the monsoon, finally

friday at 5pm we started our office festivities. a few team building games. thankfully i was appointed judge. who says you can't trust the white man? at 7 the engineering group headed for the go-cart track. the drizzle turned into real rain. i put on the provided helmet, worried slightly about picking up head lice. fortunately the stink inside the helmet made me forget all about the lice. i started around the treacherous track, the front tires kicking up dirty road water onto my face (the helmet visor was missing). 6 laps later and back in the pits i was soaked and filthy, though i was sure i had the fastest time of the group. there was little satisfaction in this, however, as my co-workers are so uncompetitive (see the bowling entry some weeks back). i watched the next group as i picked the grit from by teeth and eyes. lots of crashes and spinouts--good stuff. i think some people weren't aware that the go-carts had brakes. the group after us was even more fun to watch, crashing into one another and even destroying a car.

filthy and wet, we headed to a hotel to eat. "hotel" means restaurant in india. no one seems to know why. we ate chinese, which seems to be the most popular non-indian cuisine in the country. i asked for chopsticks which freaked out my co-workers, who hadn't a clue how to operate them.

by now i was late for my meeting with B & V and their pals. i asked the guys to drop me off near the bar, unable to convince them to join me. V had brought his 2 cameroonian friends, N & E, who seemed bored out of their minds. a few glasses of beer and it was already closing time, and time for me to get my second soaking of the night on my walk back to the office where i had stupidly left my keys. a strange man in a car kept trying to pick me up on my way back home.

i woke up this morning with a sore throat and a raspy voice.