Down to the Wire

I leave Monday and I am semi-freaking out about all of the studying and work I have to do ahead of time.  However, the stress wasn't so great that I couldn't manage to fit in a trip to a Cavaliers game to see Lebron James and Shaq rip up the New Jersey Nets this week.  It was an amazing spectacle.  They had fireworks shooting out of the Jumbotron.  I've never seen anything like it.  The difference between pro and college basketball is so stark - it seems like they are two completely different sports.  I prefer college.  Speaking of which, go Badgers!  I had an opprtunity to go to see the Cavs versus the Magic tonight and had to turn it down due to my workload.  To tell you the truth, I think I just needed some alone time to unwind after working 10 hours today sorting out silly logistics.

It's amazing how much time you can spend in a day just setting up meetings, plane flights, hotel reservations, making a corporate identity, etc and hardly get any work done.  It's driving me crazy.  I spent most of the morning reading up on Swiss and Indian cultures since they will be the main ones that I will be interacting with over the course of the  next four months.  I felt like I was cramming for a very important test.  It is going to be really hard to remember all of these things, like it is rude to be a woman and reach to shake an Indian man's hand first, and to make sure that you only pass food plates with your right hand.  I hope I will be forgiven for being an ugly american a few times. 

I found out what hotel I am staying at for my first two weeks in India: http://www.parcestique.com/boutique.htm
Looks pretty shnazzy.  Hopefully it will serve as an oasis from the 10 different types of killer mosquites that apparently fly around all over the place.  I have to take an anti-malarial pill every day during my trip in addition to bug spraying my whole body with DEET.  By the way, did you know that cholera gets spread by eating the feces of someone who is infected with it?  I almost puked in my mouth today at work when I was reading about medical precautions today.

On that note, I'm heading to bed.