... but first I return to COVID.
We were on our way to Valpari and the Stanhome Bungalows in the middle of miles and miles of Tamil Nadu tea estates. This was possibly the most beautiful area on the whole trip. Impeccably clean, the tea bushes lined up like gigantic jigsaw puzzle pieces. We passed the tea pickers carrying their bundles to be weighed. We saw the houses where they lived. I asked Shaji if the tea pickers were poor? He gave an detailed explanation, saying basically, "They are indeed poor, but things have improved." They had protections akin to the kind of unions that farm workers have in the U.S. "Do their kids go to school?" "They do certainly." They have even made improvements to how the tea leaves are picked making the work more efficient and productive and, thereby, more lucrative. I knew I could ask Shaji's opinion about anything and receive an honest and fair response. The whole of our driving time went like this. Our discussions veered from life in India to life in the US, politics, economics, education, favorite color, favorite food ... When we came to traffic that seemed impossible to maneuver I said to Shaji that I would stop talking so he could concentrate on driving. He laughed. "Oh don't worry about that Ma'am. This is normal."
Traveling with a good companion meant the world to me. I knew that our time together would end. I began to think about ways that I could continue with Shaji. Did he have other clients after his time with me? How much was his daily fee? I still didn't know what was going on in the heads of the ATO and WWE with regard to COVID. I had explained the whole scenario to Shaji. I was wearing my mask but noticed that, after the first day, he stopped wearing his.
We arrived at the Stanhome Bungalows in the early afternoon. Lunch was waiting for us. We were hungry and it tasted great. They also had a place where Shaji could stay, which is common for this kind of resort, especially when everything else is far away..
Much later in the afternoon the group bus arrived. I watched from the porch as wobbly and unhappy travelers exited. It took the bus much longer to travel that long, curvy, hilly road. Even though they stopped to tour a tea plantation, as well as for lunch, there was loud complaining. "We were told it would be 3 hours and it was 6 hours." The pulse of the group was worsening. I also noticed that the group had a leader, kind of like high school kids. Traveling with Shaji was looking really good.
That evening, the ATO, accompanied by the IFG, came to where I was sitting at a table on the veranda. Here was the plan. In the morning I would take an antigen test and, if it was negative, I would take a second test 24 hours later. If the second test was also negative I could rejoin the group. If the first test was positive then I could call my travel insurance, return to Bangalore, change my flights and return home. It couldn't continue like this. This was the evening of day seven and I had been asymptomatic for many days and had finished the full course of Paxlovid. Nevertheless, secondary to the nature of COVID, there was a good chance that the test would measure the proteins of the dead virus; that is, the test might still be positive. For the second time I asked the ATO if he would speak to my doctor. "HELL NO!" he yelled. Experiencing the ATO's rigidly paternalistic style was deeply offensive. I can't describe how I felt listening to this guy tell me what I could do with the rest of my vacation if the test was positive.
Prior to this veranda meeting, I earlier learned from the IFG that the plan of the ATO and WWE was to demand a PCR retest. This goes strongly against all recommendations. PCR testing is universally not done before 90 days. I knew they were shooting from the hip as they went along, but they must have realized that this was inappropriate. I don't know if it was their decision alone or if the IFG had some influence. In our nightly discussions, I protested to the IFG. If their demand was PCR testing, this meant that they never had any intention of me rejoining the group.
I agreed to repeat the antigen test in the morning.
The next morning at 8:00 am the ATO arrived, double-masked, with his nose uncovered and the wire ribs of the masks resting on his upper lip. He was accompanied by the IFG to watch me do my test. This provided me with my first comic relief since my positive COVID test. What I was thinking cannot be written here, but I seized an opportunity. Stating his name, I said to him, "If you are going to wear a mask, at least wear it correctly." The IFG had to help him adjust the mask so it covered his nose. I did my nasal swabbing. I was nervous. During the 15 minute wait time, I left the ATO and IFG to roll my suitcase to Shaji's car. At that moment I had no idea where he would be driving me.
The test was negative.
Just before departure from Stanhome Bungalows, we saw a delightful pair of Indian Scimitar Babblers (Pomatorhinus horsfieldii). We took dozens of photos as they flew around looking for the territorial intruder, a speaker hanging from one of the plants. Really charming birds, but I think we harassed them beyond necessity.
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