Cincinnati

Well, today's the day; or, more accurately, tonight's the night! We leave Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. My traveling companion and business colleague is Sally Nieman. She has a blog, too, if you want to check it out at http://sallyindia.blogspot.com/. This will be our first trip to India, and it is great not to be taking this long trip alone.

Today will be full of errands and last-minute decisions. My first thought is always what to take and how to get it there. You might think that had all been settled; after all, my suitcase has been packed since Sunday. But it isn't the clothes or the travel gadgets that have me rethinking my packing; it's the technology.

The little pieces aren't a problem: My point-and-shoot digital camera, Blackberry, and flash drive will easily fit into pockets of my travel vest, designed to be removed in the airport security line for easy x-raying. It's the bigger camera, my laptop, and the AlphaSmart keyboard I want to use on the plane that are the problem. No bag I have will hold all three.

It will all work out. It always does, after a little bit of trial and error.

Speaking of challenges, Sally and I share another challenge. We're both left-handed, and in India the left hand is considered unclean. One should not touch another person with the left hand, or take food, or eat with the left hand.

We have already met some wonderful Indian people through our work, and I know that they will be forgiving if we slip with this left-handed business, but it's important to try. It's important to me to fit in where I am. So, from the moment I leave my house for the airport (and not a second before), I intend to practice being right-handed after all these years.


Because a blog requires the Internet, I may not be posting again for a couple of days. We'll be in the air around 18 hours, and that doesn't count the stop in Paris or the time we'll need to sleep after arriving in Bangalore shortly after midnight (India time) on the 12th. From what I can deduce with my math-phobic mind, India's time is 10.5 hours later than Cincinnati time.

Thanks for your interest in our trip, and stay tuned!