January 1, 2011

Today starts the New Year and I am grateful to be in Lucknow India. I will be starting 2011 off with shopping – embroidery shopping to be exact, since the city is infamous for it. However, like all future postings, this one won’t be about the day to come, but rather about the happenings of the previous day/s. Lucky for you because today you will read about my journey from Port Byron, Illinois all the way to Lucknow, India – two cities that are a half day apart (well 11.5 hours so just a little shy of half a day).

December 27^th - I had absolutely nothing in my suitcase (I had actually emptied it of my dad’s stuff since he was nice enough to let me take his suitcase since I accidentally left mine in my college apartment – a 3 hour drive away). So there I am looking at an empty suitcase and the weather report for India pulled up on my computer – 70 degrees – how was I ever gonna pack for warm temperatures when it was a wintry snow encapsulated world outside? I eventually started to set stuff aside to pack, but got tired so decided it would be best just to sleep and worry about it in the morning. Maybe it’s that I have traveled so much that I consider myself a pro at packing or the fact that even though I was excited for India I wasn’t excited for the day and a half of traveling that was needed to get me there. Regardless, sleeping was what I opted for and that was that.

December 28^th – 1pm, that was my departure time from my house so naturally I should’ve gotten up early to pack, but staying in bed till 10am just sounded so much better. So after having snoozed for a good 8 hours I finally decided I should probably hop to. Unfortunately as soon as I got to the packing of my clothes it came to my realization that not only did I forget my suitcase in my apartment but also all my travel space bags that were stowed away in it. Now, thankfully I knew exactly where to get a new set, Bed Bath and Beyond – however I happen to live a good 20 minutes away from the store which would equate to a round trip of about an hour and I was already cutting it close with time saying that my suitcase was still pretty bare. After drinking some coffee and contemplating I decided that I wouldn’t be content and in my travel zone without the space bags and embarked on my mission. I finally got back home a bit before noon and kicked it into gear. By 1pm my bags were packed and it was just the minimal picking up of my room and bathroom that I still had to tend to. Even though I was ready and my dad was set, the other parental unit – not so much. We were finally out the door by about 1:40 and headed in the direction of O’Hare. Now this two and a half hour car ride was just the beginning of my very long transatlantic and then some adventure. Upon arrival to the airport I found some of the fellow students who I’d be traveling with and proceeded to go through the usual routine of an airport – checked my baggage, went through security, explored the airport, chilled at the gate and then the surprise – my name was called at the gate. Hesitantly I proceeded to the desk and was informed that economy was overbooked and that I was selected to be upgraded to business class since my dad was a gold member. I was stoked, never had I flown business class but I knew it was a blessing. Boarding before everyone else is a huge perk, but being able to stretch my arms in all directions and not touching another human was an unknown for me when it came to traveling. I made myself comfortable and waited and waited – the plane was delayed over an hour so went it finally took off I had accustomed myself with my surroundings. Two movies later, and delicious food to include my favorites of pumpkin gnocchi and vanilla mouse with blackberry compote served on real glass dishes I landed in Zurich, Switzerland. We didn’t have much time to get to our connection since our layover was eaten up by the delay in Chicago, but I found my group and boarded our next plane with them. Two movies, a bit of shut eye, and talking passed the time quite quickly because the next thing I knew I was in passport control in the Delhi airport at the prime hour of 1am.

December 29^th

Well I never stepped outside of an airport or plane since I traveled east so this day is pretty much nonexistent in my calendar of 2010.

December 30^th

Man oh man was it a long journey and we still had a 7 hour train ride to go. We took a bus from the airport to the train station marking the beginning of my Indian filled adventures. Upon arrival at the train station we chilled out until 6am for our train. The Delhi train station could possibly be one of the most active train stations at 5am that I have ever been in. I felt that within my first few hours in India I had already experienced the sights, sounds and smells of the country. The smells – let me linger there – never have I been so overwhelmed by smells – a sensitive nose with potent scents wafting through the air is the complete opposite of a joyous experience. One thing that I was fascinated by in the train station though was the carting of the different supplies for sale – from massive, and yes I mean massive, bags of grain to spices and building materials it was quite the scene to watch these men who look to barely weigh 100 lbs. pushing and pulling these loaded down carts. Hard working doesn’t even describe their dedication to the task at hand. Another thing that makes India different than the USA is the high volume of passengers on the trains and the necessity of the train system. In the US public transportation is not as vital as I feel it is here and the condition of the transportation vehicles in the US are in a lot better condition, maybe as a way to try and get more people to use the systems instead of their private automobiles. When some of the commuter trains or local trains pulled into the station, I would have to admit that I was a bit frightened that this is what I would have to ride for 7 hours. Thankfully it wasn’t the case and when our train did pull up it was in better condition than I expected, but still not the cleanliest trip I would partake on. India has a vast train network which is necessary since it is one of the major ways that people travel across the country. The train ride as part of Indian Railways was somewhat comparable to that of a plane ride since we were fed tea with a snack and then a meal – Meals on Wheels to be exact. Finally after passing the rest of the time with reading, snoozing and Bananagrams we safely arrived in Lucknow. We boarded a bus and hit to the streets - the place of pure chaos - from auto-rickshaws to pedestrians to bikers and huge SUVs anything you imagine as a form of transportation is used in India, not to mention that all of them are packed full to the max - I'm talking about 4 people to a moped - something that is unfathomable in the States. Somehow the driver got us to our guesthouse safely - not the first time I would witness this task. The first night we stayed in at the guesthouse and try to adjust to our new surroundings - everything from bucket showers (story to be told later) to late dinners and constant noises penetrating the walls from the outside. But the first night came to an end and even though the bed was possibly the hardest thing I have ever slept on it didn't stop me from completely passing out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

