My first big email

Well, for those few of you who were still holding out on the longshot that I was going under in the first week, I'm sorry to burst the bubble, but I have now survived more than 7 days in India. Well, almost, yeah, I guess it has been... god it has seemed like so much longer.

I guess I might as well give you the highlights and then tell of some little quirks I've noticed along the way.

I got on a plane on the 20th of June, and started the first leg of the trip to Tokyo Japan. If some of you are considering trying to change flights in Tokyo, please make sure you use your common sense, read your ticket flight number, and get on the right flight, regardless of the printed time. That way you won't end up like me, stuck outside the comfortable bubble of Japanese orderliness, being pulled off the wrong flight to the right city at the right time, like a Japanese Kobe cow being pummeled by 4'5" stewardesses. Apparently these stewardesses come standard with your regular Japanese airport, because regardless, they all were the same height. Well, hypothetically speaking, say you miss your flight, have nowhere to stay, find a temple to hang out at, meet some Japanese cooks, participate in a Shinto temple with huge drums, and find out their is an entire 70ft tall pagoda dedicated to peace, well, then you might have a day like mine.

Singapore was cool, too clean...

Chennai was the exact opposite, pretty dirty, dilapidated, the airport smelled of urine, oh, and before I forget to mention, anyone you see once you are in a motorized vehicle, is trying to kill you and eat your heart for courage. Surprising in this normally peaceful country but I saw several barbeques and I think they mean business. Did anyone know there was a Saint Thomas, and he was an apostle of Jesus, and best of all he has a church in Chennai built over his tomb. I didn't know... but now I do, and so do you.

Getting on trains out of Chennai is hard, it seems that every other civilized person in the city is trying to do the same... it could be the pollution, the 95 degree nighttime, under the fan temperature, the thousands sleeping on the streets, or the fact that everyone is trying to kill you, but most people are trying to leave... beats me, but it took me an extra day to hightail it out of there, and I had to leave at the crack of dawn. Also make sure you're looking at the right track and train before you try to find your coach by walking a half mile with 70lbs attached to your back and body.

I ended up in Mysore, a beautiful place with palaces, temples, beautiful markets teeming with pickpockets, and musical fountains next to a 1912 british dam that lit up at night in a concerted attempt to attract every mosquito as close to me as possible.

I liked Mysore.

I arrived in Bangalore a few days ago, and met my contact after a couple hours of sitting on some marble steps, a couple thousand people staring at me, and at least a few hundred taxi cab drivers giving me that inquisitive "please let me take your money" look. Over the past couple days I've met more people from my organization, AIESEC, ate a lot of delicious food, and had a generally terrific time hanging out with people who spoke English (quite amazing how that can spritz up a day).

I just visited my school where I will be teaching today... insane, out of this world, unlike any school you could imagine, especially in India. Try and picture a setting with Spanish style terracotta housing, on a closed campus, with manicured gardening, in a resort style layout, with little kids half as tlal as me running around in every direction. Then add to this picture constant construction of a larger building behind these buildings, and an even larger building behind that. If you're having trouble, you'll have to take a look at some of my pictures... I'll try to do the place justice.

It should be amazing.

Some things about India you should know...
Most people are truly nice, and willing to return a smile if you're willing to give it, they will know you are smiling at them because they will have been staring at you for the past 10 seconds speechless
All of these kind people would gladly kill you once you are on the road with them
Do your best to avoid crossing the street
When crossing the street begin praying, look both ways, finish praying, look both ways, begin praying to an Indian god, follow someone else, preferably with them in harms way, and try to make sure you can keep them in harms way the entire time by switching sides halfway across the street.
Eat everything, drink nothing that you can't twist the lid off of. Don't eat anything washable
Meet everyone you can, they all want to meet you, and will extend conversations with awkward silences in order to still be seen talking to a white person.
Have fun.
There are many more idiosyncracies, like the art of avoiding beggars and swarms of children, to the zen of figuring out what the hell type of english someone thinks they are saying, but we will save these for later. I wish all the best, and be thankful for crosswalks that people pay attention to, and median lines that people adhere to, you have no idea how lucky you are.