Arrival & Impressions

6/30/12, 8:00 a.m.

Well I’m here, alive, and doing well. My flight from Frankfurt to Chennai was a bit different than my one to Germany.  I was on the same airline but there was definitely a different feel to the flight. This might be due to the fact that I was one out of the maybe 3 white people in my section of the plane. Everyone kept looking at me, this one little boy kept staring at me from the crack between his seat. Definitely something I am not used to. The flight attendant looked at me with puppy dog eyes that screamed “awe, we all know you aren’t from around here”.  

The food was pretty good and gave me my first taste at sort of authentic food. The lunch/dinner was masala so chick peas, rice, paneer, green stuff, etc. There was also a little salad, some kind of yogurt stuff, rice pudding, bread, and a pickled mango. I wasn’t sure how my food eating etiquette should be on the plane and looked around me for guidance. Even though I wasn’t in India yet I didn’t want to screw this up. Plus there were a lot of judging eyes on me. The next “meal” was a pastry filled with spinach and corn and some kind of spice. That was banging.  

I finally managed to get 2 hours of sleep on this flight which left me a little bit more refreshed (I was up straight for over 24 hours). Finally for what has seemed like a Mecca within it self we arrived in Chennai. The entire time I have been traveling I didn’t feel like I was really going anywhere. Sure, the air map said I was in Europe, but honestly everything felt so similar to the U.S. Even still at the Chennai airport I felt this way.

OH- side note. While going through customs we met a solo traveler our age backpacking around India for a month. This guy was ridiculous; he sent my left brain into overdrive. He did not know how to fill out the customs papers because he didn’t have an address, phone numbers, or basically any crucial information. Keep in mind he has never been to India and it was 2 am. His philosophy was, I’m just gonna figure it out. Best of luck to that guy.

Anyways, where was I?

Oh yes, finally, FINALLY, the moment that I have been anticipating and fantasizing about for at least a year had arrived. My first steps out into the streets of India. I’ll give you my first reactions as they came to me.

#1. HEAT. Within less than 10 seconds every part of me is sticking to itself. I am informed that this is a “cooler night” for Chennai……. WHAT?!

#2. SMELL. I’ll do my best here because it really isn’t like anything I have smelled before. It is like warm sewage mixed with a little bit of gasoline and spices. Then it instantly changes into a smell sickeningly sweet and then right back to the sewage. My stomach is just churning thinking about it. Definitely something that will be a huge adjustment. 

#3.CARS. It is 2 am and the outside the airport is JAM PACKED, I mean like cars on top of each other packed. There is a lot of honking but it is seems almost friendly. I guess not friendly, but more of a “Hey, I need to get somewhere so I am warning you that I’m next to you” than a “Screw You” kind of honk. 

#4. PEOPLE. People are weaving flawlessly in and out of the traffic in front of them looking completely nonchalant. It is like they don’t care that they are about to be run over. 

#5. POVERTY. It is 2 am and there are people cooped up all along the streets. I mean, like a lot of them. This isn’t a shock but something unpleasant and disheartening. 

#6. POLLUTION. The streets are filthy dirty with trash and graffiti everywhere. Yup, I’m not in America no mo’.

Finally we arrived at the college and were shown our new rooms. I will have to do a post just on those after we are more settled in. I slept okay for all the jet lag that I have accumulated and will have to get used to this rock hard beds. Something I was not expecting, to be freezing all night. We are the only room on campus that has AC and I guess I was preparing for bad heat so had no layers to cuddle up with. Ironic, cold in India. 

What today holds: 

First we are meeting up with Anu and the warden of our hall. We will be getting our internet sticks (YAY, finally!) and meeting some of the faculty at MCC. I’m pretty sure we are getting a tour of the campus too. After that we are going to activate our cell phones and then venture out to the streets of Chennai. 

I am going to take a shower now to get ready for the day, yes an actual shower! The shower heads work only during certain times of the day and between 7 am-9am  so I am in the gold. 

Sending all my love always

-Becca