Getting Acquainted

I arrived in India at around 3:30 a.m. so my trip from the airport was in the dark. On the two-hour drive to Kanchipuram, I was able to really see India for the first time. After my one day of being in this country, I have realized I have so much to see and learn. The culture here is so incredibly different than our own and I saw that just about everywhere we went.

Here are a few things I've seen so far:

CLOTHING

I loved looking at all of the clothing while we were driving. The saris are so beautiful and the colors and patterns are endless. As we moved into more rural area, I saw most of the men wearing "man-skirts." I was shocked at first because I thought it was women wearing short skirts, but it wasn't. The proper name for this piece of clothing is a lungi. It is basically a tube of fabric that can adjust to be long, short or anything in between. I noticed that men were adjusting their lungis constantly- maybe to get a breeze in there? Who knows!

BATHROOMS

I timed my bathroom schedule and drank limited water so that I wouldn't have to go while we were out. I am not quite ready to experience the hole in the ground bathroom! I noticed several signs while we were out advertising "TOLET." I'm wondering if they are misspelling toilet or if this is something completely different. Hmmm... a mystery I'll have to figure out! I did notice than men use nature as a toilet quite often. When on a major road, I saw a line of about 15 men standing on the side of the road peeing. That was quite a sight!

DRIVING

They drive like crazy people. Really. I've seen some pretty crazy driving in the Dominican Republic and Mexico, but they have nothing on Indian driving! The traffic pattern is reversed here like in England with people driving on the left side of the road. In reality though, people help themselves to the entire road and usually drive down the middle, on the wrong side or whatever is going to get them to their destination faster. Even on a divided highway with concrete barriers in the middle, you will see cars going the wrong way!

The modes of transportation are diverse and it's amazing that they all share the same road. There are lots of cars, tons of motorcycles, bicycles, autorickshaws, buses, trucks hauling goods, oxcarts, etc. The autorickshaws look really cute- large enough for only about 3 people comfortably, but I've already seen them stuffed with up to 10 people! The buses also pack people on with people literally hanging off the bus with only one foot and hand to keep them on it.

Indian drivers have a lot more obstacles to be aware of than we do. The number one obstacle is pedestrians- a lot of pedestrians. There are so many people walking here at any given time of day. Even when we were driving at 4 a.m. the roads were full of people walking. They walk on the pedestrian side roads, along the highways, in the highways, in the middle of intersections - wherever! The second big obstacle is the animals. Cows, dogs and goats are what I've seen the most of so far. All three roam the roads freely and travel in packs. I've seen whole groups of each taking a break in the middle of the highway and all of the cars stopping and detouring around them. The dogs are the scariest because they run all over the road and could easily get wiped out. The cows are pretty hard to miss though.

The most interesting thing I've noticed about Indian driving is that despite the craziness and the commotion, drivers are extremely friendly! Horn honking is constant and I think it's more of a courtesy. Little short taps on the horn are just to let you fellow drivers know you're coming. Several times today while driving on a one-lane road where we were trying to pass a car in front of us but another car was coming, the driver we were trying to pass would use his hand as a signal to stay or go. This happens a lot in the intersections to. The stoplights and stop signs are meaningless so there is a lot of signaling between drivers to wait or go. It was very interesting to watch!

CHILDREN

The children here are precious. They are all just adorable and I want every single one of them to have a wonderful, happy, blessed life. I've already seen how parents put there children to work selling items or begging. It's very sad and one of the hard things I know I'll have to get used to while I am here. I did see lots of schools and tons of kids walking to school in uniforms. I am so glad they are getting the opportunity for an education because that will undoubtedly be their ticket up in life.