Let me caveat this by saying it's only been 36 hours and I've slept or worked 32 of them, so these are truly first impressions.
I just walked a mile or so down a busy street in Pune and the smells are incredible, from delicious food to dead stuff, it runs the gamut and then some. I'm told in Bombay everything is more extreme, which would make sense given it's the largest city in India and one of the ten largest in the world. On my drive out of Mumbai yesterday to Pune I saw numerous people squatting on the street relieving themselves, I saw what the western world would classify as ghettoes everywhere. I didn't get a feel for the smells because I was slightly fearing for my life sitting in a micro car like vehicle, bobbing and weaving thru traffic. I thought Shanghai drivers were crazy but Mumbai is certainly a strong contender for the title.
What has surprised me the most though is the contentment, seemingly happy state of mind. Which is not to say satisfied just that their is no yearning for more or better, ala americans. My interactions so far have been limited but you can see this on everybodys face, and especially so in situations where I know I would not be so.
In short I'm excited for the next twelve days, to learn to live more in the moment and enjoy all the beauty around me. For the strongest impression has been how beautiful this land is, yesterday I saw a mountain as sharp as the grand canyon and feel that's just the tip of the iceberg.
awesome. please post regularly. will be interesting to see if the shine fades along with the 'newness'. i pleasantly found that after 4 weeks in new zealand there were enough differences that i didn't get to the point of looking past what i seeing.
Posted by: tadlock | January 21, 2010 at 01:11 PM