Breaking into the Office

Today after lying in bed for an hour trying to sleep, I got up at around 8:15 a.m. My host mother was home and she gave me the remote and told me to find a channel. It took a little while (India's TVs have VERY few English channels) but I finally found something in English that I was mildly interested in watching- The Simpsons. After an hour of that I was done and went onto my laptop to check an see if my parents were online yet- we had been planning to do Skype this morning and I was really excited because I was finally going to get to talk to my mom and sister after a week and a half of them being gone in San Diego! When I got on I only had to wait a few minutes, but I got to talk with all of them! It was a great way to start off my day here!
After Skyping, I ate a breakfast of dosa (thin buttery bread thing) and chutney (a spicy tomato sauce) and played a game called "Mastermind" with Sanju from next door. It was fun!
At 11:00 a.m., my host mother and I left for her office- but we had a little bit of a problem when we got down to the cars- my host father had gotten a driver this morning and therefore my host mother's car was blocked in! She doesn't feel safe driving my host father's bigger car so.....we took an AUTO! My firs ride in an auto of India (picture above) something that my liaison Sara had told me all about. It was a great ride! The autos don't have doors and therefore are open on the two sides which was nice because we got to have the wind on our faces! We drove through streets filled with traffic honking and animals sounding, bumping along over every speed bump that we came across.
When we arrived at my host mother's office (she is a consultant for Oriflame cosmetics) we had to walk down a very narrow hallway through two cement buildings until we arrived at a wooden door. My host mother told me that we had to pick up the key from these people for the office and then she knocked on the door. There was no answer. She called the owners of the house and they told her that they had gone out- she should just break the lock and get the key! That was an interesting request....so we tried. My host mother tried shaking the locks, hitting them with a rock, and brought several people to try and help before (about fifteen minutes later) a man finally broke through the lock and we got the key!
We spent a few hours at the office while my host mother worked and talked with two of her staff that had come in. I read most of the time (I started "Eat, Pray, Love" today) and looked through the Oriflame catalogs.
At about three o'clock, we left the office and met my host father on the street. He had come to pick us up and take us to lunch at Annapoorna (the restaurant that I've been to several times and love!). When we arrived there it was crowded (like usual) and we had to wait a few minutes before we could snatch a table- the wait was worth it though! I had paneer (a curry with cheese) and nan (Indian bread) for my lunch along with a mango milkshake! My stomach was definitely satisfied after that meal....
After we finished eating, Mahesh took me to a shop nearby so that I could purchase some knitting needles and yarn (I'd like to start knitting again) and we spent about fifteen minutes there before my host father picked us up and took us back to the apartment before returning to work himself. When we got back, we walked over to the medical shop that it right outside the apartments and I got some throat medicine- my throat has been bothering me for a few days so I hope it works!
My host mother then stopped by the neighbor's and I got to go spend a few minutes with Sowbe before she had to leave for her tution (I know! On a Saturday!).
Tomorrow is going to be a jam-packed day of activity! It is a holiday to celebrate Ganesha (the God of new beginnings and art and wisdom). There is going to be a few celebratory pujas going on in the early morning, and then in the afternoon we are hosting one in the apartment, and then after that going to a wedding reception, and then after that to the Ganesha Temple here! It's going to be a busy day....I'll take lots of photos!