Yes, we made it to India. After 19 hours of plane flight (not too bad) we arrived here at about 2am. Yesterday we mainly slept and then tried to get oriented to the city. We went on a scavenger hunt and got to see some of the city and meet some people. I think I'm still trying to get used to my surroundings- I go back and forth between feeling smewhat comfortable and having no idea what I'm doing here. I think this is the first time I've traveled somewhere where I really don't know the culture at all. But in general I like the city- we're in the middle of the big commercial district so there are tons of people. And even though it's hot here, the humidity isn't bad at all so I'm comfortable (remember, I'm from Houston, so i have a different standard of humidity and I was expecting the weather to be like Thailand...). I just have time to add a quick "hello, I'm here" but here are some funny experiences so far:
- I have fully embraced showering out of a bucket (fill up a large bucket w
ith hot w
ater and use a smaller bucket to dump the water on yourself). We have a shower head in our bathroom but it's only two thin streams of water so it's just easier and more refreshing to go bucket style- never thought I would say that. (There are my buckets and shower area to the right- it's just level with the rest of the bathroom, separated by a curtain.)
- I think I've gotten ripped off on every rickshaw ride I've taken and have fallen for all the tricks. But I feel like God has given me a lot of grace so I'm never angry, but I just feel stupid. My favorite was today when we finally got the rickshaw driver to agree to a normal price, but then he "missed" our street and had to take a huge turn around because all the roads were one way and then he didn't have change, so I had to pay about 3 times what it should have been... (but you can't get angry because it still only cost $1.
- I went to a Muslim beef market and had to dodge gigantic hawks that were swooping down to grab pieces of meat the vendors had thrown out on the ground- and of course the vendors laughed at us.
ah the bucket bath. i'm actually a fan of washing my hair with a bucket...it seems more effective that way. for the full shower though, it's good to have any kind of partition.
ReplyDeletei think seeing the hawks in action would be interesting if not a little freaky.
i haven't read the rest of the reports yet, but i hope the trip is going well. God bless!