I'm In-Country

Day One

The airport was under "upgradation" which means its being renovated. I was made to walk though the construction as it was happening. That was my welcome to India and it was actually fitting. India is definitely a place where the individual is expected to take on much more responsibility for themselves. My years of walking though San Francisco paying little attention to traffic lights or cars for that matter has served me well. There are no traffic lights here. There's no crosswalks, no right of way, no rules. Everyone in a car, on a motorcycle, on a bike or on foot compete for space on the road and they all go by the one rule that does exist; Who dares wins. It seems that kind of thing applies to many other aspects of life here. It seems to be at least one gestalt of Indian culture.

I was picked up at the airport by two guys. I have a hard enough time with Western names so don’t ask me to remember their names. They do rhyme though I remember that. We drove a bit though Delhi giving me my introduction to India. For someone who hasn’t been here, the best frame of reference is Mexico. Actually Mexico is Eden in comparison but it still sort of maybe gives a frame of reference. We drove though many shanty towns which seem to pop up on any open space. I witnessed multiple instances of mothers bathing their children on the sidewalk. There were also a few adults doing the same thing. Unfortunately my camera was still packed so I didn’t get any pictures of the drive in.

We arrived at home base and I ate my first authentic Indian meal. I thought it was awesome but from their standards it was just a simple lunch. It seems that food plays a huge part in this culture probably even more so than with the French. I’m staying in what is considered a middle class flat. Its quite nice actually. This is where my group is supposed to congregate before we take the trip up to Dharamsala. After lunch I took my first bucket shower. It wasn’t so bad. I guess the fact that the air temperature is over a hundred degrees makes it bearable.


Soon after I settled in I took my first excursion out into the city by myself. I walked around the marketplace and a middle class communities. Click here for pictures


Day 2

I was alone for day one. I woke on day two to the sound of someone else taking a bucket shower and realized I was no longer alone. A bit later I walked into the living room and scared the hell out of Angela. She’s from Calgary and here for three weeks.. Her father is from India, Ameritza, Punjab to be exact. She’s going there on the second weekend. It sounds like a great place and I may join her along with a few others. We ended up spending the day together first walking around the local market then we took a tour of Delhi by taxi. I took about three hundred pictures that day. Here’s the best ones.

Click here for pictures


Day 3

Everyone else except for one is now here. I went to sleep with only Angela in the flat and woke to an additional three girls. Pam and Jodi are also from Calgary. None of the Calgary girls knew each other before coming here. Nicole is from Scott’s Valley. Today was the orientation. There’s another flat containing a family from Utah that’s traveling the world together for seven months. Eric and Elizabeth are mom and dad and the three kids ranging in age from six to twelve are Reece, Laura and Ann. Also in that flat are Andrea from Michigan and Chelsea from Calgary. The last person has yet to arrive so I don’t know about them.

So now this leads me up to now. Tomorrow I fly to Dharmsala. My next post will be next Sunday. See ya...