Just Arrived...

  So, here I am, in Bangalore, India. I've had an absolutely slammed day. The day started, I guess, with landing in Bangalore at 4:30 am local time (that's 7pm Eastern). Then, it took a good solid hour to get through customs and get our bags. I'll tell you, waiting in a mob of 300 or so people waiting for your bags for 45 minutes is not what you want to do after traveling for 22 hours. After all that, we met Mickey and our driver for the ride into the city. We had a way to drive, so we were at the hotel at about 7 am.

Traffic is just a completely different beast here. There are lanes painted on the road, but no one follows them. Traffic moves fast and decisively. It's pretty impressive that there aren't lots of accidents what with the variety of vehicles, people, and animals in the street. People here walk in the street instead of on the sidewalk because the sidewalks are super dangerous. The streets I've seen so far are pretty nicely paved, but the sidewalks are insane. They are uneven, and often, there are sudden drop-offs of about 10-12 inches. Everyone walks in the streets. Everyone. It's just how things are done.

Speaking of the streets, we've been stared at a lot. I haven't felt unsafe at all, apart from the “oh my goodness, I'm in a big city feeling.” I think people are just genuinely curious. In fact, we are the only white people I've seen so far. Everyone else is Indian. I've seen a handful of people who look like they might be from southeast Asia, but other than that, we are the oddity.

The hotel is small. There are a four rooms downstairs and a few more upstairs. There's a sort of living/dining room between mine the rooms, so it's nice to have a bit of space to spread out. Our room has a nice little entryway, a main room with lots of closets, and a bathroom. The bathroom is a bit different. We have a regular toilet (yay!), tub and shower, but there is no shower curtain, so the whole bathroom gets wet when we shower. The mattresses are super hard, but we have an air conditioner AND a ceiling fan, so we will sleep well.

Two random notes... The weather is actually really nice. It's upper 70s low 80s. It is really humid, but when it's only 80, it's not so big a deal. So, I'm sweating, but I'm not dying. We had a nice little rain shower this afternoon, but it just lasted a few minutes, and it was cooler afterward. Number two: English is written everywhere; almost every sign has both Kannada and English, and some are exclusively English. Many of the people here speak English and one of many, many other local languages. In fact, I learned today, that though Hindi is the state language of India, in south India, more people speak English than Hindi. Interesting, no?

After checking in and taking a short nap, because well, I'm still on Eastern time, we headed to Enable India. There we had real Indian food for lunch. I was indeed spicy and vegetarian, but nothing I couldn't handle. Then, we headed off to a nearby park to work on sighted guide and diagonal technique. With Mickey leading the way, Lauren and I worked with the groups as they practiced the techniques and teaching how to use the techniques.

Almost all the future instructors know English, but at varying degrees, so that made my teaching both easier and harder. It was nice to be able to use words and not gestures, but I think there were times that I assumed they knew what I was talking about, and no one stopped me. I think I'll have to check in to be sure that I'm being understood. It's not only a knowing or not-knowing English thing, but there seems to be a different way of saying and phrasing things and our colloquialisms that they might not get.

As tired as I am, I really enjoyed teaching this afternoon. Before the trip, I was worried that I wouldn't be very good at the teaching O&M part, but I really think it's going to work out well. I'm really excited to keep teaching more. Tomorrow morning, we get to meet a real live blind kid, so that'll be fun. This is going to be a wonderful month, I think.

So I know this was a nice and lovely blog. I'm trying to stay up so I'll sleep tonight. I'm hoping all the rest are this nice and long, but if not, forgive my exhaustion.

Oh, and the internet connection seems to be good and reliable, so email or facebook is the best way to reach me.