720 rupees

We have experienced a multitude of wonderful things during our travels so far. First being the hospitality of the Indian people. Everyone one we meet goes out of their way to ensure we are happy and have whatever we need. Almost to the point of driving you crazy. Every night a representative of the hotel comes by to check if everything is ok about 9:00 pm. Don't they know we are usually asleep by then...lol. Kidding aside they are amazingly friendly and helpful. Second, my plan was that the trip to India would serve as a forced diet and I would come home hungry and thin. Well so far that isn't happening! The food has been great and while I am somewhat careful on what I eat, so far no problems. Touch wood! The first night in the Utkal hotel we went down to the restaurant for supper. Being the only guests in the restaurant we had four waiters to ourselves. What they might have told us was we were ordering way too much food for two, hoping to get skinny Canadians. Grilled chicken that came with rice and vegetables (we thought it was just the chicken), the best nan bread I have ever had( thin, crispy and covered in garlic butter), an order of pineapple rice, and paneer. All extremely tasty!! Then we got the bill. 720 rupees and Randy thought maybe a bit too rich for our blood, until we did the conversion. All that for a total of $12.54. We might eat here every night! Third, getting your laundry done, by placing it in a bag in the morning and having it delivered back to your room a few hours later. This is the life. I really need to explore this option at home, but then again I couldn't afford it there. The next morning at breakfast we had a small communication break down as we ordered two eggs for me and an Indian breakfast consisting of a huge Dosa, some type of donut and a rice puff for Randy. What we got was two orders of two eggs and the Indian breakfast. Then we wonder why the diet isn't working. They even have the nerve to give you a weigh scale in our 5 star room. Of course we ate ever bite. A day at the office is just like a day at my office, except: -the CEO office shown in the previous post is very little with room for two small desks, a laptop and small book shelve. No filling cabinents, no pictures from home, no phone(although everyone carries a cellphone, which they even answer while in meetings),and no stacks of papers or books. - the finance office consists of four desks, a computer, passbook printer and binders of records, and a big general ledger. Between two and four people work in this office, the finance maanager who is responsible for all the books, tha analyst, who updates the savings passbooks and outstanding loans for every cooperative member daily, and two field coordinators that come and go. - the board room is a small long room with two thin desks pushed together and a third desk across the top serving as the head of the table. Over the last two day we have spent over seven hours discussing the vision, goals and mandate of the organization and plans to convert it into a self funding business by March 2013, when their current funding expires. What are the immediate actions they can implement? How can building a spice processing plant help and if so in what time frame? Where can they get more funding and for how long? What happens if they don't for the coop members, the current employees and the coop as a whole? This is serious business as it affects over 1270 families and their livelihood. - the official address of the company is; "behind the government high school near the Patel hotel". No street or house number just a description. - on your way to work in the morning you will probably pass at least one random cow sleeping or walking down the middle of the street. They seem to lie down anywhere the mood hits their fancy often at the side of the road but sometime right in the middle and the cars just maneuver around them. The cows don't seem to be bothered by the traffic, the horns(although no one honks at the cows) or the bikes racing by. Today was a research day. We met with two separate store owners that sell spices in their outlets. Each one shared their ideas on what works best, why they buy from certain wholesalers versus others, what we would need to do to get shelve space in their stores and what clients would be looking for to try our product. Then we went to a wholesaler's outlet to get his perspective. He works from a small cubicle about five feet by eight at the back of his home. During our visit his son served us water, coffee and cookies. Again the hospitality to perfect strangers was outstanding. What we walked away was several different ideas on what might work. My head continues to spin on how to keep the project on target and not let it get too big. As another day at work In Calgary there are tonnes of great ideas, but you need to keep focused. To finish the day we went to a local grocery store and then an Indian equivalent of Walmart on a much smaller scale just to get a feel of how the spices are displayed. Yes we bought a few things. Spices as part of the research, a shirt for Randy and gifts for the kids. Tonight we are taking the entire team to supper. Ten men, three wife's and four children, our treat to our wonderful guests. I am thinking maybe 7200 rupees but we will see.....