First day in India

Yesterday, my first day in India was quite the experience. It began with our drive from the airport to our apartment. Jaleesh, our driver was there to pick us up when we arrived. I've read several times that driving in India is very different than it is in the US. I realized pretty quickly just how different it is. As I've told some of you, it reminded me of a giant game of frogger with people weaving in out of each other like crazy!

After we got to our apartment, we took a little time to settle in. Our place here is huge! It has two levels. The main floor has a kitchen, living room, dinning space, extra bedroom with a bathroom off of it, and a balcony. Upstairs there is another living room, two bedrooms (each with a bathroom), and another balcony. Thankfully, the entire place is air conditioned.

After we got settled in, we had lunch at a cafe down the street from our apartment. The walk over there was another experience. Sidewalks don't exist here so people just walk down the side of the street and try and avoid the traffic. There also aren't crosswalks or typical intersections making crossing the street semi-difficult. I learned about "Red Killers" which are big red buses that apparently don't stop for anything (probably a good idea to try and avoid them). Anyways, I had some typical Indian food for lunch. It was pretty good but my guess is after three months, I'm going to be ready for American food! 

After lunch we were planning on going to the grocery store but it was pouring. Its monsoon season here so I think that's going to happen a lot. Instead of shopping, we came back to the apartment and I took a nap. I think my body was still adjusting to the time change. After I woke up we headed to dinner at a hotel near our apartment. Again, the food wasn't bad. After that we headed home and I talked to a few people from home and then headed to bed. Overall, it was a good first day! Who knows what the remaining 96 days will be like:)