i have arrived!

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well i am finally here- after the longest trip ever 😞 my mom drove me to the airport at 10pm on sunday night and sat with me until i had to go through the check point to my gate. my flight left at 1:25am. from there it was a 13 hour flight to hong kong, a 1 1/2 hour layover, then a 4 hour flight to singapore, a 7 hour layover, and then a 5 hour flight to india. good thing i am not returning to america until april- i need that much time to recuperate from the traveling here!

singapore airlines is nice! the food was great- i order special vegan meals 😊 and the whole way there i had a window seat with no one sitting next to me- so i got to put my legs up 😊 and the singapore layover- although long- was at least at a great airport to layover in! they have free internet stations all over, free massage chairs, big screen tvs, a fitness center, a free movie theater, full on shopping, etc... it was like being at a mall. it helped me pass the time.

as the plane took off i was really suprised to find myself crying 😞 everyone else was all sad that i was leaving- and said they were going to miss me. i knew i was going to miss people, too, but i thought i wasn't going to get upset. BIG mistake. i really miss my mom especially. it's weird- even now i get choked up thinking about her. i love you mom!

so anyhow i got into delhi last night at 10:30pm. customs and immigration went by quickly- and the taxi guy from my hotel was right at the front with a big sign with my name on it. so it was smooth sailing arriving in delhi. the trip to pahar ganj (where i am staying) was quite a ride. the guy was driving like a bat out of hell! i finally asked him to slow down because he was going to give me a heart attack. he did- thank god- but even his slowing down was what i would consider bad driving.

my hotel is the typical backpackers hotel. my room is $5 a night and is very sparse and grungy. and there is no toilet paper in the bathroom! you have to buy your own! i passed out at midnight- but ended up waking up at 6am to some indian music blaring out my window. i peeked out my window and saw some indian guy doing yoga on the rooftop of his apartment. very cool 😊 as the sun started to come up the smell of the city began to intensify- and boy does it stink! i have a slight headache from all the pollution here. it really is a dirty city. i am glad i am only here for 3 days- and then i head to the himalayas.

this morning i headed down to the cafe and had banana porridge without milk (i think they think i am weird- porridge without milk???) and a huge bottle of water- 50 rupees (about $1). i ended up sitting next to this girl named sandy- who is also traveling alone- so we got to talking. now we are hanging out- she is checking her email as we speak. i am at an internet cafe and it's 20 rupees for an hour. she and i might take a day trip to agra tomorrow to see the taj mahal. so dad- i may be seeing it after all! it wasn't on my list of 'must sees' as i have been told it is overpriced, crowded, and it looks the same as it does on the postcards- but if it works out then i will. after a full day in delhi today i may very well want to get out of here tomorrow!

in very synchronistic fashion (descriptive of my life right now) sandy and i were talking about yoga and i asked her what kind she did back home. she said she did bikram for a while but then stopped- and that most recently she was into power yoga. she said her teacher studied with some big power yoga teacher- and i asked who? and she said baron something. i laughed and said- oh baron baptiste yoga! and i told her i just went to his two teacher trainings this past summer- one in mexico, one in montana. well it turns out her teacher/friend is joseph from my level 2 teacher training! how wild! i come all the way to india and i run into someone who knows someone... life is so amazing!

well i guess that is about it now. my next entry will probably be when i get to dharamsala/mcleodganj on 10/30. i am sure i will have lots to tell you about the rest of my time in delhi 😊

until then...

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Comments

[anonymous]

I love you, Boo !
Hi Harmony (and everybody else :-) I was so glad to read your first entry from India. What a long haul it was in getting there. I opened my email and was excited to see your communique. TravelBlog is a terrific way to keep everyone updated. Say hello to your new friend, Sandy and enjoy your day trip to the Taj Mahal. I love you very much! Mom