Day 3

I am finally at the new guesthouse.  Perhaps, it is my ignorance, but taking an overnight  train—even in an air conditioned car—was an experience. We were crammed together (3 layers) where each person was given a “bed” (fold out bench) that was like 5 ft 8inches in length by 1.5 feet in with.  We had roughly 2 feet in height between each bed.   Nonetheless, we are in Thanjavur! Today we get the day off, so it will be pretty relaxed—a little bit of exploring, R&R, etc… The best surprise was that we had FRENCH TOAST for breakfast—usually it has been some sort of bread with vegetable soup/stew concoction.  The word of the day in Tamil is: nandri… it means thank you!   And on that note, nandri for reading this update and more to come soon! 

Day 2

       Today is day number two in India. This morning, we went to Mahabalipuram (you can Wikipedia it).  We saw temples built from 600 Ad, the beach, gigantic boulders balancing on a downward slope and more.   After the 1.5-hour drive back to Chennai, we went to the mall, had lunch (I had a chicken stir fry from a Thai Halal-certified restaurant), got my cell phone, and a jar of Nutella for the room. During the long drive our driver was teaching me expressions in Tamil—hopefully I will retain some of what he taught. It is now almost 5pm and we are going to pack and get ready for the train to our next stop.  All in all, everything is going well. I am excited to be finally able to settle in (as we will be at the same place in the countryside for the next six weeks) and not worry about moving from place to place.  That’s it for now!

Arrival and Day 1

As I will not be on my computer constantly, some posts (such as this one) will actually be multiple posts.

Monday May 30 1:00am:

            What a day(s) of travel.  To begin, my TV was broken on my 14-hr flight from Chicago to New Dehli and there was a crying baby three rows away from me.  It was a long flight. Once I got to Dehli, I had to leave the airport and walk outside in the humid 105-degree weather to get into a different part of the airport from which domestic flights departed.  After a forty five-minute wait, I finally re-checked in.  Interestingly, security in India is very different.  When leaving the international area, you only have to send your bag through customs if you want to declare anything—there is no mandatory screening.  Then, when I was walking into the security, they put a tag on each of my carry-on bags that, once I walked through and was deemed safe, were stamped.  This stamp showed that they checked the bags and there was a security officer at the gate to check for the stamped tag before I could board the plane.  Additionally, they didn’t have a liquid limitation as I brought on a liter of water and they didn’t require me to take my shoes off. It is simply a different system. The dehli airport is gigantic and beautiful… and surprisingly not busy for its size. The walks to and from gates were LONG. 

            Once I arrived in Chennai, I was freaking out because it took over thirty minutes for my bag to come off the conveyor belt.  Then, the taxi service never showed—apparently they went for international arrivals rather than domestic arrivals (figured that out this morning). Therefore, I had to communicate with a random taxi driver, who spoken broken English (and poorly at that), at 11:30pm and hope he knew where this hidden guest house was located.  Also, fun fact: They drive like they do in England here.  Even thought it makes sense as India got its independence in mid-August in 1948 from the British, between the crazy driving and being on the other side of the road, it was rather nerve-wracking.  Luckily, I got where I needed to be—for an entire 450 rupees (yes, I was probably overcharged).  When I got to the guest house, I was deceptively relieved: It had gates, was white, and a nice courtyard.  It was the first place we passed (that I could see) that was not covered in filth and graffiti.  Despite the fact it is effectively a hostel with shabby living conditions, it looked like a palace in comparison to everything else.  Saying that, multiple people have woken up with a cockroach on their face. 

            Also, it can be really lonely traveling by yourself in unfamiliar territories.  There is no one to reassure you and no one to ask.  Saying that, you have the opportunity to meet really nice people—the people on the plane were very nice. It is hard navigating in and out of an airport, the anxiety of a potentially lost bag, and trusting your life in the hands of a man who you know is ripping you off, who you have never met, and with whom you cannot communicate to take you to an unfamiliar place in a foreign land. 

            Saying that, the air conditioning in my room and the hot shower made up for everything.  I was drenched ins weat from the little time I was outside and in the taxi at midnight.. I can only wait for daytime tomorrow.  Even though I feel like I am moving in a jet, I am finally here lying prostrated on my hard wooden bed. 

            I am not energectic, I am not tired, I am not jettlaged, but I am restless. Most of all, however, I am relieved that it all had a way of working out. 

            On that note, its time to sleep. Good night to India and have a great afternoon America.

Tuesday at 12:00am

            I survived my first day in India!  I woke up freezing (but not complaining.. I love our air conditioning), went down to breakfast in which we had some sort of lentil stew and fried dough.  From there, we went to the IIT building in which the ICTPH research team is located and were briefed/oriented into our work.  We ate lunch in the facility, and then went shopping (yay!, but not really). We came back to the guest house for the afternoon during which I took a nap, ate dinner, and then went to the Park Hotel (supposedly the nicest hotel in the city) and had a drink or two at the bar there.  We are back in the guesthouse now. Two of the girls watched the guesthouse employees fill our allegedly safe drinking water with water from the hose, so we are hoping we will not all be sick! Other than that, it was a low-key pretty relaxed day.

Tomorrow we are going to go to some caves an hour outside of Chennai on the beach for the morning and then go shopping for essentials (such as my cell phone) in the afternoon. Then, we are taking the evening train to the rural community in which we will be based for the next six weeks.  That’s all for now.

Heading out

So I have 2-3 hour plane rides and 1 14-hour plane ride in the next 24 hours--ouch.  Trying to sleep as much as possible on the plane rides themselves, I went to bed at 2am last night and woke up at 6am and went on a quick run. Let's hope that I will not be completely jet-lagged by the time I land--I get in at 11pm and have things starting at 8:30 the following morning.  

I am excited, nervous, not really sure what to expect.  I would love to hear from you, so I will have email, facbook, bbm, skype and whastapp etc....  let me know if you need the specifics!  

Ill post as often as possible!