Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Arrived!

After saying good-bye to the people I will miss, my family and very understanding girlfriend, I made it to the airport just an hour after I planned on getting there. Frantic last minute packing and printing of important documents made sure of that.

And so I began the 18 hour trek to Delhi. I bought a huge water and a starbucks mocha bottle to help me make it through the trip, only to be confiscated when I had to go through security again in Zurich. So much for planning. The flight and layover in Zurich went smoothly enough, but I knew my luck would eventually run out.

Welcome to India, where good luck does not actually exist. I arrived in Delhi, knowing that I needed to make it to F block. But of course, the taxi driver would not know how to get there, so I should direct him to the U.S. embassy, where my taxi driver would ask for directions and take me to my final destination. It was going according to plan: I was exhausted, barely made it through customs, and had found the prepaid taxi stand. This was the preferred method, since the taxis outside would undoubtedly rip me off beyond belief. As it turns out, I still got ripped off. I paid $20 for the ride, which is enough to have the taxi take me on errands for an entire day. We went to the U.S. embassy, where none of the 8 people the cab driver asked had any idea where F block was. Great. I had to go all the way across the city, back to a Radisson hotel to use the internet, where I found a later e-mail that had a more precise address. Then we went all the way back and finally got to the right address: 156 Malcha Marg. Two blocks away from the U.S. embassy. That address will be imprinted in my head for the rest of my life. I was supposed to arrive at the airport at 12:30 am, but I finally made it to my destination at 3:30 am. At this point the cab driver had the nerve to ask me for more money, even after I tipped him another $7 for driving me all the way around the city. Luckily Sam was there to tell him off and inform that he had already received too much money, and if he was upset to take it up with his boss, who had been the chief proprietor of ripping me off.

Cultural lesson #1: Straight theft is highly unusual in India; not only is it illegal, but it goes against each religion practiced here and is therefore against the cultural norms. I could probably leave my wallet out while I slept on the train and no one would take it. This is a pleasant difference from Europe, where pick-pocket is a desirable profession. The downside to this is that every single person that one will encounter while in India is trying to rip you off. People will try to sell you goods and services for 10x the normal price, meaning you have to negotiate everything. They will tell you the wrong way to get to your location, for no reason. There are beggars every few feet, and my white skin marks me as a sucker to every single Indian out there.

Even despite the brain lapse at not bringing the more formal address with me on a piece of paper, I managed to arrive in one piece, and after quickly catching up with Mike and Sam, it was time for some rest. After all, the next few days are going to be packed.

Preparation

Preparing to travel to India is a huge challenge. Not only are there many different challenges that are known in advance, but there are doubtlessly hundreds of issues and problems that will arise in the course of traveling to any third world country, particularly for an undetermined amount of time.

So I made sure I had my passport. I filled out the application for my Indian visa. They ask you what your address will be while you are in India. Hmm, how about "will hopefully be meeting up with my friends in a section of Delhi known as 'F Block,' from which they will take me to where we are staying." Does that work? Oh, doesn't fit. After getting that resolved, I made the two trips to the consulate to get my visa. I went to the travel clinic, where I was lucky enough to get shots for influenza, typhoid, hepatitis A, polio, and tetnis. I thought I was going to India, but in reality I am apparently heading out on the Oregon Trail. I better bring enough oxen. Oh, and the malaria medication. The best part is the malaria medication. Every single place in India is a high-risk area for malaria, meaning that the entire time I am traveling and for a month afterward, I need to be taking doxycycline. So I get a huge bottle of one-a-day medication to keep with me at all times. Cool.

Packing is a whole other issue. How do you pack enough for six weeks (including 3 nice big bottles of deep woods off for those pesky mosquitos), but still pack light enough to be able to take treks across the tropical country? So I did the best I could, taking a bunch of old clothes that I will have no problems throwing away on my journey. Especially if I can get some sweet new Indian clothes.

The best (read: worst) part of the trip was leaving on Christmas. Last minute frantic Christmas shopping (thanks to my sister for the help), driving to my girlfriends' grandparents' house for dinner on Christmas Eve, stopping by her parents' house on Christmas day to exchange presents, and finally to my parents' house to exchange presents and eat strada were all crammed into 18 hours so that I could make my 7:20 pm flight on December 25.

The reason for this, of course, is because I needed to meet up with Mike and Sam, my two friends that I will be traveling with. Anywhere in the U.S. or Europe and I could have met them at almost any time, at almost any place. But in India, as they have told me, you need to be so careful about these things because for every trip, seven things will go wrong. In this case, I needed to meet them in Delhi, because the flights in are somewhat convenient and they would be staying there for a few days and were certain they would be able to meet me there. We'll see how long being prepared helps me.

Ok, all done with my first blog post ever. I hope the following ones are much more action-packed.