First Impressions

So I have this idea about India in my head that dates back to when I was 10 or 11 years old and read A Little Princess. Sara, the main character, is a child who, after spending her entire life in India where her father was stationed with the British military, is suddenly sent to an English boarding school when her father gets drafted to serve in WWI. In the book one of her schoolmates asks her to describe India and she says, "The air smells like spices." For some reason that line has stayed with me and so when I walked out of the Indira Ghandi airport I was mostly wondering what exactly I would smell. Well, there were no spices but to my surprise I smelled rich sweet butter! I'm totally serious! Granted there were stalls right outside the door selling who-knows-what, but I was truly surprised that my first smell of India would be so delightful. Anyway, after an interesting taxi ride (I'm sure I will eventually write all about Indian driving etiquette) I arrived at my volunteer house. My host parents, Rajiv and Priya, were there to greet me and I liked them immediately. They offered me some water, painstakingly showing me how the water filter works, and then whisked me downstairs to bed as my orientation started the following morning and it was, "imperative that I get passed my jet lag as soon as possible." I really didn't sleep much of course because 1. I was too excited, and 2. It was so unbelievably hot. I'm not going to romanticize things, the heat is no joke over here. When my plane landed at 8:30pm it was 102 degrees outside, a very telling sign of what the weather would be like at say two in the afternoon... The heat is very physical out here in that it really weighs you down at all moments of the day. I have a hard time remembering to drink enough water so this is a habit I must work on. My ankles have already quit on me--I have no ankles at the moment, but everyone tells me they should return in a few days. Ah well, DC in August is looking pretty good right now. I am ending my second day in Delhi and I have definitely had the typical traveling moments of: eager to enjoy everything I see, determined to stay positive, admittedly uncomfortable, wondering what I got myself into, wondering if I will be able to handle everything...ready for an ice bath. The pictures in this post include some adventures in buying Indian clothing (salwar kamiz), my first lemon soda--which was actually really gross because it's made with a ton of salt, and a view of Delhi's Central Market where you can seriously buy anything and bargain all day. Thanks for reading along, it's incredibly comforting having people out there who I can share this experience with.