Luggage Update – Friday morning, India:
Frustration, Amazement, but Still No Luggage

Otherwise… one of the local managers showed me around last night to some touristy places here in Bangalore. We went to MG Road – that would be Mahatma Gandhi Road – a large commercial area. I’m thankful Sareen took me on a work night. You wouldn’t believe the traffic and the people milling about… and he said it was SLOWWWWW… Said on the weekends you can’t see more than 12 inches of sidewalk on either side of you since the crowds are so heavy. We went to some nice local handicrafts stores – I bought toys for the nephews (shhhhh…) and for the twins who visit their grandparents next door and are taking care of my koi pond while I’m away. I also made my first “investment purchase” – a beautiful cobalt blue pashmina stole, with incredible embroidery work. It was a very fun night – and for three hours I didn’t even think about my missing luggage. 😉 While out, I did see a nice drugstore and stopped and got some necessities. I feel a little better this morning – first time in almost a week with a hairbrush and some cheap makeup. (I’m so easy to please…)
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I’m looking very forward to the weekend. We head to Mysore on Saturday – about an hour and a half from Bangalore. There’s a festival in Mysore (this is a big deal there), so the palace will be draped in lights and I should get some excellent pictures. Then on Sunday, one of the staff here (an energetic hostess, she is…) is going to take me to see temples and get some skirts “stitched” – that’s Indian for “custom clothing tailored and made for you.” I might exit this city without some of my favorite outfits — but at least I’ll have a couple of smashing formal skirts for this year’s holiday parties.