The last two days have consisted mostly of running around trying to tie up loose ends and get ready to start packing to come back home. We thought we were going to have an opportunity today to go to the shipyard where Mounika's dad works, but after driving from one office to another, getting permission and then the permission being denied, we have to wait another day. Oh, and we need to have passport size photos of us along with our passports. Everything here takes 10x's longer than it does at home, and I think it's starting to bug me. I have figured out why locals shove their way to the front of the line because otherwise they'll get the run around, too.
Yesterday all we wanted to do was to mail Mounika's transcripts to Idaho. We went to the "Post Office". There were three different windows. The first window had 4 people waiting (I thought they were all together at first, but they were just wanting to be the next person and if you stand back even a foot, someone will step in front of you...happens ALL the time.) We walk to the next window to ask what window to send international mail. The women points us back to the first window. We wait about 15 minutes to send the envelope and the women says we have to go to the last window to get a form to fill out to send international mail. We walk to the last window, tell the gentleman sitting behind the desk we need to send international mail. He tells another guy to get the form (I'm guessing that's what he said to do). The second guy looks around on a desk full of paperwork, looking under random sheets of papers, books, etc. He then opens up a drawer (not an organized drawer...kind of equivalent to my 'junk drawer'...looks through papers, moves things around and closes the drawer again. Goes back to the desk and finds some random sheet of paper to give to Mounika. It was a one sided xerox that was a bad one at that. She filled out all she knew how to (signature and date) and headed back to the first window where the gentleman told her to go. We waited for the few people in front of us to finish up, handed the paper and envelope to the lady behind the counter who gave it back and told us the envelope needed to be weighed at the second window. We head back to the second window, they weigh the envelope and we fill in the weight. Back to the first window where all the information on the form isn't filled out. I mean, we had to put more information on the paper, but there was nowhere that said the information was required, we had to write it in on the bottom. Finally after about 60 minutes, the letter was put in a stack of random sized envelopes on the backside of the lady's desk, where it slowly moved down the pyramid of mail to fall on the floor. I love America...
This morning at 4:30 am we woke up to a weird noise. I thought in my half asleep-half awake state, that it was the noise of the air conditioner, so I turned it off. Still, the noise persisted. I walked out the back door to the balcony only to realize it was a rickshaw horn that was honking...steadily. There was no end. And it continued to honk for close to 15 minutes. Brayden, Ryan and I came up with our own theories. Brayden decided a rickshaw driver was asleep in his rickshaw and fell on the horn and that he was too tired to wake up. My practical theory is that a horn got stuck and until they figured it out or disconnected the wires it just kept honking. Ryan's theory was someone was so passed out drunk in the rickshaw they fell onto the horn and didn't care (or could hear) the obnoxious noise it was making. I think Ryan's theory was the most correct. Especially after the guy Brayden and I saw passed out drunk in the middle of the road. Traffic had to swerve around him on a tiny city street. The motorcycles and cars were no big deal. It was the bus behind us that I was more concerned about. I am assuming he is still alive somewhere, although I can't be too sure!
Today we went to the shipyard like I mentioned. We were supposed to be there at 3:00. I'm kind of an on time sort of person, so we were there right around 3:00. When we got there Mounika's dad said it would be a few minutes, so we drove through the shipyard to go look at a Catholic Church the British built in the 1940's with some pretty amazing views of the city. After awhile, we headed back down to the shipyard. Raju (Mounika's dad) told us it would be a little longer. We then went inside an office where a gentleman (he seemed pretty official - he had a desk), told us we couldn't go in unless we had a superiors authorization. So, Raju (Mounika's dad) drove us to the office of the Commander of the Port, where we sat in his office (quite cushy with leather couches, huge LCD TV and air conditioning) and chatted for several minutes (he even asked Davis if he was a boy or a girl...after I told him the names and ages of my 4 BOYS). He decided to grant us permission to enter without our passports. (Evidently he ruled out that we were spies.) We head back to the port of entry, where the other superior officer decided that we had to have our passports (they were at the apartment) and that we needed to come back another time. We are headed there today, so we'll see what happens...
