I am officially (and very tiredly) in India! My flights were incredibly long- I flew from Portland to Minneapolis/St. Paul (a four hour flight), then literally sprinted to my next gate and boarded for Amsterdam (a seven and a half hour flight), had a three hour layover, boarded another plane to Mumbai (a nine and a half hour flight). The first two I didn't sleep at all- the third I slept through almost completely, a good thing since there was no in-flight entertainment and I was seated behind five screaming children!
When I arrived in Mumbai, I left the two other Rotary girls with a Mr. Ganesham (he works for my host father) and he took me to a hotel near the other airport that I would be flying out of the next morning. Since the hours here in India are opposite from in the U.S., I didn't exactly sleep very much- not to mention the fact that I was alone and scared shitless about what I was attempting to do.
I flew to my host city for the year, Coimbatore, this morning. A perfect two hour length flight. When I arrived at the airport, my host parents, and some of the Rotary members from my club had come to meet me with flowers, and we spent a few minutes taking pictures before I went off with my host mother and father.
I absolutely love the apartment that I'm living in. Every inch of this place smells like Jazmine. Because I'm grimy from traveling and the water has been out (therefore I haven't showered), I haven't had the courage to venture outside in the courtyard, or walk around a bit to check it out. I plan on doing that first thing in the morning- after showering.
India is everything I expected- plus about ten trillion pounds more! It is very hectic, and there is a constant buzz of people and traffic no matter where you are. There are animals in the streets, and there really are no traffic rules. Cars go whichever way they want, honking at smaller traffic to get out of the way because, after all, the biggest vehicle will always win!
