I made it to India! So this first draft from India I decided should list a few of my firsts that I have had over the last three days. The first would be my first international flight. Even though it was almost 15 hours I was able to watch 3 movies, a couple episodes of the Office, play tetris, and take several naps with the provided blanket and pillow. I was very pleased. Upon our arrival into New Dehli it was not too big of a shock I suppose, but something completely different. No matter what people would have said I don’t think we’d be prepared. All three of us that came together had never been in a new country… SO it was quite the interesting sight. We had a driver who picked us up and took us to a nice place to stay.
The first drive down the street my eyes could not move fast enough! There are paved roads in cities, but not really any lanes. And even when there are lanes, people don’t really pay attention to them anyway. Cars almost never stop, the just swerve in and out constantly. Horns are going all the time. The first night we also noticed that the streets are mostly covered in men. There are a few women, and more during the day, but streets are predominantly men. Also in the streets are dogs everywhere and cows. That’s right, just random cows eating whatever and hanging out.
The second day we flew down toe Bangalore, where we met up with Mark, the only one with India experience. We were very please to see him! We then had a gret Indian meal which gave me another first- eating with my hand. I am quickly learning why the left hand and right hand are used for different things. There are many things I will no longer touch with my right hand, knowing I will be picking up food with it soon. Fortunately all the places we’ve stayed at so far have had real toilets. Only one didn’t have toilet paper- so that was another first!
We rode a train about four hours yesterday to a city called Mysore. Through the drive some of the sights were gorgeous. It looks a lot like how I’ve pictured Africa based on movie clips. Very green. Lots of plants, reddish dirt. But most of the buildings are very middle eastern. Some of the balcaonies are just gorgeous. So many different colors and plants all decorating them.
It’s a first to be one of only a few as well. We definitely stand out… But so far it has not been too unpleasant at all. We have met some very nice people and I am learning that that is one of the most comforting things! To have someone just be friendly, helpful and sincere… not much else could make your day.
That is all for now folks! But please send any questions you have. I have so many things I could talk about… so let me know what you’d like to hear about. Today we will hopefully travel to the Tibetan village- and I couldn’t be more stoked!
3 comments:
this is just awesome Melissa! keep it up and bring more inspiring stories to your blogg! I miss you a lot too!
I want to hear about the people that you interact with. Do you use an interpreter? Do most people speak English? Are people mostly receptive of Americans? I think that your experience will be quite a bit different than mine in China because of the size of your group. We had more than 20 people, so it was easy to just spend time with the group of Americans. You will interact more with the "natives" and will probably be more exposed to the unpleasant things of your host culture than I was. But you'll also gain a greater understanding and appreciation than I did. Man, I'm excited for you!
We aren't using an interpreter. A lot of people speak broken words and phrases so we do ok, at least in the INdian parts. As for the Tibetan parts, luckily we've just foudn some English speakers (such as the American and Gomo).
Our experience so far is that Tibetans are totally receptive and enjoy westerners. INdians stare and what not... but they don't seem to have anything against us, at least not that we can tell. Does that answer your questions Merry?
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