Yet More India

So, it's Friday here, and we just got done with the last factory trip of the week. We get Saturday and Sunday off from factory visits, and boy, am I glad. This daily dosage of sensory overload is tiring to the extent that I haven't really been recovering fully at night. Being a bit short on sleep because the time I want to go to sleep often comes and goes while we're still out as a group probably doesn't help. But we get two days to rest in the northern mountains, and that I am expecting to be much better. I should be able to get enough energy back to make it through next weeks factory visits and still be able to enjoy the fact that I am in INDIA. (I have been enjoying the fact that I'm in India, by the way. It's just that when I have limited time and energy, the things that are demanding an outlet the most are all that will get that outlet, which means it's the problems that are coming out.)

Anyways, today's factory makes support items like neck braces, knee braces, and walkers. They apparently have almost a fifth of the Indian market for the products they make, which is pretty good. Yesterday we went to the golden temple and then a factory. You can't wear shoes in the golden temple, which was awesome because I had an excuse to go barefoot. Also, it was really pretty, and the tilings on the ground had some of the most complicated geometric designs I've seen here (mine are still more complicated, but I don't tessellate them.) I took pictures of those, so I've got quite a few pictures on my camera that are probably interesting only to me. That's OK, though. It is my camera, after all. The factory we went to after the golden temple makes cricket equipment. I don't really know much of anything about cricket (or any sport that I don't play, really), but the factory was pretty cool. There wasn't much automation, since they're working with wood, which has variable density, and precise balance is apparently important. It was also a very interesting factory layout- they had a bunch of different small buildings, with a couple steps happening in each building. At the start, there were hunks of wood. At the end, there were cricket bats. I couldn't handle a couple of the rooms because of the smell, but I saw most of the process and it was pretty cool. I also saw them making cricket balls and protective equipment. They didn't do much to the balls- they purchased leather balls, lacquered them, and then stamped them. The gloves and leg guards were a bit more interesting, especially since anything sewing related brings out my clothing design brain. Also, they did more with them.

The day before yesterday was supposed to be a double factory visit, with a knitting company first and then Hero Cycles. I only made it through the first visit, what with the alarm that kept going off and the fact that a factory floor is a source of sensory overload in the best case, but the first visit was interesting. I wasn't even the only one who only made it through the first visit- there was a stomach  problem going around, so there was another girl heading back to the hotel as well. That made it a bit less embarrassing: I always feel a bit bad when I can't quite do everything I'd like to be able to do, but at least I wasn't the only one. The group also went dancing that night, which I stayed far away from. Clubs  tend to have flashing lights, which are not my friend, and any form of entertainment that doesn't even start until 8pm is going to go much too late. My roommate didn't  get back until after midnight!

And that is pretty much the story of the last couple days in India. I am very much alive and generally having a good time, but I would really like a break from overwhelming factory floors! That's what the weekend is for, though, and hopefully the fact that my idea of a break is not the typical NT idea of a break wont be too much of an issue.

(Putting this up later Saturday because of internet access issues, will have another post covering what's happened since next time I have internet.)