>This morning I went with Mr. Venkatesan back to the airport to check on my bag. They had expected in, but it did not arrive. I was told the bag was in Mumbai and had missed the 3 am connection to Chennai (same flight that I had taken the day before). Now they are saying this morning for sure..

In the meantime Mr. Venkatesan assisted me in buying a smart new outfit so that I wouldn’t have to wear at tshirt and jeans on my visit to IIT Madras. I’ts a nice deep yellow shirt with a Grey tweed pair of pants. Angie, you’ll love it!

My hosts at IIT were extremely gracious. I basically had invited myself, but they spend most of the afternoon with me and took me out to dinner last night. Most of these folks have Ph.D. degrees from Canada or the US, and enjoyed talking about the US and comparing it to India. Very enlightning conversations.

We had dinner at a rooftop restaurant at a facy hotel that I could not afford to stay in. The reason is that these type of restaurants are the only places to get beer! We had a pitcher among the four of us and sampled excellent food. I had the absolute best palak paneer I ever had. And the view was spectacular. Maybe the best part is that I finally got a chance to ride the autorickshaws that I’ve been seeing so many of. That’s the local form of taxi, and is not for the faint of heart!

I was invited to stay over at one professor’s home who has internet access, which is why I can post now (Thanks Nikkit!) We’ll see when I get my next opportunity.