Final Post

When thinking about India I have only great memories.  From the first to the last day there was very little that I would view as negative about the country as a whole.  Every city was a little different from the last so the trip was never repetitive, and I saw a lot of amazing things.  When reflecting on India and looking back on my pre-trip assumptions of India I can say that a few shocked me and others didn’t.

While we were in India I did find that I was taller than a majority of the people in India, but I wasn’t towering over people.  There were people that were taller then I was but a majority were shorter.  I think the 5’3-5’5 is a little below standard for most Indians but it was fairly close. 

Another topic that I thought about before leaving for India was the cuisine.  Having never tried Indian food prior going to the India I was taking a bit of a gamble, but one I am glad I took.  I enjoyed Indian food very much, and plan on starting to work it into my normal routine.  I was afraid that the spices would overpower the flavor of the food, but the chefs preparing our food left a few spices out so we wouldn’t all be turning red from the food.  I was a little surprised to find that our spiciest meal was at a Chinese restaurant the last day we were in India, but overall the food was incredible.

I thought I would be seeing a lot of people in authentic India clothing, but was a little surprised to find that the “authentic” clothing was for more formal occasions.  Most Indians have a little different taste in clothing then the US, but the designs are very similar.  However the colors of clothing are much different, there is a lot less black or darker colors and more natural/brighter colors of clothing. 

I am very glad that I didn’t have to drive anywhere in India and we had a guide that drove us everywhere.  There were so many cars, bikes, motorcycles and carriages everywhere that I would have just been able to walk faster than actually drive at times.  Our guide was very good at navigating the roads with all the people on them.  There were a couple of times were I could have stuck my arm out and shook hands with the people next to us they were that close.   

My last topic I made some assumptions about before traveling to India was that I would see a lot more men compared to women.  I found that there were more men than women in the areas we travelled to, but there are some things that might have thrown those numbers off a bit.  The women might have stayed at their house and not ventured out into the town/cities.  Another thing that might have swayed the number a little was that we could have been possibly traveling in areas where it is more male dominated.   

All in all I have a wonderful time traveling to India for ten days.  It is something that I will never forget and I hope to someday go back to India and explore a little more.

Post from India #5

India post #5
As I am about to leave India I thought I would reflect on my experiences in India.  From my first day to my last day I have seen a lot of things that have shocked me.  The first thing that shocked me was the amount of smog in the big cities.  When we landed in Delhi for the first time on Jan 2 and walked out of the plane and as we were walking down the terminals we couldn't see the end of the terminal. Not because the great distance to the end but the amount of fog/smog in the airport itself.  Another thing that shocked me was the amount of advertising. Everywhere you look it was hard to find a wall or the side of a building that didn't have some sort of advertising on it.  When we were driving around it was not uncommon to find that someone's house was completely covered in advertisements. Pepsi and Airtel were some of the companies that had a lot of advertising.  The most shocking thing that I saw was the amount of affection Indian male’s show to one another.  In the US males do not show much emotion let alone affection for other males in public, yes there is a little "bro love" but US males do not hold one another's hands or throw and arm around one shoulder and walk with them. 

Post from India #4

Post #4
Today we visited the Taj Mahal which I think has to be the most beautiful man made structure I have ever seen.  We visited the tomb right after a heavy fog had set across Agra.  When we walked through the main entrance into the tombs gardens the beauty is almost breathtaking.  The all white marble structure cannot be accurately described in words.  A picture doesn't do the building justice.  There is a saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, today I have found out that that saying isn't always true. No amount of words can describe the magnificence of the Taj Mahal. 
Everywhere I look in India something is under construction if it isn't a building if it’s not a building it’s the road, a wall, the amount of construction is astounding.  There seem to be two different kinds of construction sites, an active construction site and a construction site.  The latter of the two looks like it was abandoned for whatever reason.  There seem to be a lot of unfinished construction sites in a country with over a billion people. 
When we were in more developed areas the amount of construction was greatly decreased compared to rural areas.  This might be because of the lack of space in these developed areas.  But if you can no longer grow outwards the only way to go is up. When we were in the larger cities we saw a lot of high rise buildings for both business usage and personal living.  One of the largest construction sites I have ever seen was in Mumbai, and it was for a mall.  I can only estimate at the size but I’m sure it will be very comparable to the Mall of America.
India is a country that is facing a lot of growth and development.  With new growth comes new challenges, India is a very adaptable country and will continue to growth in leaps and bounds. 