Stay tuned for future Indian adventures

December 31^st

Sorry for the delay in blog posts – but internet is a hot commodity over here and not as easily found as one would wish. So I’m gonna back track a bit and hope that I eventually get caught up.

The 29^th marked our first adventure out into Lucknow and was it an awakening or what. Our transportation were 2 Boleros with private drivers who would lay on the horn for a large duration of our trips. Never again will I hear a horn and not think of Ben – Mohammed Wassim – our main driver during our stay. One of our first stops was The Residency. It boasted a welcoming environment with the most captivating element of it for me being the bombing evidence that you could see in the walls that were still standing – holes the size of cannonballs were all over. Bara Imambara was the second place and up there at the top of my list of favorite places seen. It is a Mosque and granted I’ve been in quite a few Mosques since I lived in the Middle East and went to Istanbul for 3 weeks, but never had I been in a Labyrinth Mosque with 1,124 ways in but only 1 way out – meaning that with 1,123 wrong ways there was a high risk of getting lost and a tour guide was needed. Getting to the Mosque required another car ride – mind you all the car rides are comparable to Toad’s Wild Ride and at this point I decided that I should take my chances and ride shot gun – maybe the motion sickness wouldn’t be as bad up there. This was true, but the fright of seeing what was going on could make you just as uneasy. It didn’t help that after we got out of the Boleros and were going to cross the street, one of them got hit head on by a motorist – who naturally was talking on his cell phone. Frightening to say the least, but it was evident at least that cell phones and driving are as big of a problem here as they are back in the States. The other knowledge that came of this “fender bender” was that pretty much no one has car insurance – police usually only get involved if there is a death, people are likely to not even get out of their cars if they hit each other and lastly which was the most shocking was that the bent in bumper of the Bolero that would of cost quite a bundle in the states could be fixed for roughly 300 rupees here (exchange rate $1 gets you 44 rupees). So I guess the cheapness of car repairs is why there is no need for car insurance like there is in the States. The critical insurance here I found out though is Life Insurance, but back to the Mosque experience. Our tour guide didn’t speak much English, but being at the front of the line (we were single file) made it that I took it for granted how important it is to understand someone – especially when my getting out is pendent on him. After a few miss-communications of what to do, the guide led us through the maze and showed us some cool features along the way. The hollowed out structure of the building made for great echoes and for being able to hear at far distances. One way that we became one with the Mosque was that we had to go barefoot. This usually wouldn’t have bothered me except for half-way through our tour it started to rain and most of the group could only picture our shoes getting soaked outside. Thankfully, they were under enough of a ledge that they were dry and we were able to carry on our merry way afterward. For lunch – one of my favorite times of the day we went to a restaurant called Aryan – which I was informed means noble, and if that is the case then the food tasted good enough to me to be served to nobles. Another girl on the program (Lauren) and I decided that we should just a few things and share – try as much as you can right? So we decided on Honey Spicy Chicken, Thai Style Rice, Dosa Masala and Idli Sambra, with the former too being more Thai inspired dishes and the latter two being more Southern Indian dishes. The Indian dishes were delicious (with Masala Dosa one of my favorites), but saying that our mouths were on fire is not enough justification for the amount of heat that we felt from the Thai dishes. It just so happened that one dish was flavored to the extreme with green chilles and the other with red chilles – hot, Hot, HOT! After drinking an excessive amount of water (packaged of course to be on the safe side) our mouths were tempered back down. Post the meal we do what we did best in Lucknow – piled back into the Boleros for another crazy ride. Once we got back to the guest house it was hanging out and prepping for the New Year celebrations that were wild for some of the group but not all. The advice I took away from the evening after being the photographer/filmographer – Be You Judicious – wise words, very wise words. Ringing in the New Year in India was wonderful – just a bit odd since we were half a day ahead of friends and family back at home – we were living in the future!