[travel] India is a giant Fry's.

As I entered the immigration area, I walked past a long line of numbered counters with a little light illuminating the numbers of the free ones, each staffed by an Indian immigration official. We all stood in one line, and when we got to the front, another Indian official in a chair told me which number to go to. I suddenly got a huge grin on my face as I realized that I was getting a taste of home. Anyone who's been to the Palo Alto Fry's knows what I'm talking about.

[travel] Oxytocin fun

I was thrilled when I walked into a pharmacy in Laos and saw *everything* for sale. Interestingly, one brand of cough syrup here contains opium. I got most excited to see that you could buy Oxytocin (Not OxyContin)... over the counter. For those who don't know, oxytocin is secreted in large amounts during orgasm, and is associated with forming feelings of trust and love. It also, in even larger amounts, induces labor in pregnant women. This is the purpose for which it is sold. For men, the oxytocin rush during orgasm is apparently accompanied by an even larger testosterone rush, so simply having an orgasm isn't the same as boosting your levels of ocytocin.

I wanted to buy some, but I did some research first. They were selling it in syringes. Apparently the digestive system breaks it down if taken orally, so the two alternatives are a nasal spray and an injection with a syringe. No improvised spray bottle was handy, and I don’t have those heroin-addict injection skills. So no experiment was performed.

[travel] Airport people-watching and more

Given that it takes 1.5 hours to get to the interesting stuff in mumbai (each way) from the airport, I'm spending my 6 hour layover reading and blogging. Nice how that works out.

What I've noticed so far:
– This is the first place I've been *in the world* where middle/upper class people still primarily wear their country's traditional dress. Given I'm in the airport making a domestic transfer, I'm probably seeing the upper crust of Indian society. I'm surrounded by women in beautiful saris. (yes, it's amusing that I, a straight guy, am looking at the fabric instead of the wearer's body and face even though a lot of the women are very pretty) None of the men are wearing traditional Indian garb though... probably an artifact of the businessmen having to spend so much time interacting with other cultures. I suppose I'll see a lot more traditional garb in the middle east.
This airport is horribly disorganized. Horribly. Admittedly they're doing construction, but should the shuttle bus between the terminals (not connected in a walkable fashion) only come once an hour? Seriously.
– Gender roles are much more traditional in this part of the world. There was an ad saying, “book a flight during [some special period] and your wife flies for free. It's like a 1950s era Life Magazine ad.
– There are slums right next to the airport. The planes come within 300ft of them. I suppose it's my introduction to the startling income inequalities here. There's a company that does ethical slum tours (no photography allowed)... I'll probably do one.