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Arrival and first glimpses of India…
I've been procrastinating on writing my blogs for India because I'm not even sure where to begin….I'm just going to sit down and write what comes to me and hope that I am able capture even a fraction of what I have experienced in the past few days.
Before I really start…I want to say that I loved India…I'm not sure anymore what I thought I knew about India before I came here but I now realize that I didn't know anything! It is a land of culture and lifestyle that I may never understand. It is colorful, dirty, smelly, beautiful, exotic, chaotic, loud, spicy, and just indescribable. My first day in India might be my favorite SAS day so far.
We arrived in India on March 11th and when I woke up there was an interesting smell in my cabin… I went up to breakfast and walked out on the 6th deck and was a little taken aback by the sight. It was filthy and smelled.The crew had covered the entire ship in cardboard and saran wrap to protect the carpets and other surfaces from the dirt and pollution. All we could see was a layer of smog in the air and thousands of little Hyundai i10 cars lined up on the pier ready to be loaded on to a ship berthed next to us. We docked in Chennai, formerly known as Madras, in South India.
Our first task in India was to clear the ship. India is bureaucratic nightmare and was a ton of work for us. The Indian customs and immigration officers required a face to face check of all passengers on board the ship as well as a landing card and other documents to be distributed before we could disembark. Once we finished up with that and I exchanged a few Rupees, the adventures could really begin.
I ventured off of the ship that first day in the early afternoon with Amanda, Noah and Mario.Even just walking off of the ship was an experience.There were people waiting at the gates of the ship just to see us. You kind of feel a little strange because everyone was looking at us, not in a bad way but just curious. We made our way to the gates of the Port area and had our first attempts at bargaining for transportation.Our plan was to head to an area called T Nagar and Pondy Bazaar which is a market and shopping district to get some lunch and check out the markets. There were at least 20 different auto-rickshaw drivers waiting at the gate for SAS'ers. They came at us so fast each trying to get us in to their vehicle and throwing out ridiculous prices.Before getting in any taxi or rickshaw you have to negotiate a fare with the driver because they don't use the meters, especially for foreigners. We finally did end up negotiating with one driver and ended up in a taxi that fit all 4 of us instead of 2 rickhaws.It wasn't a terrible deal and the driver even stayed with us all afternoon and drove us back to the ship. Our only hiccup was on the way to T Nagar, he took a little detour and brought us to this super expensive tourist trap store that had carpets and other crazy things.This is apparently the norm as everyone we spoke to had the same experience at one time or another during their stay.The drivers get a commission for bringing tourists to these places.We didn't stay there and you have to be very direct with the driver and insist they take you to your intended destination. We finally reached Pondy Bazaar and we found a place for lunch. The problem was that it was across the street. Crossing the street is kind of like playing chicken with the traffic.It's not like at home where you think you have the right to cross the street. You DO NOY have the right to cross the street. The best way is to find a native person and run behind them. We finally made it across the street. I could probably write and entire blog just on traffic in India! I had only had Indian food two other times; with Andrew and his friend Sunil at a restaurant in Tarrytown and at our last Port, Mauritius, so this was exciting.I got a Paneer tikka masala dish and rice and naan.Paneer is probably one of my favorite Indian foods.It is a cottage cheese cube that had the consistency of tofu and naan is wonderful.I could eat naan all day. The fun thing about eating in India is that you eat with your hands and only your right hand!This is pretty challenging for me as a lefty! I also wanted to order a lassi drink but we were warned against fresh uncooked foods and dairy. Not that it's bad in India, but that our bodies and digestive systems aren't used to it and we'd get pretty sick.We also only have to drink bottled water and no ice cubes.I did manage to eat with my right hand and everyone's food was really good. My whole meal came to like $3.
After lunch we went back outside and it was a little bit of a shock.After being in the air conditioned restaurant, the blast of the world outside was crazy, the environment had faded in my mind for a minute but I was quickly reminded…it was hot and crazy and it was India!The sidewalks were filled with vendors and people everywhere!There are lots and lots of people. Women is bright colorful sari's and bindi's sparkling on their foreheads and also women in ragged shredded sari's carrying small children barely clothed begging for food and money. There is garbage everywhere on the ground and stray dogs all over, there are stores with beautiful silks and other fabrics, there are fruit stands, and Hindu temples. It was so interesting to just walk through all of it and take it in. There is so much to take in…it is sensory overload. You can smell it and hear it and see it.It seems a little intimidating at first but there is nothing harmful about it. While I had no intention of actually buying a Sari, but that is just what happened.Amanda and I found a great store and unlike most of the stores, there were women who worked there. These women dressed us up in the most beautiful saris and we had a great time. The colors and designs were amazing and you felt so beautiful. I ended up buying 2 saris, one formal black sparkly sari and one purple and gold silk sari.It was a total of almost $40 for both and I figured between my mom, Heather and I, hopefully each one will be worn once. I think that I will probably wear the black one for at least a little while at the Ambassador's Ball at then end of the voyage. Noah and Mario were very patient while Amanda and I shopped. I also got a Salwar which is another traditional women's outfit with pants, a long tunic and a scarf. I may never wear that one again either but it was so fun.
We headed back to the ship at around 5pm because Mario and I were going to a Welcome Reception later that evening.Got back to the ship and showered… we were all soaked I sweat and dirt from our afternoon out. I wore my salwar to the reception! (There are pictures in the album) The reception was very nice; they greeted us with sandalwood paste smears on our foreheads and flower leis. There was traditional music and dance performed and we got to taste more traditional foods.I had a Mehndi, henna design, painted on my hand and spent some time chatting with students from a University in Chennai.They were really nice and so welcoming and friendly. It was such a great end to a crazy wonderful first day.
We went back to the ship around 10pm and then I had to pack for my trip to Northern India. My trip left at 3am!!!
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