Culture Shock-Delhi!

I have decided to keep a blog of my trip here in India to keep you updated! Annemarie and I arrived yesterday in New Delhi, India at 6:20 AM after a 23 hour venture of flights/ layovers. We flew from San Francisco to London, where we had a 4 hour layover. That flight was around 10 hours, and neither Annemarie or I slept at all unfortunately. Then we flew from London to Delhi, which was about 7 hours. When we arrived in Delhi, we were greeted by the humidity. We went through customs, and got our passports stamped, exchanged our U.S dollars for rupees ($100= $4,450 rupees!)and entered India. Then we ventured out of the doors of the airport to the street, hoping to find the Murrays, who are the missionary family that was picking us up. As we walked out, we both immediately began to panick a little bit. Here we are in a foreign country, by ourselves, surrounded by Indian people trying to get us to ride in their taxis. Thankfully, not one minute later, Debbie Murray and her daughter Hannah rounded the corner, follwed by Randy and their son Corbin. We exchanged hellos and were off in their Jeep-like car to the house where we will be staying for the month. We were both so tired that it was hard to make decent conversation with them, but they were so welcoming and friendly that they made it easy. The streets of Delhi, even at that early morning hour, were packed with people, and I thought we were going to get into a crash at least 10 times. People don't drive in their designated lanes, and cars, bicycles, rickshaws and autos are everywhere! We made it safely to our house, however, and were greeted by Allison, one of the interning girls we are living with. She gave us a quick tour of the house, and then we crashed to get a few hours of sleep.

When we woke up, we were greeted with the Delhi heat, which was about 104 degrees and humid. The girls said that that was about 10 degrees cooler than it has been, and that we were lucky! Allison and Abby, the other intern, were up and about in our place, and we decided to go with them on a few errands around the city. We traveled by taxi, which is unusual due to the higher price, and went to the Bible Society, where we saw a Hindu Bible, and then went to a hotel where a group from South Carolina that we will be working with all of next week is staying. We had a quick meeting with them, grabbed some lunch at McDonalds (which was a completely different menu. I got a McVeggie sandwich), and then headed off to the Murrays. Once there, Debbie and Hannah took us to a few local shops to find a kurta, which is an Indian tunic-type top that we will be required to wear during our time here. I had thought that they would be strange and unattractive, but the fabrics that they use are amazingly beautiful! We had trouble deciding which ones to buy. Since the stores were a bit higher end, we ended up buying one each and decided to look more the next day. Then the Murrays and Allison took us to an authentic Indian restaurant, which was delicious! We had naan bread, daal, chicken, and potatoes in a spicy sauce. It was amazing, and so fun to eat with them and get to know them, even though both of us were extremely jet-lagged! After dinner, we drove home and crashed once again.

This morning, I woke up around 6:30, fully rested and excited to be waking up in India! We had some down time in the morning until 1:00, so Allison took us to a local grocery store, along with veggie and fruit stands. There is such a wide variety of fresh fruits and veggies, and I was in heaven deciding what to buy! The grocery store was also a fun experience, and we bought 3 bags full of groceries for the equivalent of around $12.00! Then Debbie and Hannah picked us up and we went shopping once again for kurtas, and full outfits to wear. We went to a flea market, and there were about a 100 different stores that sold different fabrics and styles. Debbie directed us to the best buys, and we picked out 4 kurtas and 2 pairs of pants, which are soooo beautiful! Then we stopped at Cafe Coffee Day, which is a cute little coffee chain that they have througout Delhi. It felt so refreshing after being out in the heat. The strangest thing about the market were the abundance of children beggars flooding the streets. They would come right up to you and put their hand to their mouth, asking for money or food. It was hard to ignore them, but Debbie said that you just have to learn to. The poverty here is overwhelming in places, and it is difficult to pass by and not even acknowledge the children so obviously suffering. But all you can really do is say a prayer for them.

After our market venture, we went back to the Murrays for a few minutes, and then went to a fellowship dinner with about 15 people from their company. It was a great time of worship, good food, and Biblical discussion. It was encouraging to see people who live here and get to talk to them and find out where they are from and what they do. They all seem to have such a passion for their purposes here, and are so on fire for God. It was really encouraging to see! Now we are back in for the night, and the AC is on and our house is refreshingly cool. We can only run the AC at night, due to the high cost, so we should enjoy it while we can. I'm about to call it a night soon. More later!