I've arrived!!!!! And safely!!!!!
So the flight to Delhi only took around 4 hrs and it turns out that Kingfisher Airlines is definately a budget airline - tight seats and no TV screen or music! So lucky it wasn't a long flight. The girl sitting next to me was an Indian girl who had been living in the UK but was working with Oxfam in Afganistan heading up their Gender Department! Amazing!
On arriving at the airport, passport control was no problem - phew cause they had already given out arrival cards on the plane. And then I made my way out to the right place only to find that they were not waiting for me as planned!! It was quite hilerious though cause there were sooooooooooo many people waiting at the exit gate with name cards cause they say that it is dangerous in Delhi not to have planned someone to pick you up from the airport. So there were soooooooooooooo many name cards to look through but not mine!!
But, after about 20 mins, someone turned up - yay! And we drove back to the co-ordinator's house in Faridabad in Delhi where I went straight to sleep. Today has been a little strange as it's sunday and nothing is open here in Faridabad and all the other volunteers were out travelling somewhere else, so it was just me, the Co-ordinator - Shri and his wife, Mamta and their 2 little daughters and I wasn't sure exactly what I was supposed to be doing! It's also been a bit strange wearing my sunglasses all the time indoors!!
After a bit another man and his wife came over and we discussed my plans which is to volunteer for 2 weeks in 2 different places. After this I played a bit with the kids which was kinda cute cause we were dancing to Indian music - fun! And then we went out and found a glasses shop that was open!! So I bought 2 pairs of glasses which are supposed to be ready 5pm tomorrow!! Yay!! It's crazy here though - 2 pairs of glasses are costing me $30 (and this is with imported frames and good lenses). Apparently it's because the shop owner only makes about $5 or $6 from the sale - people here just don't make a lot of profit (also I was lucky cause Shri helped me with the bargaining).
And now I have met 2 other Canadian women who came back from a trip into crazy Delhi - which they have mildy described as a sensory overload. I am lucky though cause I also briefly met another volunteer staying with another family who has been into Delhi already and says she will take me - this will be so good to have someone who has already been! The Canadian women seem very lovely and I'm very glad to have some other people here so it's not just me with a family.
Other than this, I just need to get some Indian clothes so I blend in more and I'm ready! I have already been provided with a really delicious Indian home cooked lunch - chapati with some sort of curry and cucumber that was really delicous. The family here is vegan so I don't have to worry here about eating any sort of strange meat!
So, I'm in India but I still have yet to really venture out and see the world that is India. But I'm happy these other volunteers are here to help with the ride.
xxx Orna
