We're THERE
Well, we made it. We're finally here in Bombay. Here's the story so far.
The adventure began with the flight from ATL to Frankfurt. Jesse and I had originally booked seats near the front, but when we arrived we were told that they had changed planes, so we were stuck near the back, and we weren't even together. After a bit of haggling with the gate agents, they set us up with two seats together. Little did we know the deal wasn't as sweet as it sounded. We ended up in the last row of the plane, in the only two seats that didn't recline. Pretty rough for a 9 hour flight. What a way to start out the trip! It wasn't that bad, though. Jesse plowed through a 300 page book, and I got a little sleep and listened to Dane Cook (SOOOOO funny!). When we arrived in Frankfurt, we were quite glad to get off that plane.
In Frankfurt (where we were temporarily "Frankfurters"), we took the train into town to pass the time during our long layover. The lady at the train office told us to go 5 stops into town to the main station. After the first stop, though, the train sat still for quite some time, and we soon realized that everyone else on the train had gotten off. We looked outside, and we saw that we were at the end of the line. Apparently we had taken the express train, and we looked like idiots sitting on the train for 5 minutes after it arrived. Oops. In Frankfurt, we found a cool restaurant and had some really tasty sausage and stout German beer. Quite a good meal for our final send-off.
The flight on Air India was great. I was nervous about the food, but Jesse made fun of me sufficiently to make me eat it, and it was actually pretty good. I was really impressed with the airline.
Upon arrival in Bombay at 3:30am, we waited for about an hour and a half for our bags. We were met by a driver from our program, and we were taken to our hotel. The hotel is WAY better than I expected, although it's not quite the Taj (hehe). We have A/C, TV, and warm showers (sometimes). We're kind of in a slummy area, but I think we're finding that everything in Bombay is a slummy area. We tried to get some sleep, which was tough, but it was just nice to be at our final destination.
Yesterday we walked around near our hotel, and it was a pretty crazy experience. I don't really know how to describe India except to say that it's full of sensory overload. There are SO many people around, so much going on, cars going in every direction, little kids tugging at your shirt asking for money, etc. I'm quite culture shocked at the moment, but it will pass. It would be impossible to not be culture shocked here.
As for our bet, neither Jesse nor I have had diarrhea yet, but it's only a matter of time. We've been pretty careful with food and water, and I plan on being really vigilant throughout the trip. That being said, I don't think it's realistic to hope to avoid GI problems altogether.
Anyway, we're done here for now, so I'll update more later. Hopefully I can get some pictures up here soon as well, but that will have to wait for another time. Check Jesse's blog for some more stories and in-depth color commentary. Peace and love!
The adventure began with the flight from ATL to Frankfurt. Jesse and I had originally booked seats near the front, but when we arrived we were told that they had changed planes, so we were stuck near the back, and we weren't even together. After a bit of haggling with the gate agents, they set us up with two seats together. Little did we know the deal wasn't as sweet as it sounded. We ended up in the last row of the plane, in the only two seats that didn't recline. Pretty rough for a 9 hour flight. What a way to start out the trip! It wasn't that bad, though. Jesse plowed through a 300 page book, and I got a little sleep and listened to Dane Cook (SOOOOO funny!). When we arrived in Frankfurt, we were quite glad to get off that plane.
In Frankfurt (where we were temporarily "Frankfurters"), we took the train into town to pass the time during our long layover. The lady at the train office told us to go 5 stops into town to the main station. After the first stop, though, the train sat still for quite some time, and we soon realized that everyone else on the train had gotten off. We looked outside, and we saw that we were at the end of the line. Apparently we had taken the express train, and we looked like idiots sitting on the train for 5 minutes after it arrived. Oops. In Frankfurt, we found a cool restaurant and had some really tasty sausage and stout German beer. Quite a good meal for our final send-off.
The flight on Air India was great. I was nervous about the food, but Jesse made fun of me sufficiently to make me eat it, and it was actually pretty good. I was really impressed with the airline.
Upon arrival in Bombay at 3:30am, we waited for about an hour and a half for our bags. We were met by a driver from our program, and we were taken to our hotel. The hotel is WAY better than I expected, although it's not quite the Taj (hehe). We have A/C, TV, and warm showers (sometimes). We're kind of in a slummy area, but I think we're finding that everything in Bombay is a slummy area. We tried to get some sleep, which was tough, but it was just nice to be at our final destination.
Yesterday we walked around near our hotel, and it was a pretty crazy experience. I don't really know how to describe India except to say that it's full of sensory overload. There are SO many people around, so much going on, cars going in every direction, little kids tugging at your shirt asking for money, etc. I'm quite culture shocked at the moment, but it will pass. It would be impossible to not be culture shocked here.
As for our bet, neither Jesse nor I have had diarrhea yet, but it's only a matter of time. We've been pretty careful with food and water, and I plan on being really vigilant throughout the trip. That being said, I don't think it's realistic to hope to avoid GI problems altogether.
Anyway, we're done here for now, so I'll update more later. Hopefully I can get some pictures up here soon as well, but that will have to wait for another time. Check Jesse's blog for some more stories and in-depth color commentary. Peace and love!
posted by david.m.marcus at 1:19 AM
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