Hello Delhi

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Well, this is the start of what hopefully is a long period of traveling. During this time I hope to travel lots (duh), live in one city or town for a period of time (a year hopefully) as an expatriate, volunteer in a few places, and finally learn a foreign language or two. We'll see how it goes.

I arrived late in New Delhi, picked up luggage, cleared customs, and got a pre-paid taxi, which is supposed to prevent scams and rip-offs. Got into the taxi and immediately entered into the soap-opera drama of a scam or "tout", in which the driver did not know the address of my very frequented hotel in the New Tibetan Colony. The way to correct this problem, as the driver and his suddenly materializing interpreter and confidant told me, was to take me to a "tourist office" where I could call the hotel and find the correct address. After repeated give and takes, the dispute was settled with the magical words of "I'll take another cab". So magical were these words that they made the interpreter disappear, made the driver forget the tourist office, and, as if on a magic carpet, safely guided the taxi through the Delhi night to the exact address. The first hour in India and I already had an active, in not altogether fulfilling, role in modern Delhi life. Washed, peeled, cut up, and thrown into the Indian cultural stew. I feel good and fall right to sleep.

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