First encounters and pictures
July 8, 2009
Emily here with first photos and quick update before the jet lag drags me into oblivion!
A picturesque goodbye to San Francisco!
I took a LOT of photos already, which has been really fun and is not something I do normally. There are several reasons for this shutterbug streak: 1) I got a new camera, a Canon SX110 IS. It is great for the novice like me who is not ready for an SLR, but I still need Julia to help me improve my photography skills. 2) I have not traveled purely as a tourist in about 6 years(!), when I toured Europe alone before starting grad school in the UK. Since then all of my international travel has been to the UK and back, with some short Europe trips. This feels different; it is really fun to be the naive, easily-excitable tourist instead of the weary expat. 3) This is a trip of a lifetime, and while I hope it is not my only opportunity to come to India, it certainly will be memorable for being the first!
Selected pictures from the journey and of the very, very nice apartment are available here in this Flickr photostream – you don’t need to sign up for anything or log in, you can just view them. There’s a slideshow option; make sure to click “Show info” if you view them like that so you can see what the captions are.
I find myself marveling at little similarities between some things here and some things in the UK. I think that had I not had the experience of living in the UK for 3 years, things would seem a lot more different and weird – like, for example, the right-hand drive car. Here, I’m not acclimating to the right-hand drive car – in fact I’ve driven one myself a few times, with Sarah and John’s help! – I’m just acclimating to the non-use of lanes and constant use of horn (see Driving Miss Daisy, below). Also, Delhi airport has a Heathrow-like aesthetic.
Major differences: Joe’s description of the roads below did not mention that in Gurgaon proper, including up to the entrance to our fancy building, the roads are potholed dirt! There are random power cuts that last about 30 seconds rather frequently, but the building has backup power so it does not last long. It does, however, knock out the wifi, leading me to save work frequently when working in cloud computing applications. The tap water is not safe to drink, so we brush our teeth with bottled water and our cook, Abdul, prepares our meals with purified water. The fridge is stocked with mineral water, sodas, juices, and frosty beer.
Our staff (servants?) are all overwhelmingly nice and accommodating. We had fresh fruit, yogurt, and toast for breakfast, with delicious sweet masala chai, and I was served a special chicken biryani with raita for lunch. I cannot yet imagine getting tired of Indian food, I love it SO much. As I said, the apartment is lovely, and our room is cleaned and our laundry done daily! This is not real life… and it is disconcerting how easily I am adapting to it.
Out of doors, it is very hot and humid, but not raining yet, which is nice for going to the Taj Mahal this weekend but perhaps not so great for those who do not have AC. They have seen the beginnings of monsoon rain, but it is forecast to be dry for the next several days, so I may have to wait to experience the intensity that is is the monsoon!
