Driving the Wrong Way on the Right Side of the Road

so begins the Indian adventures....but from the beginning...
I got in last night from London at about 11pm local time, and finally exited (bags and such in hand) at around 12:15am. Alex (from Northern California) and Laura (from Manhattan) had avery kindly cohsen to wait for me at the airport with Rajiv. We then boarded a taxi and made our way home...and what a beautiful home! They have a gorgeous, just built home outside of New Delhi. Unfortunately, we're only here two days but we here for two days, but we hear the house in Gangtok is truly incredible as well. We were all up until about 2am (we didn't get back to the house until approxiatley 1am) getting settled, showering, eating etc. Rajiv and his wife Anu are incredible, taking extreme steps to help make sure we don't get sick, trying to do as much as possible for us in general.

This morning, we journeyed out to get a special visa stamp...quite an ordeal. Even though Rajiv had a highly placed friend in the office, it still took us almost four hours to get the papers filed. Tomorrow, we must return to yet ANOTHER office to get the actual stamps done. As it was easier for us to just sit outside, we people watched. Apparently, if you're Pakistani or Afghani, you have to register within 12 hours of landing in India, and every time you change cities you have to let the police know each time...very interesting! Rajiv gave us 1000 rupees to go get a soda (apprx. $25...obviously we barely spent any of that as a soda is approximately 20 rupees). We got propositioned (if you will) by a drive of one of the automatic rickshaws (imagine an old rickshaw + a motorbike) who wanted to take us to a market/bazaar not far away...unfortunately we had to decline as we weren't sure when Rajiv would be done...but Rajiv has promised us we will go tomorrow!

For lunch, we went to the mall for "Southern Indian" food, which was delicious! We all shared a variety of dishes, including doshas...all of them were delicious. Then we came back and we've all been lounging around here...took a quick nap and now we're just hanging out! Rajiv detailed out the trek for us, which was VERY exciting!

Now getting ready for dinner and then bedtime  I assume/hope! Anyways a few general notess...
1) There are four servants in the house which I still find disconcerting. At first I was a little shocked at it, but then Rajiv explained that really, it offers people with minimal education a steady job. Additionally, Rajiv and Anu take responsbility for the schooling of all of the children of their staff, which I think is incredibly respectable.

2) There's a very interesting contrast in the living situation here. Where we "live" is a nicer area and there is a lot of construction going on. As a result, the construction workers and their families live in shacks outside these gorgeous homes, without toilets or water really. You see little children wandering around half (or fully) naked, and mothers cooking on the side of the street.

3) It is not strange at all to see a cow or donkey or stray dog in the street. Or frogs in the house. It's completely accepted as normal and not a surprise.

Finally, the explanation of the title of this post...in order to cut down on time, it is incredibly normal to drive on the right side of the road instead of the left to avoid taking a u-turn, or just because it's faster. VERY disconcerting at first.

Anyways, all my love, XOXOXOOX

Sara