Settling In (Yes, I'm Here)

What a week it's been! How can I even start? If I tell you that my overall impression of India is that it's "crazy", I feel like that's too much of a generalization, and kind of lazy also. You kind of have to be here though...

Well, I can at least give you a sense of what my first impression of the country was.

I took the O'Hare to Delhi American Airlines flight, which went without problems, except for the one problem of daytime disappearing, but that's another story. You know, because we took off in the evening, soon pulled the shades down for the plane to sleep, and then when I felt like the rest of the plane was generally up, we had already pretty much passed through the area of daylight and the sun was beginning to set.

Anyway, I got off the plane expecting a heat and humidity wave, but the Delhi Airport is actually air-conditioned, and also really, really nice. The International terminal was actually only opened two months ago, which a guy I was talking to told me is because of the Commonwealth Games coming up (the Commonwealth Games is an event which, according to Wikipedia, is the third-largest multi-sport competition after the Summer Olympics and the Asian Games).

So yeah. The Delhi Airport was really nice, I found a shuttle over to the Domestic terminal, slept a bit on the benches, and around 5:30 in the morning took off for Kolkata.

I had this secret fear that Jarrod wouldn't be there and that I would have no one to contact, but everything, again, was fine. In fact, Jarrod had paid a small fee to wait inside the airport just outside of baggage claim for me. My luggage came just fine and we were on our way.

So then we walked outside. My glasses fogged up, and I remember thinking that it felt like I had walked into a sauna. I mean, a huge sauna with a ton of people and lots of trash everywhere, but whatever.

This post is getting long, and the main purpose was to post pictures of our apartment. We found an apartment! It's very nice, furnished but no A/C, which is alright, because the fans here are turbo-powered. Judge from the pictures yourself.

This is our main living area. It's got couches and everything.

This is the other side of the room, the dining area. Check out the table: marble top, teak bottom.

This is the sweet side libary/sitting room. Though it still needs a chair, and that desk is full of papers.

The kitchen, very typical for India. We're hoping to get a cook for a few meals a week.

The bedroom. You can't see it, but in the corner is a sweet vanity.

The big bathroom, attached to our bedroom.

The guest bedroom. That trundle bed in the center will have mattresses, it's just that we're using them right now until our mattress is ready.

The small bathroom, attached to the guest bedroom.

I'm enjoying it here though. I haven't really experienced culture shock per se, or maybe it manifests itself differently in me. My main thing is that I feel really helpless to do anything, because everything is so different, and I'm still kind of scared to go out on my own, even though Jarrod has given me his blessing to. Well, it's only been a week. I'll start making foreys out pretty soon here.

Healthwise, we're well, although I'm working on a small cold, which is no fun. Nothing horrible though.

Today our facilitator, Sayani, is taking us to a big market, but I don't remember what it's called. I'm excited to get a few more outfits; I've acquired three so far, and I've been here a week. You do the math.

Anyway, I'm going to work on getting these photos up, so it's time for me to split. Keep in touch. I'll post again on Tuesday, if I can.

--Emily