Greetings from Delhi!

                Leaving Utah was everything it usually is.  A lot of last minutes, frantic running around, emotional stresses, a wide range of feelings, you name it.  After my parents dropped me off at the airport and I checked in my bag I got a surge of excitement.  My feet knew these shoes, my old Chacos, stained with some of my best memories.  I felt the intoxication of having just one bag on my back to carry me through the months.  I soaked it all on. I could not contain the smile.    

                Believe it or not, the flight from SLC to Delhi felt pretty short.  Our first stop was in Detroit, where I had my last Wendy’s hamburger for some time to come.  The picture on the left is of this strange tunnel Detroit had that reminded me of something in Fantasia.  Amsterdam’s airport was just what I imagined it to be.  There was a man in the women’s bathroom (oops, we are in Europe now, I mean the toilets) and tulips were sold by the dozens at nearly every shop. 

The only slightly adventurous thing about our plane ride was on the way to Delhi.  A guy who thought he spoke English sat to the right of me.  He reeked of alcohol.  It did not take long before he passed out on my shoulder.  He was huge, and I could not push him off of me.  Jodha, another BYU field study student traveling with me (and her name is changed on this blog, like all names), fell asleep on my left arm.  I gave in and just let it be for a few hours.  That only lasted until dinner, because that was when the drunken man in his slumber stuck his arm in my food.  Finally a flight attendant came to the rescue.  With a lot of effort, he was finally coerced into moving seats. 

Things have been cake since we arrived in Delhi, minus Jodha getting held up by some security with guns for walking back into the airport without her passport.   I have been told so many things about this place that I hardly know what to make of it.  I do not think I have yet seen the real city, so I am holding off on my own judgments.  For now, I can only safely say that it is very hot, and some things, like the traffic, bring me right back to Ghana.  I have yet to really see Delhi.

Jodha is staying to do her field work in Delhi, and her host family picked us up.  They have been so hospitable and accommodating.  They have a very, very nice house.  I have been living like a princess.  Literally.  Servants, and some of the best Indian food I have ever eaten in my life.  My first night in India I could not sleep because the AC was too cold.  I do not think that is what most people could say.  We have been shopping a bit with “auntie,” Jodha’s host mom.  I got myself my first suit.  A suit is not what you are thinking though.  It is a long Asian type shirt worn over some glorified scrub pants.  They are really comfortable.  Mine is a sea green and a light cyan blue.  I feel a bit like a balloon version of Princess Jasmine, but the ladies in the house insist that it looks good. 

Tomorrow, Jodha and I will be arriving in Dharamsala.  From there I will get a phone and find the housing coordinator to try and figure out where the students and I will be living for the next three months.  Today I am frantically trying to get together my last minutes that I forgot to do before leaving, including drafting my honors thesis proposal so that I can try and getting some funding for this project.  Wish me luck! 

Adela