Wow.

That is pretty much all I can say when I consider the flurry of activity that filled the last five and a half hours after getting off the plane in Mumbai.  Only a few hours in, my time in India has already been one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  There was so much to see, hear and smell that I could run through it all in real time and I still wouldn’t do it justice.  In fact, I have enough to say that I’m going to break this down into two parts.  I’ll start with my journey to Mumbai. 

Travel:  It was long and boring.  I’m not sure what I expected from a solid 24 hours of travel, but it wasn’t fun.  I left my house at 7:45 am dressed in my Rotary blazer and khaki pants and met Colby, the other North Star outbound to Pune, at security.  After the arduous task of checking a bag, I said my goodbyes to my family and my adventure began.  The flight to Newark was short, but the layover there was not.  Five and a half hours of waiting in an airport that makes MSP seem like a palace.  Then came 15 hours of extreme time zone confusion on my flight to Mumbai.  We departed Newark shortly before 9 pm and arrived in Mumbai around 9:10 pm.  My body is so mixed up I may just sleep through tomorrow.  I used this opportunity to treasure my last taste of true, un-subtitled, un-dubbed, American film and enjoyed such cultural gems as Wrath of the Titans and Mean Girls.  Once I got off the plane, through security, and past the baggage claim, I walked outside and hit a wall of heat.  I had been told this would happen, but thought arriving at 9 pm would somehow excuse me from this unwanted welcoming present.

First Hours in India:  As I tried to cope with the unexpectedly high temperature, I picked out my welcoming crew: both of my host brothers, my host father, and two Rotary officials.  When we met I was handed a bouquet of flowers and my baggage was picked up by my brothers to carry to our car.  Niraj, the older, would be a Junior in high school next year but is also participating in Rotary and leaves in four days for Rochester, MN.  Immediately I was hit with how different everything was.  The honking was a constant buzz and the traffic had no distinguishable pattern or rules.  When we got in the car to begin the four hour journey home, I could not drag my eyes from the window.  There was so much to see, from tall, modern buildings to small metal shacks along the road.  It was truly reflective of the separation of wealth here.  After we left the bustling streets of Mumbai, my jet lag and overall exhaustion got the best of me and I fell asleep for a while.  When I woke up, we decided to stop for some food-at 11:15 pm.  I was excited to have my first meal in India and so I had authentic Indian…McDonalds?  I had the 6 piece chicken McNuggets.  Exactly what I would have had at home.  The two differences: it only cost Rs 75 (roughly $1.30), and I was the only white person in the restaurant.  I was surprised to find that once they had finished, everyone ordered a second part to their meal and were confused when I wanted nothing more.  I found that many people would look at me for long periods of time and one guy tried to be sneaky and got his friend to take a picture of him standing next to me.  I played along and pretended I hadn’t noticed.  The rest of the ride home was uneventful but I was still trying to grasp what country I was in.  The driving itself was extremely different, but I will need to devote an entire blog post to that.  When we finally got back to my apartment, it was around 3:30 in the morning.  I greeted my host mother and grandparents with a quick “Namaste” before collapsing to my bed.  I am exhausted and can hardly think straight, but what an amazing day it has been!

*A quick note, many of my posts will be uploaded a day or two after I write them.  I do not have constant internet access so I will upload them when I can.