Day 0- Travel Day
Can I pLeAsE just say.. EXHAUSTING

Two hours of sleep and frantic packing, on top of little sleep due to the Vegas nightmare, and cut to 29 hours of traveling with approximately 4 hours of interrupted sleep. I call this day zero because I don't think I was fully conscious of my actions due to sleep deprivation. We landed at 10:45 pm, India time. Which meant that it was really 9:15am Portland time! I wanted to sleep so much that I completely spaced all the names that were thrown at me. Three men, nice men, picked me up at the airport after an hour or so of finding my bags and going through customs and immigration.

There really is just no way to ease into Indian culture. The moment out of the airport you are no longer in any sort of comfort bubble. Home is gone and I was forced to realize what I really got myself into. I'll admit I was in a little bit of a panic. My first thought was… well never mind, actually I'm pretty sure I had thousands of overlapping thoughts the second I stepped out and saw the hundreds of faces at the exit gate. How about I just talk about a few?

First, "why is there so much honking"? OH MY GOODNESS! Did I ever learn! Apparently people don't use turn signals or break lights OR ANY KIND OF TRAFFIC LANES! Honking, I have so graciously learned, is a form of communication between drivers, truckers, and rickshaws… oh rickshaws. Honking is not meant to be rude or to mean some sort of driving hostility as it does in the states, it's a "friendly" reminder that another car is about to bash the back of your car in if you don't move over or go faster. Oh, and by the way, even if you do move I'm going to squeeze between you and disregard any traffic light or lanes. Honking also means you (you being the pedestrian) better move your fricken arse if you don't want to get hit crossing the 4 lane street.

Second, "why can't I carry my own bags"? I think I insulted my driver and my coordinators. I didn't know that I wasn't supposed to pick up my own bags. How was I supposed to know that I chivalry exists here? I think he was kind of surprised that I wanted to carry my bags. The second I showed up he took my cart full of luggage away from me. I barely had time to grab my purse and my sweatshirt! In the car they held my backpack and box and held on to it like it was their own. They said to get in the car and I completely misunderstood him and got in the back seat! Apparently I was to sit in front. Silly me. Personally I'm very happy with my mistake because I was not even close to ready for the outrageous traffic in Mumbai.

Third, "who's bright idea was it to put hundreds of luggage carts RIGHT NEXT TO the baggage claim belt, which by the way is only one loop for 400+ passengers on two flights"? What happens when people do this? I'll tell you! 400 people all grab a cart and put it right next to the baggage claim so that no one but about 25 people can grab their bags, that's what. Fricken ridiculous.
What else…?
OH YEAH. India smells like ass and is full of poverty, decay, trash, and dirt. Babies run naked in sewer water, grown men sleep on the street and piss wherever possible, little girls come up to you asking for food and money by tugging at your pants (not to mention heart strings), women wash clothes in the sewer (exscuse me, river) run off, and finally (if that were only true) the streets are infested with stray dogs that run in packs and can sleep among honking rickshaws.

I must say that the guesthouse we are put up in is great. It is the only clean place I have been in while in Mumbai. There are two men who live here and are hired to cook and clean for us. It's pretty great actually. The room has a nice air conditioning unit and it's own bathroom. The bathroom is alright. It's like a turquoise nightmare. Everything but the toilet paper is turquoise, and the toilet paper is hot pink… did I forget to mention that? The beds are hard, like home, and we have a view of the city from our two windows.

I set my alarm clock after discovering that all my lithium batteries are gone from my bag and went to sleep, which, needless to say was much needed.


Day 1- In Two Parts
Part I: Extreme Culture Shock
I woke up at around 7:30 am, which would make that 6:00 pm Portland time. I was told that my director was going to meet me at 9 to talk about going to Pune. I met her, she's so nice, and we talked about leaving tomorrow. Rachael and I will have a car to take us on the three hour drive to Pune where we'll meet our medical director Dr. Dubak. Meanwhile I finished breakfast and waited for Rachael to show up.

I was (still am) very nervous about the water. Last night I only drank the water offered to me because I the guy was watching me! I felt better this morning when I found out that the water here is filtered and that I can drink what they offer me (phew).

After breakfast, came lunch. There is just too much food here! They serve us like we're an army! I can't eat that much food! And it's spicy.. which just does not work well for me.

Part II: Breaking the Law

Rachael and I went to the gateway to India.
Photo people, death by rickshaw, dirt, train experience, breaking the law, dehydration, Will Smith, no women, oval square (!!), dirt, no smiling, always look angry, never look a man in the face… stares, red dots, dogs, dirt, internet cafes, signing the visitors log, having to wear my hair down!!

Can you tell I was tired?