Wait, what happened?

So here I am, in India. Quite the jump from my last blog entry. Let me give you the update.

I found the plane to Singapore, and if I'm being totally honest, I don't even remember how. Most of my travel is now a blur. I do however remember the couple next to me being very nice, and the guy behind me making sure to kick my chair every few minutes. Fortunately I was able to get some sleep in, although it was sporadic. Being that it was a 17+ hour flight, they gave us two meals, and a snack in between; I don't remember the food either, but I do recall enjoying it. In the times where I was awake, and unable to fall asleep again, I watched some of the "new releases," all of which I enjoyed.

Having finally arrived in Singapore (very grateful for the lack of turbulence on solid ground), I went on the search for my next flight. After asking around I found out that I had to exit the airport, passing through customs/immigration, get my next boarding ticket, go through security, and then proceed to my gate... in less than two hours. It may have spiked a little anxiety in me. Weirdly, it was all incredibly easy, and next thing I know I was walking past the gate I had just come from and waiting for the next flight. As a side note, security at Singapore is wildly easy, and I think America could adapt their system.

Next thing I know, I'm falling asleep on the plane, for one of the best naps I've had in a while, especially on a flight. Then, almost suddenly, we were landing in India. Their immigration is much slower, but well worth it to get to the final destination. Now one of the perks of going to help someone out, is that she sent a car to pick me up. Damn it felt fancy.

Pretty much everyone I spoke to said it would be culture shock, and it's one thing to know that, and another to actually be in it. On the short trip to my final stop, I stared silently out the window soaking it all in. Now I've seen movies, and I've heard stories, but no American experience prepares you for watching a motorcycle speed down the road, the opposite direction of travel, with three people stacked on the back with not a care in the world. I seriously thought I'd see a head on collision every 30 seconds, but they would just scooch out of the way driving a hairs distance away from another car. There is also, a cacophony of honking, which is perhaps a language of its own as not one person turned their head to acknowledge the sound. I can confidently say that I will never, ever drive in India. At one point we crossed three lanes, of what I would compare to a freeway, with zero regard for backing up other traffic. It was definitely safe, no one was even tapped by another vehicle, but I wouldn't have even made it out of the parking lot.

As we raced by the multicolored buildings, you would see vendors selling street food, operating store fronts, fixing motorcycles, all with completely open views like they had forgotten to add a fourth wall. Next them there would be people sitting around, or you'd have a heaping pile of broken down cardboard boxes. There were people who were walking along with carts selling one type of fruit, and what I would classify as an off amount of people just sitting along a stretch of road next to their scooter, with nothing around them. There are also a fair amount of stray dogs, and with all the trees, a countless number of birds. The closest thing I think I could compare it to would be Mexico, but it still doesn't quite capture what it feels like.

My driver (don't I sound fancy), having pulled up to my final stop of this trip, showed me to where I was staying. I was quite relieved that this part of the journey was finished. Now I just had to stay awake for another 8 or so ours so I could fall asleep at a normal time, and hopefully skip the jetlag. I met the nanny, who speaks Tamil, and not a word of English, who somehow communicates very clearly though hand gestures and she helped get me settled in.

Then I met Erin, the woman I'm here to help, and her son. She gave me such a lovely warm welcome, checking that I was comfortable, offering me food and drinks, and really winning me over with a cup of coffee; after traveling that long, it seemed like a dire necessity. I was also very lucky that her son took to me quickly. She gave me the 411 on everything in the cottage, and the temple that is part of the clinic, as well as where to exchange money and hire a driver to take me around.

Somehow, I made it through the day, having a lovely meal provided by the clinic, and when it came to going to bed, I promptly fell asleep. Don't worry, I also made sure to use bottled water to brush my teeth and rinse my mouth when going through my bedtime routine; there's no way I'm letting myself get sick after all it took to get here.

Ten glorious hours of sleep later, miraculously managing to skip jetlag with a 13.5 hour time difference, and a slow morning have me ready and raring to go. So, let's see what's out there.

A final note, I was so tired and overwhelmed with what I was seeing that I completely forgot to take any photos. Hopefully I'll be more on my game today.Read more