July 10, 2009

Hi all,

A quick note to let you know that I arrived in New Delhi. Pete and I are staying at an ashram and tomorrow we are taking a 16-hour train ride to Mumbai. Pete and I are learning to compromise this way:

Pete: "We don't need air conditioning on the train. We'll take second class seats."

Alice: "Yeah, I want A/C."

Pete: "No, that's expensive."

Alice: "I'll pay for your ticket."

Pete: "Well, I can't stop you from doing that."

Everything is going really well but the word of the week is overwhelming. The heat, the traffic, sounds, everything. We toured Old Delhi, which looked like it was straight out of a movie with rickshaws, goats, thousands of people and stalls where people were selling goods and making food. The two best things we saw all day were probably the sidewalk dentists putting a gold tooth into a woman's mouth and an animal that we named a gonkesouras -- it looked part donkey, part goat and part dinosaur.

We've braved the subway. Before you can board, you have to go through a pat down search -- one line for "gents" and one for ladies -- then all the bags need to go through a metal detector. The trains themselves are huge and very clean -- cleaner than anything in NYC or Chicago.

We had an amazing breakfast this morning literally in a hole in the way. A man was showering next to the booths. Freshly baked bread with potatoes and spices, yellow lentils and a sweet dish that can best be described as a very moist bread that crumbles when you cut into it. It tasted like sugar and nuts. We got a second order -- that's how good it was -- and our total at the restaurant was 15 rupees ... which is less than 50 cents. I got a henna tattoo at another shop and while we waited for it to dry, Pete made friends with the owner and helped him out with his sales technique. "You need to highlight the price," Pete said, before writing up a new sign for the window.

Cows and goats in the street, auto rickshaws, bargaining, constant staring and insane heat ... it's pretty great.

Much more in the weeks to come.

Love, Alice