First Post From India #3

India post
After landing in New Delhi around 7 pm and clearing customs and getting to our hotel around 9pm local time. The hotel that we stayed at was called Hotel Oscar. Once we were in the hotel it took us around 5 mins to find out how to use the lights, we had to insert our key card into the light switch in order to work the lights. 
This morning I tried chi-tea, I probably just misspelled it too, the tea reminded me of a hot chocolate with a hint of mint in it.  Tea for 4 people came out to be 100 Rupees which is approx $2 in the US.  After we had our tea we tried to get back to the hotel we got turned around on a couple side streets and jumped on a small motorbike taxi called a rickshaw.  When we visited Aumber fort today and got to ride up elephants from the base of the mountain to the base of the fort.
Traveling in India is at times quite scary.  You can look at videos and try and prepare yourself for some of the scenes you may encounter but until you are in a vehicle that is trying to cross when 50 other vehicles are trying to do the same thing in different directions words can not describe the feeling of and suspense that you feel as you just wait for someone to hit you or you hit someone else.  The driver that we have is an amazing driver he can navigate turns faster then I want to know and is an expert at weaving in and out of traffic.  I thought I was a good driver but I wouldn't make it down the street here in India. 
On another topic of interest here in India the food is excellent.  My parents thought that I wouldn't eat any of the food here and would lost like ten pounds.  I can say that that is not the case and I am very happy with all the food that I have had. The Naan is very good, and chicken curry is quite delicious.  In the next few days I will be trying some new foods to try and broaden my sampling of Indian food.

Pre-trip Post #2

As I am packing for my trip I thought I should post one more time before I actually get to India.  In this post I will talk about something that was brought to my attention by my girlfriend Stephanie Williams, she showed me a video on “India’s secret.”  The video is about how families in India are having ultrasounds done in order to find out the gender of their unborn children.  This practice is not uncommon here in the US but in India families are deciding to abort the child if it is a girl and not a boy.  The reason families are doing this is because of the dowry the family would have to pay to the future groom’s family.   A dowry is illegal in India but this law goes unchecked and is still practiced by many in India.  I am posting the link for the video at the bottom of this post if you care to watch it.

I don’t know how old this video is but I do expect to see more males than I do females during my travels in India.  In the United States there are more females then there are males, the opposite is true in India.  In the major cities I don’t think that the numbers will be extremely lopsided compared to maybe smaller villages, but I do expect to see a difference.     

Video 

http://news.yahoo.com/video/tech-15749651/india-s-deadly-secret-27566497.html

Pre-trip Perception #1

In my first blog posting I would like to talk about how I think the Indian culture will differ from my own here in the US.  I expect that the first thing I will notice is that most people will be shorter then I am.  With an average height of a male in India is 5’3-5’5 and the average male height in the US is 5’8-5’10, and I am 6’1.  This won’t be an issue for me, I just hope that I don’t make people around me feel awkward or something, because I know in some cultures height is associated with power or position.  A part of India’s culture is their food is typically more spicy then food here in the US.  In the past spices from India were a very luxury item to have and were very sought after, especially by Europeans.  Today Indian food is one of the most popular cuisines to try from a foreign country.  I personally have never had Indian food, but I will be going to an Indian restaurant in the near future, so I can know what to expect when I am in India. 

Apart of the culture that I have always thought was different was the clothing worn by Indian people.  When I picture someone from India my mental image is very different from what it actually is.  I had always thought that people in India always wore what is now considered to be formal or traditional garments.   I have since been informed that India has adopted a more western look to its everyday/business clothing.

Another part of the Indian culture I am interested in experiencing is driving in India.  I have watched videos where the intersections are like a chaotic product.  From the looks of it there is no real system for allowing one side to go and another to stop, everyone just seems to merge here and merge there, turn here and turn there.  I am interested to see and talk with people that have experienced both the US and Indian driving experiences and learn a little more about it.  I consider myself to be a very good driver here is the states, but I don’t think I would want to push my luck driving in India.   Another thing that would throw me off is that I read somewhere that cars have the driver sit on the right side of the car like in the UK, not the left like in the US.  All of these things would truly test my driving ability, but I don’t plan on finding out if I can drive in India.

Looking at these few things that differ in Indian culture I am very excited to visit India in January.  I look forward to learning more about the Indian culture both before and during my visit.