Arrived

After a 14 hour flight from JFK in NYC I arrived in Delhi International Airport at 4pm local Indian Time(5:30 AM NYC time). The flight was rather uneventful, apart from some minor turbulence. Michael and I sat in the very last row of the plane, and there was an extra seat between us, so we had some elbow and foot room to spare. The in flight movies were all things I have seen, things I did not want to see, or Bollywood Movies. So I ended up watching a very funny, and shamelessly Ironic Bollywood movie called Om Shanti Om. The movie itself was iconic Bollywood. It had shameless dance scenes, and referenced many other Indian Cinema, most of which needed to be explained to me by Michael. All in all I would give suggest this movie to anyone who wants to see an Indian film but does not know anything about Bollywood.

Leaving the plane is always an experience in developing nations or foreign cultures. Everything seems normal and routine until you inhale. That first breath is the first real indication that you are in a completely new world. While European and American airports are sterilized of pretty much everything, the airport in Delhi is heavy with the smell of people. There is no reference in western society for the smell of India.

After passing through immigration, customs, and baggage claim with no problems, we headed over to the duty free shop to pick up a bottle of wine for dinner with our hostess in India. Wine in India is notoriously bad. Not like cheap wine bad, but like undrinkable swill bad. However we managed to find something drinkable and moved on to the Taxi.

Our taxi driver was careless, reckless, and lost the entire trip to Sashi's house. It was pretty much a normal car ride in India. Michael and I counted only 7 times where we almost had a head on collision, which is pretty much as good as one could hope to get from a taxi ride in Delhi. After a few "personal" stops for our taxi driver, and another 10 or so stops for him to ask directions, we finally arrived at Sashi's house in Subhash Nagar. Subhash Nagar is a middle class neighborhood in Delhi, and Sashi has a beautiful home. This area of Delhi can be compared to brooklyn for those of you following along at home.

After a delicious dinner and a bottle of wine Sashi, Michael and I stayed up till about 1 am Delhi time talking about Religion, Politics, Philosophy, Art, Culture, History, Math, and why none of that stuff matters anyway. At this point it was getting hard to keep my eyes open or concentrate. I was perceiving the world through a filter of exhaustion. So We all decided to call it a night. I fell asleep as my head hit the pillow.

Woke up after only 5 hours of sleep (damn jetlag). And now I am writing this blogpost before heading off to the first shower I have had in over 36 hours of travel. Needless to say I am looking forward to washing my trip off myself. More to come later.