Feeling Fuzzy

Woke up today feeling pretty fuzzy and a bit cranky but made it out of the hotel by 9:30 to go shopping with the Ladies Who Lunch.

In all seriousness, shopping here makes me feel exceptionally guilty and wasteful. I have spent in some shops the equivalent to what some Indians earn in an entire month. And while it’s not that much because the purchasing power is much higher here I can’t help but think my money would be better used than buying gifts and things for myself. It makes me feel incredibly fortunate, even working a low paying part-time job and paying for college, my opportunities are vast compared to many of these people.

We had a sight visit to AT&S which manufactures circuit boards for all kinds of computers. The plant was hosting its management team from Austria (where the headquarters are located) so we didn’t have a presentation (shucks…) and our tour was pretty brief for how extensive the plant was. It was mostly automated with an operator at each machine pressing buttons and making sure everything was running smoothly.

Obviously, I’m not incredibly computer literate, but the circuit boards looked really cool, and they way they manufacture them was pretty damn interesting to see. In addition with the other private enterprise plants we’ve seen in India it was very clean and well kept. So no real worries about the manufacturing working conditions in India (at least for the privately owned companies).

In the evening SDM took us out to a restaurant which served a traditional South Indian meal. It came on a round metal tray with little dishes of the different sauces to eat with the poori. We had heard South Indian food is spicier and not that great, but I think most of us found it to be really tasty.

And no drinking for me tonight…