First experiences in India

***Written on June 1st

Well. All I have to say is that I will never drive a car in India. We just rode a taxi to our hotel room and it was a very scary experience. I was told the driving was crazy, but I don’t think anyone could have prepared me for this one. I’m like 99% sure we hit a motorcycle. The taxi driver just sighed and kept on driving. They don’t really have traffic laws here, or if they do they just follow the rules at their own pleasure. Though I will say, they are some very skilled drivers. They can weave in and out of each other without any problems. I’d die if I tried that.

Other than our taxi experience, our trip here has been pretty uneventful and everything has gone smoothly. Customs was just a guy looking at my passport and taking a piece of paper that he didn’t read. I didn’t expect that. On the plane I got caught up on some movies I’d wanted to see. I had the chance to meet some people who had been at school in the US but live in India. It was neat to get to hear what India is like from their view. They told us we were crazy for wanting to come here, especially at this time of year. One guy told me I must have lost my mind coming to southern India for my first time abroad. Oh, well. I’m here now and ready to see what everyone’s talking about.

On another note, I thought I wouldn’t eat Indian food until we arrived in Chennai or maybe tomorrow in Trichy, but I sure was wrong. They served us three meals on the plane that were strictly Indian food. I wasn’t prepared for that one. I figured I’d get a turkey sandwich or something. Good thing it didn’t upset my stomach. That would have made for a long flight. Not only did we get three meals on our long flight to Delhi, we also got served a full meal on our 3 hour flight from Delhi to Chennai. They’re fattening me up on this trip.

Off to Trichy tomorrow!!