Arrival in India & Diwali

Hello All! Happy Diwali and welcome to my blog!

So I arrived this morning, still dark but early at 3ish am. Surprisingly, passport and customs control was a breeze when I arrived. No lines at all! I expected my luggage to be thoroughly checked because I have what I feel is A LOT of luggage, but they just took a look at my luggage and told me I could go. Ironically, the person behind me, who was an Indian citizen had one carry-on luggage and they made him run it through the scanner. The next person behind him, in a delightful manner made a comment and said, "Every time they see if you are white, they don't even question you or check your luggage. They just let you go. They do that to my wife all the time." By "white" I think he meant non-Indian citizen :) I thought it was a funny comment.

I stepped outside of the airport and found my driver holding a sign with my name. At 3am, after a series of long flights, it was comforting to see the sign and not have to scramble for a taxi. First 4 questions from the driver were:

1.) How was your journey?
2.) Are you here in India for a LONG vacation? (I think he said "long" because I had so many pieces of luggage with me. Typical American, I know :) )
3.) Are you married?
4.) Do you have children? And how many do you want? (he said, minimum 2 maximum 10?)

I don't remember how long the car ride was, maybe a little over an hour, but we talked about all kinds of topics: marriage traditions in India vs. the US, dowry payments and the burdens it puts on families with girls, what we like to do at the gym and for exercise (or gymnasium as he called it), how girls and boys grow up in India vs the US, and the traditions of taking care of family. I learned a lot from just an hour and there's a lot more to learn! Fascinating!

My hotel is nice and centrally located. Very close to UB City, which is located in the heart of Bangalore and a popular place for people to go out. It's poshy but affordable. Nice and safe area. The hotel is clean and simple with free wifi, located on the second floor. Similar to some of the mini hotels that you might see in Russia.

My first breakfast of the morning was a bread omelet served with spicy ketchup. It wasn't quite french toast, more like an inside out sandwich. It was good though.

Across the street from the hotel is a big billboard advertising Metallica live October 30th! Metallica?! I didn't even know they were still together. I thought they died after high school. Pink Floyd, Dire Straits, and Guns 'n Roses are also popular here.

Most of the women I've seen so far are dressed up, at least in my terms. Lots of color, dresses, saris, salwar kameezes....they look nice. I think I dress more like a man here, jeans and a light shirt. I dress it up with a scarf, earrings, and bracelets though :) Works for me.

As for Diwali Festival, fireworks are going off like crazy everywhere. Big ones, small ones, ones that sound like shot guns, ones that sound like a car is backfiring (which is also entirely possible, but lots of noise in general). People are out and about and I think a lot have also traveled back home for the holiday.

The other fellow who is living here in Bangalore and working with Grameen Koota came over tonight with his housemate and we went out to explore UB City which is full of shops and restaurants and UB tower, which is modeled after the Empire State Building. Really nice night and introduction to the city. I admittedly felt kind of intimidated to step outside of the hotel during the day, but I ended up sleeping all through the day anyhow and woke up for some evening exploring. Much needed sleep so it was all good.

Tomorrow is my first day of in-person training where I will meet with the other fellow and the regional director. Power points, spreadsheets, and learning the ropes! On Friday, I will fly out to Thrissur where I will be living for the rest of the year working with ESAF Microfinance. In case some of you don't know, I'm a fellow for MicroEnergy Credits, a social enterprise based in Seattle that helps connect microfinance institutions to the carbon markets when they lend for clean energy. You can read more about the organization here: http://microenergycredits.com/about/

If you can't tell already, I'm SO excited to be here and to finally get the opportunity to work in the field and put my skills to the test. This is truly going to be a rich experience.