Traveling Across The Universe

so, when they say an image is worth a thousand words, i think this is what they had in mind. this is the beginning of my flight out of miami. gianormous john is already sweaty and busting a gut... this isn't good for me. before i left, i said i didn't want to get stuck (a.) next to a crying baby (b.) in the middle of two fat people (c.) next to a chatty cathy, space-invader... guess which one i got... yup, not to mention he smelled like gin and cigarettes. ug... at least he wasn't boring. after about four hours of chatting it up with my new-found friend, he gave me allowance to sleep. i think my continuous yawning and rubbing my eyes clued him in. quite the start to my incredible journey.

eight hours to london, four hours waiting in the airport, nine hours to bangalore. finally, my nerves start to set in. as we were descending, i look out the window and see nothing. no city lights, no moon. and then it hit me. i'm in india. what?!

as i get off the plane, i expect a clash of sounds... but instead i was overwhelmed by the stunning silence. it was almost surreal... filing off the plane, through customs and even to baggage claim... complete silence except for the occasional whisper and shuffling about. it's 4:35 am.

last minute before i left the states, i decided to rent a private driver instead of taking the train four hours to mysore... this was the best decision i've made so far. when i walked outside, my driver was standing there calling my name, "elisabet, elisabet!"...bouncing up and down, waving and smiling as wide as humanly possible... his energy calmed me down and i knew i was safe. what a strange feeling. it was a bit dodgy around me, but i felt protected. the ride from bangalore to mysore was absolutely crazy and i loved every minute of it. I almost died 5 times, but i still felt safe. mahesh was on it... There was an accident at one point, so he made a three point turn in the middle of a one way and started going in the opposite direction. it was perfectly normal, dodging the oncoming traffic as he went. I loved it. I even laughed out loud and told him I thought his driving was fantastic.

mahesh dropped me off at my indian family's house. i was greeted with warm smiles, short sentences and a lot of head-bobbing. i'm getting used to not talking so much. i know, amazing really.

the first day was a lot of aimlessly wandering around. it was quite intimidating and overwhelming. i soon realized that instead of trying to take mysore by storm, i'm going to take it slowly... not the european way, but the indian way. i have a lot to learn and i'm loving every minute of it.