Delhi!

After the never-ending flight to Delhi, we left the plane to enter a surprisingly clean, uncrowded and quiet airport. After reading our books we were expecting massive throngs of shoving and pushing people, but when we entered the high-ceilinged Indira Gandhi waiting room it was surreal- a big crowd of people, yes, but it was almost completely silent. We felt like we were walking a red carpet because a bar separated the Indians on either side of us who were holding up signs to various hotels. We easily spotted the SIT professors, who were waving and smiling at us. Then I saw Tevon, my friend from Bainbridge Island! His parents had given me a few things to take to him in India. Tevon had come from Jaipur that day, riding his motorbike on the 5 hour journey on the highway! What a crazy boy!
We both sat down with the SIT group and talked for about 2 hours. SIT let everyone choose their dinner from an airport stand. Mine was vegetable fried rice and garlic sauce for 100 rupees, about $2.

At midnight we walked out of the airport and Delhi enveloped us in a beautiful surreal haze, which is actually just the pollution in the air. We nervously walked past airport security guards with huge shotguns and several sleeping dogs. One started following us but Tevon told us that dogs are generally quite harmless in India. They are very cute and sleep in little curled balls on the sidewalks when they aren't scavenging in the trash.

We then had our first Delhi traffic adventure. Indian drivers sit on the right side of the car and drive on the left side of the road, with "lanes" being a flexible concept as well as the direction of traffic itself. If you have an opportunity you can easily veer into oncoming traffic in order to pass vehicles in your own lane. As crazy as it seemed at first, there is definitely a method to the driving style and it works well. All drivers must be completely alert in order to drive, whereas American drivers can remain on autopilot. It's just a completely different game. The Indian system consists of honking and flashing lights to communicate to other drivers about their intentions. Crossing the street has become one of my favorite activities. You never run across the street as you would in the US, because you'd get run over. In India you just start walking slowly into the street and traffic adjusts to your path. It's really exhilarating to watch the motorcycles and rickshaws veer around you.

We're staying at the YMCA Guesthouse in Delhi. I shared a room with a spunky girl named Molly, and we even had our own private bathroom with a Western style toilet and a choice of a bucket shower or a Western showerhead. I think SIT paid about $20 per room, which is definitely on the higher end of budget travel in India.

At the airport I could immediately tell that I was going to love my group. I have had so many interesting conversations with the other students and everyone is just as excited about being here as I am. We also completely adore our program director and faculty. They are all Indians, and they were so friendly, welcoming and organized. It's only been one full day here and I feel like I could go to them with any problem. We've already asked them tons of questions, such as how to eat our first Indian-style meal at a delicious restaurant the next day. You receive a huge metal plate called a Thali and it has several dishes on it- dals, curd (yogurt), and various vegetable & bean mixes (aloo gobi or chana masala or any other number of things).
Most food in Delhi and Rajasthan state is vegetarian, since 90% of the people are Hindu and so usually vegetarian.

I learned from Tara-ji how to use my right hand (never the left! that's traditionally the bathroom hand) to use puri (fried bread) to scoop up parts of the other dishes to eat. If there is rice, you can also use your fingers to mix the rice with other dishes, though this is usually done more often in traditional villages than in big cities, where Indians would prefer to use a spoon for rice. It was definitely the most fun dining experience I've ever had. We think we know what Indian food is like in the US but it is nothing like the real thing! Real Indian food is infinitely more varied and way spicier.

That's it for now!