I made it to Delhi. I know it sounds ridiculous, but there was a part of me, a very large part, that believed that maybe I wouldn't. But I did. In a business class seat, which stands as proof, to me, that God is real.
Notes on my first impressions:
1. Jet lag is real. This ain't a game. Yesterday Bob woke me up at 6 pm (8:30 am Eastern time) and I burst into tears. Then I refused to eat, because I was so tired I thought I was going to throw up.
2. India is hot. This ain't a game. Yesterday it was 106 degrees, and in the early afternoon Bob took me out to show me the places he shops. When we got back I was more sweaty than Sylvester Stallone in Rocky III. Bob also mentioned, casually, that yesterday was the hottest day of the year, and that most Indians don't go outside before evening unless they have to. I was not nice to him when he said that.
3. Indian people are nice, kind of. Everyone smiles at you. I read in a travel guide not to smile at people, especially men, and I was very determined to heed this advice before I arrived. And then I got here and people flashed me their perfectly white teeth left and right. So I smiled back, feeling guilty the whole time. That travel book seemed so serious. There were other times people weren't so nice though. When I arrived at the airport, I spent an hour pushing my six bags around on a cart and searching for Bob. When I tried to navigate around a group of men standing at a coffee kiosk, my cart tipped over and all the bags fell on the ground. Instead of rushing over to help me, the men just watched me struggle to rearrange my luggage on the cart. I wanted to give them an extended lecture on the virtues of hospitality, but I was too sleepy. See note #1.
4. There are three housekeepers that come to our apartment everyday and clean EVERYTHING. I hate the idea of it, but I love the result. I mean, who wouldn't like for someone to make their bed every day and wash the dishes?
5. The clothes people wear here make Western clothes look stupid. I'm gonna need a sari asap. There is one exception to the magnificence of their attire. Every woman had on a dupatta, those multipurpose scarves you've probably seen before. When we got home, I asked Bob, "Why were all those women wearing scarves? It's too f-ing for all that." Actually, I said something more profane than that, but I'll spare you.
6. India is beautiful. It is a place of extremes, which I read in several places but didn't really understand until I arrived. On the way from the airport to our apartment, a beggar came to our car at a stoplight. She tapped on the window determinedly but gently, and raised her other hand to her mouth like a child asking for food. She was old, visibly poor, and beautiful. Behind her, the sun glinted off the silver hood of a BMW. Our driver sternly told us to ignore her. On our drive, cows rested in the shade, men walked alongside carts drawn by horses, and the loud and obnoxious bursts of motor bike engines startled me over and over again. I noticed high rise apartment buildings and skyscrapers emerging from the dust of buildings crumbling from age and lack of care. Our apartment is nicer than our house in Kentucky, but there are homeless children living yards from the gate surrounding our compound. Of all things, I think this will take the most getting used to.
Fifteen million people live in Delhi, and now Bob Lanham and I do too. I am so very, very excited to be here.
