Welcome to India

So, We made it!

After an interesting stop over in Kuwait City airport (where, I have to confess in a moment of hungry desperation, I ate--at McDonalds- sorry Denis--one of the truly best hamburgers of my life. They're even better than the ones at McDonalds USA!), we arrived in Dehli this morning. So many new things in such a short space of time: saw my first cow roaming the streets eating, nearly killed several pedestrians and cyclists who were on the autoroute! in our taxi, inhaled lots of dust, flower decorated cows, shrines to Shiva and Jesus, fruits I've never even imagined existed...the list goes on. I'm very glad to be here with Jean Yves, not only because he has been here before, but because he is a man- everyone talks to him so its great, he can order, refuse offers to great hotels and other scams, and I just follow along.  Long live feminism! :)

It also helps, I've found, to be a medieval historian (how many occasions does one every have to say THAT sentence?) The way life happens in the street, that the streets can be basically the garbage bin of the town, but once you cross the threshold of the shop/hotel/restaurant, it is spotlessly clean...in many other ways there are similarities with what I have learned about medieval life, but here it's in front of my eyes.

It's also interesting the way people deal with their children: they are little precious treasures, and completely at ease. It's true what Jean Yves told me so long ago: children are everywhere, and you NEVER see them crying, or throwing a temper tantrum, or demanding attention from their parents. And yet they are not spoiled or in charge either: no one here is asking their kids what they'd like to eat or wear. Hard to explain...

Believe it or not, I still have a hard time getting it through my head that Im here, and for THREE MONTHS! Perhaps once the jet lag wears off....

Love Cynthia