Hello, this is my first blog post in my blog "where in the world!" With some encouragement from my brother Pat, I created this blog to share some of my experiences, thoughts, what I've learned, and even some photos as I am traveling some parts of the world with my brother Joe. I will try to post as frequently as possible but wifi is limited so I will keep you updated as much as I can.
I left my old Kentucky home a week ago today, departing from the Bluegrass airport with the final destination of Bangalore, India. After nearly two days of travel I arrived in Bangalore where I met Joe at the airport.(For anybody who doesn't know, Joe has been traveling for the past year throughout New Zealand, Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, and now India. He invited me to join him on his travels back in late July, and with a lot of thought I accepted his invitation realizing this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity.) Anyways, I met My brother at the Bangalore airport with a huge smile and a big hug. After all it had been over a year since I'd seen him and he'd seen any family at all. Our first week in Bangalore has been great. Joe got lucky with a couch surfing website that linked us with some Indian college students who speak English and live in a rather nice flat. They gave Joe and I a room of theirs to share and have been very kind and generous to us. Staying here has made for an easier transition for me. A lot went on this week but I will try to sum it up as best I can. Apologies if it is really random, there is just so much to share and I just want to get as much of it on here as I can without writing a short book.
So far we have visited a big botanical garden where there are monkeys who will steal your food, had tons of great food such as sambar rice, idli, golgappas, dosas, samosas, and much more I can't name off the top of my head. We've learned how to eat with our hands which is very common here. Anyways all the food is great and usually spicy. We did a lot of walking around the city, and a fare amount of getting lost, but that's half the fun. One of the highlights so far was getting lost and stumbling upon a little village and getting a led on a tour through the village and all its temples by some little kids who then welcomed us into their homes for coffe and sambar race. It was one of the strangest yet most awesome experiences of my life so far. We have also learned how to play cricket and picked up a tiny bit of hindi, a quarter of what we have learned being curse words. Everything is
very cheap, and we can get an average meal for less than 2 U.S. Dollars. Lots of stray dogs everywhere and cows roam free on the streets. The list of animals we've seen so far consists of dogs, cats, pigs, cows, monkies, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, and lots of other birds. We get lots of stares and mean looks when walking by, but also get many smiles, laughs, or requests to take a picture with us. "India is the kimg of mean mugging" as Joe said the other day. It is very cool getting to learn about and experience their culture, and we are very excited for what the next week holds, especially because of the Diwalli (festival of lights) celebrations! We hopefully will be headed to Chennai tomorrow!
very cheap, and we can get an average meal for less than 2 U.S. Dollars. Lots of stray dogs everywhere and cows roam free on the streets. The list of animals we've seen so far consists of dogs, cats, pigs, cows, monkies, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, and lots of other birds. We get lots of stares and mean looks when walking by, but also get many smiles, laughs, or requests to take a picture with us. "India is the kimg of mean mugging" as Joe said the other day. It is very cool getting to learn about and experience their culture, and we are very excited for what the next week holds, especially because of the Diwalli (festival of lights) celebrations! We hopefully will be headed to Chennai tomorrow!
This first week has been super fun but here's a little real world note of what I've learned and experiemced so far. Although I understand the term "3rd world" isn't the PC term for India anymore, I will use it for lack of a better term. The first thing I have to say about India is the 3rd world aspect hits you hard. There is no escaping it no matter where you look. It gives a whole new meaning to being greatul for the life I have back home. It has inspired me to at least attempt to never complain again, for after being here for just one short week I have realized I haven't really anything truly worthy of complaining about in my life. Sorry if this post has been a wee bit too long, just trying o catch you up on this past week, it has been sort of a sensory overload with so many new experiences. I hope to get another post up in at least a week. Until then, Peace out. :)
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