Arrival!

The journey starts...

A hiker bag inflated with probably inadequate clothing, excessive medication and a mosquito net (the prime element of my luggage) is all, as I fly to India. Missing some supposedly critical items such as a flashlight and a good water flask (indispensable items according to family :), but there is only so many kilograms to put on my poor shoulders..
Farewells to family, I'm sad by the prospect of not seeing my sister for a while. .. It's only 2.5 months for the rest of the family though, not the end of the world..

There is something unique this time, I am truly nervous about what I am about to experience, in a good way. Ambiguity makes the whole thing more exhilarating. And it is ambiguous for sure: the itinerary, our daily tasks, logistics, language, culture, social life, everything... Things just don't run at the same pace and precision in India as they did in America.. I think I am ready to embrace whatever comes; I must be. Trite as it may sound, for a true journey, I can never be too prepared, otherwise it won't be a journey anyway.

The plane is disproportionately Indian dominated in demographics, and unusually warm - perhaps a setup by the airlines on what to expect from India. And some loud babies, louder than ever...
Then I met an Indian girl in the plane. She's a journalist from the second largest newspaper in India: Indian Express. A very eloquent speaker, she does literary reviews for the newspaper, and she was studying in Israel for a while- and reading Orhan Pamuk, a renowned Turkish author! She got very interested in our earthquake safety project, which is encouraging. She even suggested to make a story on us, but I guess she was being more kind than sincere.. In any case, we did not exchange contacts, so there goes it... I am good at setting the first conversation straight, but I have to make an effort to set a stage for potential follow-ups as well - you never know where the journey will take you ..

Then I read a bit of "Temptations of the West" by Pankaj Mishra on the plane, per my mom's suggestion. A very interesting read, combines exceptionally literary tone, an engaging travel diary and sharp political commentary all at the same time. I learned a lot about politics in Kashmir, movie industry in Bollywood and racial/religious strife all across India. I am looking forward to linking my personal experience with what I read in the book, thus perhaps having a quasi-personal account on the current state of affairs in India. This might be an engineering/architecture project, yet it does not mean that I should not pay attention to and reflect on the political and cultural complexities of the region.. :)

After reading and sleeping in the plane, I finally got to Delhi around 3 am. Doing all the routines like getting through customs, collecting bags, finding a cab and spotting the hotel was much less troublesome than what I expected. The hotel was surprisingly clean, the room spatious, the shower comfortable and the water bottled. The toughness of the beds (a platform of wooden planks) is something to get used to, but otherwise, I may say I am adapting... The constant sauna weather is another challenge, yet everybody seems to be ok with it, and I trust my body's adaptation capability.

Everyone in the SEEDS (sustainable environment and ecological development society?) office is very friendly and welcoming. A rather large organization with multiple projects, an extensive library and even a good cook! It's a shame that I'll spend one afternoon here and head up to the Himalayas over the weekend.

I should make a point of getting some nice photos in this trip. Hopefully, I won't disappoint myself.

Gotta wrap it up for now, but all in all, the journey has started, finally...