The check out experience in India leaves much to be desired. I had paid my bill on Monday and thought I was free and clear, but no. They said I owed more and it took me 30 minutes to get it straightened out. Several other people had trouble as well. Their business skills over here need work.

We then drove for a couple of hours to Bangalore. We went to another temple and a garden. We had lunch in a dive. I decided not to eat and instead ventured over to a Public School that was across the street from the restaurant. I was surprised to find out Public over here means Private. One of the teachers of geography gave me a tour. I went into all the classrooms and said hello to the kids. They all stood and welcomed me. The younger kids have 40 students in a classroom and then when they are in around third grade it goes down to 20-22. This is the opposite of the U.S. We feel the younger students need more one on one instruction at lower grades and increase it somewhat to 25-30 as they get older. The school was K-10 and I went into classes from pre-school to 8th grade. The rooms are very small. They use blackboards - no whiteboards, although they did have a computer lab that the students spend time in everyday. They have curriculum on the computers designed for teaching students subject matter. I met the principal and we talked about the education process that is necessary to teach as well as to become a principal. In order to be a principal she had to get an MBA.

When we got back to the hotel, we checked in and then eight of us rented two taxis to take us to the mall. We headed right for McDonalds. It was really interesting to see no beef served. I had a version of the Big Mac made out of spicy chicken. It was call the Maharaja burger. I also ate french fries and a coke. It was soooooo good. From there I went by myself to a Bollywood movie called Om Shanti Om. It was fantastic. It was not in English but every once in a while they would break out a few English words. There was one serious scene with a lot of yelling and in the end she says in English "I'm pregnant." That told me all about the scene in just two words. We had assigned seats and lots of food to chose from. They told me they'd bring it to my seat if I wanted. Since I had already eaten, I passed. A couple sat next to me and during the intermission the man left to get her somthing to dirnk. I asked her why they killed off the two stars of the show and she said not to worry they'd be back. I said how can they do that when they are dead and she said through reincarnation. She was right. After the intermission the main male star was back up on the screen reincarnated. It was funny, sad, scary, romantic, colorful, and full of dancing. I loved it.

I met Harvey, Gene and Merry after the show and we went to KFC. It was very good. They give you a salsa type sauce to dip the chicken stirps in. The cole slaw was very similar to the U.S. Then we found our cab driver who was driving a mercedes and he took us back to the hotel. He had waited for us the whole time we were there. We had to pay him an additional 600 rupes to stay. It was well worth it.