Day 1 in India complete.
Total culture shock engaged.
Misc thoughts/highlights
*Its going to be weird being afraid of water. I love water and to always be thinking "oh god this could kill me" when I'm around it/drinking it/using it is totally foreign. I genuinely think this may be the toughest thing.
* I am going to get used to being dirty. While at this amazing hotel I can come inside into air conditioning and take a ridiculous shower and feel clean again but I could feel my exoskeleton of dust and city grime covering me by 5. I also have a ton of boogers and snot to cough up but have yet to get past the western politeness of not spitting or picking my nose in public. I have a suspicion (if I want to breathe) I will have to get over that.
* During rush hour breathing gets hard. I would have to stop mid breath sometimes because of the smell of exhaust or the sudden rush of gritty air.
* Despite all the negatives there are some really amazing things too that I think will really show themselves more as I get used to how things are here. Today was a lot of slack jawed staring at my new temporary Tamil travel companion Kishire shouting at rickshaw drivers, walking into what in dc would be considered certain death traffic and smiling the whole time while commenting about how beautiful India is.
* The hotel is amazing. I'm so lucky to have a connection like this. It's been amazing to not only have a really nice hotel to transition into but even more importantly to have lucked into a guide of sorts with tons of experience and a taste for blonde men.
* Saw the India Gate, the Parliament house and Hamayun's tomb. Tomb was extremely impressive, gate and the Parliament house is sort of reminiscent of the National Mall...if it were more crowded and covered in trash. .
*Went to my first Sikh temple. You have to take of your shoes and cover your head. The outside of the temple is quite nice but the inside looked like it was covered in Christmas garland. One big perk was they gave you some free food after walking around a bit. Actually pretty yummy and hot enough that I trusted all the deadlies were cooked out of it.
*The rickshaw drivers kept trying to take us to shitty little markets because they get some rupees from the owners for dropping unsuspecting and gullible tourists off at their spot and a commission on anything we buy. I was genuinely excited to see a "market place" but none of this stuff really qualified. Lots of cheap knock offs and over pushy salesmen following the white dollars signs.
* Every shop employes about 700 people per shift. The stores almost always have more staff than customers from what I can see.One guy will open the door, one will ask you how you are, one will show you the good, one will wrap the good, one will bag the good, one will tie the bag and one will hand it to you.
* Lots of stray dogs. Watch out for rabies?
That's about it for today. I'll try to not write in bullet points as much as we move on.
Total culture shock engaged.
Misc thoughts/highlights
*Its going to be weird being afraid of water. I love water and to always be thinking "oh god this could kill me" when I'm around it/drinking it/using it is totally foreign. I genuinely think this may be the toughest thing.
* I am going to get used to being dirty. While at this amazing hotel I can come inside into air conditioning and take a ridiculous shower and feel clean again but I could feel my exoskeleton of dust and city grime covering me by 5. I also have a ton of boogers and snot to cough up but have yet to get past the western politeness of not spitting or picking my nose in public. I have a suspicion (if I want to breathe) I will have to get over that.
* During rush hour breathing gets hard. I would have to stop mid breath sometimes because of the smell of exhaust or the sudden rush of gritty air.
* Despite all the negatives there are some really amazing things too that I think will really show themselves more as I get used to how things are here. Today was a lot of slack jawed staring at my new temporary Tamil travel companion Kishire shouting at rickshaw drivers, walking into what in dc would be considered certain death traffic and smiling the whole time while commenting about how beautiful India is.
* The hotel is amazing. I'm so lucky to have a connection like this. It's been amazing to not only have a really nice hotel to transition into but even more importantly to have lucked into a guide of sorts with tons of experience and a taste for blonde men.
* Saw the India Gate, the Parliament house and Hamayun's tomb. Tomb was extremely impressive, gate and the Parliament house is sort of reminiscent of the National Mall...if it were more crowded and covered in trash. .
*Went to my first Sikh temple. You have to take of your shoes and cover your head. The outside of the temple is quite nice but the inside looked like it was covered in Christmas garland. One big perk was they gave you some free food after walking around a bit. Actually pretty yummy and hot enough that I trusted all the deadlies were cooked out of it.
*The rickshaw drivers kept trying to take us to shitty little markets because they get some rupees from the owners for dropping unsuspecting and gullible tourists off at their spot and a commission on anything we buy. I was genuinely excited to see a "market place" but none of this stuff really qualified. Lots of cheap knock offs and over pushy salesmen following the white dollars signs.
* Every shop employes about 700 people per shift. The stores almost always have more staff than customers from what I can see.One guy will open the door, one will ask you how you are, one will show you the good, one will wrap the good, one will bag the good, one will tie the bag and one will hand it to you.
* Lots of stray dogs. Watch out for rabies?
That's about it for today. I'll try to not write in bullet points as much as we move on.
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