type people running the race. As you can see below there were a lot of people wearing jeans. But they were so enthusiastic about the race. At one point I was hot and tired so I was walking. This guy with an umbrella came up beside me and was trying to encourage me to run. So I told him if he'd run - I'd run. We started running and he seemed so excited to be running with me. He kept trying to hold the umbrella over me as well, but he just ended up poking me in the side of the head with it - over and over again. He didn't realize he was doing it because he was working so hard to run with me. He was in some type of non-running pants that had to be hot. He was also telling me that he was fasting because he was Muslim and it was Ramadan. So basically that meant he couldn't drink water either. I would never be able to run in the heat and not drink water - so I was impressed. He was asking all kind of questions - the first one I always get - 'was I married', what was I doing in India, ect. Finally Folake caught up with me (she had started the race a little late). So all three of us were running together at first, but Folake had a much faster pace than I so eventually my little friend couldn't keep up and we lost him. I tried to keep up with Folake too but eventually I had to drop off as well!
Below is Folake and I trying to recover after the race. Frank (one of the military guys) was trying to take our picture and was taking a few minutes to get it ready. The group of guys in the background noticed that he was going to take a picture so they got all together - like he was going to take a picture of them. Not sure if they just wanted to be in the background of our picture or if they just thought Frank wanted a picture of them. It was a little strange - but in India it didn't surprise me!!
Below is the winner of the Half Marathon. He is from Kenya. I think he was the guy that lapped me in the Bermuda marathon!! :o)
Half way through my stay at the Taj Palace they made my floor a Taj Club floor - which basically meant I got better shampoo, lotions, and I now get conditioner. It also meant I could now go to the Taj Club for free! All the people that are here for longer and have suites have been going to the Taj club and it means free drinks from 6:30 - 8pm. Obviously we can't take advantage of this often because we don't get home from work until after 10pm but on the weekends it is a nice perk to have. Below is Elliott and I enjoying the perks!
I organized a dinner at Olive - a great Italian restaurant that I went to when I first got to India. All the girls backed out so it was me, 4 of the military guys, and Eric from Hewitt.
Sometimes the beggars sell newspapers to get money from you. These aren't newspapers you would want to read and they don't really cost any particular amount of money. I guess they just figured they would have more chance of getting money from you if they give you something in return. The girls are usually so cute. They are always smiling and love to have their picture taken. There are times when we take food (fruit or leftovers) from the hotel and give it to the beggars. Some are very appreciative but others get mad at you b/c even though they did the sign for 'I'm hungry' and you give them food, they really want money. It sometimes makes you not want to give anyone anything if they are just going to get mad at you because you gave them what they asked for - or even sometimes if you don't give them enough money. I know this might sound mean but 'beggars can't be choosers'.
Sunset at the Taj.
We just finished a batch of training - below is their graduation picture. All these associates were trained on 3.x.
posted by Angela Cooley at 10:00 PM
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