It is now Wednesday morning (after having to stop trying to get anything loaded last night because of the lack of internet) and we are headed to our last day at school. We don't typically go on Wednesday, but there is no school tomorrow. I am supposed to be wearing the saree the school gave me, the only problem is I still don't know how to put one on. Before we head to the school, we'll be making a pit stop at Mounkias house so her mom can put it on for me.
Only 2 more days in Vizag...
Yesterday all we wanted to do was to mail Mounika's transcripts to Idaho. We went to the "Post Office". There were three different windows. The first window had 4 people waiting (I thought they were all together at first, but they were just wanting to be the next person and if you stand back even a foot, someone will step in front of you...happens ALL the time.) We walk to the next window to ask what window to send international mail. The women points us back to the first window. We wait about 15 minutes to send the envelope and the women says we have to go to the last window to get a form to fill out to send international mail. We walk to the last window, tell the gentleman sitting behind the desk we need to send international mail. He tells another guy to get the form (I'm guessing that's what he said to do). The second guy looks around on a desk full of paperwork, looking under random sheets of papers, books, etc. He then opens up a drawer (not an organized drawer...kind of equivalent to my 'junk drawer'...looks through papers, moves things around and closes the drawer again. Goes back to the desk and finds some random sheet of paper to give to Mounika. It was a one sided xerox that was a bad one at that. She filled out all she knew how to (signature and date) and headed back to the first window where the gentleman told her to go. We waited for the few people in front of us to finish up, handed the paper and envelope to the lady behind the counter who gave it back and told us the envelope needed to be weighed at the second window. We head back to the second window, they weigh the envelope and we fill in the weight. Back to the first window where all the information on the form isn't filled out. I mean, we had to put more information on the paper, but there was nowhere that said the information was required, we had to write it in on the bottom. Finally after about 60 minutes, the letter was put in a stack of random sized envelopes on the backside of the lady's desk, where it slowly moved down the pyramid of mail to fall on the floor. I love America...
This morning at 4:30 am we woke up to a weird noise. I thought in my half asleep-half awake state, that it was the noise of the air conditioner, so I turned it off. Still, the noise persisted. I walked out the back door to the balcony only to realize it was a rickshaw horn that was honking...steadily. There was no end. And it continued to honk for close to 15 minutes. Brayden, Ryan and I came up with our own theories. Brayden decided a rickshaw driver was asleep in his rickshaw and fell on the horn and that he was too tired to wake up. My practical theory is that a horn got stuck and until they figured it out or disconnected the wires it just kept honking. Ryan's theory was someone was so passed out drunk in the rickshaw they fell onto the horn and didn't care (or could hear) the obnoxious noise it was making. I think Ryan's theory was the most correct. Especially after the guy Brayden and I saw passed out drunk in the middle of the road. Traffic had to swerve around him on a tiny city street. The motorcycles and cars were no big deal. It was the bus behind us that I was more concerned about. I am assuming he is still alive somewhere, although I can't be too sure!
Today we went to the shipyard like I mentioned. We were supposed to be there at 3:00. I'm kind of an on time sort of person, so we were there right around 3:00. When we got there Mounika's dad said it would be a few minutes, so we drove through the shipyard to go look at a Catholic Church the British built in the 1940's with some pretty amazing views of the city. After awhile, we headed back down to the shipyard. Raju (Mounika's dad) told us it would be a little longer. We then went inside an office where a gentleman (he seemed pretty official - he had a desk), told us we couldn't go in unless we had a superiors authorization. So, Raju (Mounika's dad) drove us to the office of the Commander of the Port, where we sat in his office (quite cushy with leather couches, huge LCD TV and air conditioning) and chatted for several minutes (he even asked Davis if he was a boy or a girl...after I told him the names and ages of my 4 BOYS). He decided to grant us permission to enter without our passports. (Evidently he ruled out that we were spies.) We head back to the port of entry, where the other superior officer decided that we had to have our passports (they were at the apartment) and that we needed to come back another time. We are headed there today, so we'll see what happens...
It is now Wednesday morning (after having to stop trying to get anything loaded last night because of the lack of internet) and we are headed to our last day at school. We don't typically go on Wednesday, but there is no school tomorrow. I am supposed to be wearing the saree the school gave me, the only problem is I still don't know how to put one on. Before we head to the school, we'll be making a pit stop at Mounkias house so her mom can put it on for me.
Only 2 more days in Vizag...
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