08/30/2006: "India - We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Broadcast"

Okay, I know I'm way behind on writing about our roadtrip. I promise to continue writing soon. But I'm in Chennai, India and have to write down some of my impressions. Before I get to the trip itself, let me talk a bit about going to the travel clinic before I left.

I went to Emory Travel Clinic almost two weeks ago. I met with a nurse who spent quite a while telling me about India and all the recommended vaccinations I would need. As I already had two or three of them, I "only" had to get an additional three. She also gave me a seemingly endless list of precautions, which made me even more hesitant about coming: do not drink the water; do not rinse my mouth out with the water when brushing my teeth; do not eat raw fruit or vegetables; carry a small bottle of hand santizer lotion in my pocket; wear insect repellent with DEETS 30 to avoid mosquito bites and the host of diseases they carry; avoid shellfish; avoid dairy products; bring an antibiotic prescription for WHEN, NOT IF I get travelers diarrhea (or as they call it, Dehli belly); avoid public transportation; for the next year, have any fever I get medically checked to ensure it's not malaria.

Geesh! I was already not excited about the trip, but after that, I was scared stiff. I'm in good health, but since I've been here, I've been a semi-starving germophone. Maybe it's my imagination, but the mosquitos look huge over here, and I can only imagine the bullseye they must see when they pass my way. But I think I'm beginning to relax a bit.

My plane landed yesterday at 4:00 a.m. The driver from the hotel met me and the took me to the hotel, which is about 30 to 45 minutes away. I couldn't believe how many people were milling around the airport parking lot and the streets at that time of morning.

Traffic in India is an experience! They drive on the "wrong" side of the road (like the Brits). They frequently flash their lights and honk their horns at people walking on the side of the road, riding bikes or motorcyles, or at cars approaching from the other direction or that they are passing. There are frequent sets of twin barriers - one blocking one side of the road, with the twin barrier a few feet away on the other side of the road. The barriers say something like, "High Accident Area - Please Slow Down." This may slightly slow the general flow of traffic down, but it also creates a lot of competition from the opposite directions to who is going to get into the middle first and who will have to yield.

Yes, there are cows on the side of the road. There are seemingly millions of motorcycles, with anywhere from 1 to 3, sometimes 4 people. Women sit on the back of motorcycles side saddle while holding on to a small handle on the side of the bike, sometimes while holding small children in their arms. They make it look easy.

This area was affected by the tsunami, but I don't know how much of what I have seen is a result of the tsunami. But there is vast poverty with people living in seemingly unimaginable conditions.

On my first day visiting the office, we had an announced emergency evacuation, which culminated in a 30 minute safety pep rally with demonstrations of how to carry injured people out of the office and load them into an ambulance, how to put out a gasoline fire (hint: NOT with water), and admonishments to beat the 4 minute and 45 second time the next time a drill occurred. It was hot as hell outside and the man was WAY too enthusiastic for my taste.

I have seen many beautiful women here.

Traditional Indian attire is beautiful.

Men are very demonstrative in their affection with each other. In the office, I saw several instances of them walking down the halls with arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. During the safety pep rally, I saw one man standing behind another, with his arm wrapped around the one in front and his chin resting on his shoulder. It was very odd to see, and also very beautiful. I am fortunate that I can hug and be very affectionate with my close friends, but overall, western culture is way too stifling in how we show affection with each other.

I hate to make generalizations, but the Indian people will go out of their way to make you feel welcomed, to give of themselves. They are very warm people. That is my experience, at least.

I was dreading this trip. I'm glad that I have experienced this to be exposed to another culture, to broaden my world view, and if nothing else, to appreciate what I have at home. Maybe tomorrow, I'll spray the hell out of myself with insect repellent and walk down to the beach. The people I'm working with want to take me to dinner tomorrow night, which means I'll be eating outside of the "safety" of my very nice hotel. Man, I love living dangerously. ;-)

More soon...