INDIA IS CRAZY

Yep. That's right, crazy. It's pretty intense. Troy, you were right--as soon as we got to our bus at the airport in Delhi, some deceivingly helpful guys tried to 'help' us by trying as hard as they could to get our bags from us (even backpacks off of our backs) to put them in the bus. Of course, they're just trying to make a living, and that's fine. But it was. . . unexpected.

There is so much poverty here. I knew there would be, but this is just ridiculous. Shanty towns galore, and trash is everywhere. It feels so wrong to just walk past little kids as they hold out their hands and ask you for money and food. That part will take some getting used to.

(Delhi is hot)

We had a 30 minute bus ride (with a/c!) to the guest house we're staying at for two nights. It's a lot nicer than I expected. A/C in the rooms, even a TV. The bed seems pretty hard, though. The bus ride was insane. I think everyone would agree that one's first experience with driving in India is impossible to prepare for. I already had a headache and some congestion going from the flight from Hong Kong to Delhi, and the incessant honking didn't help any. Also: lanes? What lanes? The road is their lane.

We had a few hours of free time until the group dinner at the guest house, and many of us went to the Khan Market, which is about 10 minutes away. It's supposed to be sort of an 'upscale' market, but you wouldn't have guessed. Picture this: people coming in and out of tiny shops to try and sell you things, Sweet Chili Pepper flavored Lay's chips, black-market movies, rickshaws (more on that later) zooming by, and, the most welcoming part, dead dogs laying on the ground in one of the main alleys (needless to say, Darby wasn't too happy about that). We looked around for cell phone sim cards, found a couple of stores, but everywhere was too expensive. They aren't kidding when they tell you that you have to watch out and bargain while shopping; people really do try to take advantage of you if you're a westerner and look like you don't know anything.

After wandering around the market, Darby and I decided to head back because her feet were incredibly (and very visibly) swollen from all of the airplane sitting/walking. Hooray, tendonitis.
When we got here they gave us a business card for the guest house with the address on it, and it's a good thing they did. We obviously don't know where anything is, but ironically neither did any of the taxi drivers. One nice guy took the card and went and asked around for anybody who knew where it was. One rickshaw driver said that he could find it. He knew the street, but not where the actual house was.

(Delhi is hot)

The first rickshaw ride was absolutely insane. I felt like I was going to die the entire time. Imagine zooming in and out of lanes and roads with people on the street on one side and semi's on the other. Ok, so there weren't any semi's, but it felt like it. I guess you just have to trust the drivers--they know what they're doing, and even though noone pays any attention to rules and you think you're going to see a wreck every 3 seconds, it always turns out fine. Darby took a video on her camera, and I hope she'll figure out how to put it up here soon.

Sadly, the driver told us "50 rupees" when we got out, and our directors said never to pay more than 20-30 rupees at most. I only had a 50 and two 10's, though, and he wouldn't take 20. So basically, on day one, we got ripped off by a rickshaw driver in India. (Luckily 50 rupees is just a few cents over a dollar).

We had an awesome Indian food dinner back at the house, and picked up seven booklets (rather large ones) for reading for the program. I don't know how I fit them into my pack, but I did--after lots of rearranging.

Time to go read some and go to sleep--breakfast is at 6:30.

Oh, and Delhi is hot.