Greetings from India

So I still dont' know how to say that in Hindi, but it's been a great trip.

We landed in Delhi early Monday morning.  There is a 10 and half hour time difference between India and the east coast of the states so even now as I type this it is 7:10am but the time stamp will show 8:40 pm.

This has been an amazing trip so far.  I hate to become one of those tourists who gawks and stares, but there is nothing like being completely immeresed in a place that is not catering to tourists.  Where we stayed in Delhi (in an apartment my girl's family keeps) allowed us to really experience the city without the sense of being tourists.

A couple of things I noticed right away since my time is ticking down slowly.  I thought NYC was a city where people made their way any way they can, but Delhi has NYC beat.  The driving in Delhi is not for the faint of heart.  There is no such thing as a traffic violation b/c everybody is literally all over the place.  I've seen two lane streets become 4 lanes of traffic plus numerous scooters and everything else.  Between that, the sheer number of cars, the cows during the day and the occasional elephant (although elephants are banned in the city, I saw one which is a breathtaking experience unto itself) crossing the street became a game of chicken that I never want to play again.

Shopping in Delhi is fun b/c 1) you can negotiate and 2) relative to the US dollar things are CHEAP!!!  I mean you realize that a tip of 200 rupees which is HUGE in parts of india is still less than $5 US.  Which brings me to the begging.  In Delhi you will be harrassed if you are a tourist.  People see you and they see dollar signs.  It definitely was bothersome to have people begging for money all the time.  And you can't give them money because next thing you know all the rest of the people will come out of the woodworks and start harassing you as well. 

I am in South India now, but my time is running out so I will write more when I get a chance.