After having met our clients the previous day, Soon and I are anxious to go to their office and learn about SEWA and our project. A driver is supposed to pick us up at 10.30 am. We two meet in the lobby around 10:20 am to wait for the driver to show up at 10:30 am. Our predecessors have already told us about his legendary driving skills. 10: 30 am no driver, 10:40 am no driver, 10:50 no driver, Soon and I wonder if we might have misunderstood something. We walk to the window to glimpse at the hotel driveway and with every car coming we think this must be him. Finally at 11:05 am a SUV arrives at the hotel and we both have the feeling that must be OUR driver. An indeed it is him.
While Soon opts for the front seat I have a seat on the backseat - which turns to be a wise decision later on. Our driver is fast and moves quickly though the traffic, not just on our lane but on all available lanes as though he was qualifying for the next Formula 1 Grand Prix. More than once does Soon step on his imaginary brake pedal but oh wonder we get to SEWA office safe and sound.
The SEWA office is located off a main road. We sign in and there we are. We wait a few minutes before Mohammadi arrives and shows us our office for the next days, a room just next to the entrance. Mohammadi hands us some brochures on SEWA to give us a better understanding what it is they do and as we have WLAN access there we also start looking at the various SEWA-sites to get an impression of their work. Also we have a look at our statement of work and the documented results of our predecessor team which is basically the starting point for Soon and me.
While Soon opts for the front seat I have a seat on the backseat - which turns to be a wise decision later on. Our driver is fast and moves quickly though the traffic, not just on our lane but on all available lanes as though he was qualifying for the next Formula 1 Grand Prix. More than once does Soon step on his imaginary brake pedal but oh wonder we get to SEWA office safe and sound.
The SEWA office is located off a main road. We sign in and there we are. We wait a few minutes before Mohammadi arrives and shows us our office for the next days, a room just next to the entrance. Mohammadi hands us some brochures on SEWA to give us a better understanding what it is they do and as we have WLAN access there we also start looking at the various SEWA-sites to get an impression of their work. Also we have a look at our statement of work and the documented results of our predecessor team which is basically the starting point for Soon and me.
Around 3 in the afternoon Mohammadi takes us for 
a quick tour of the building which turns out to be a production building where various types of garments are being produced. Some of them have elaborate embrodering which is all handmade by the women of SEWA. In the building the raw materals are cut and sewn. To ensure a high level of quality a quality inspection of every single peace takes place before the garments leave the house.
In evening we walk to a nearby restaurant where they serve South-Indian food. However we di not pick a good time as 8:30 pm is a popular dinner time. We decide to stay nevertheless and wait unitl it is our turn to get a seat. In the meantime we sit / stand comfortably outside the restaurant. As Per and I sit just in front of the door, Per is handed our waiting slip with our number. Funny enough the slip says, that the management cannot be held accountable for delays due to unavoidable circumstances - which could be pretty much everything. In addition the management reserves the right to allot seats to VIP guests. Obviously we are not as we have to wait outside. Several times the manager comes out to us to tell us it'll just be another 5 minutes, in the end it comes out more like to 20 minutes but that's ok as we enjoy the 25-26C evening temperatures. Next to us several Indian families are waiting to be seated as well. 
Some with children, some without. Right next to Per and me is a family with two little girls, one maybe 1.5 years of age, the other one maybe 3-4 years old. The latter one keeps looking and me and we start waving hands at one another. Later the little gitl opens a package of strawberry cookies and comes over to Per and me to offer us some, so that we will not starve to death while waiting to enter the restaurant. Later in the restaurant, I want to return the favor by buying her an ice cream but to my suprise she denies the offer but comes over to our table together with her auntie to say Thank you and Good Bye. What a little cutie she is.
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