Getting to India

Hi all.

I'm in New Delhi! Very exciting. Everyone got here without a hitch. Well, I was the only one with 2 small speedbumps, but I'll tell you about that in just a bit. I'm here with two friends of Peace Corps Burkina: Anil and Tyler. For those of you in the know, Tyler is Tyeliah's boyfriend/finacee.

I flew out of Dulles (DC) and arrived in Heathrow (London) about 7-8 hours later. My seat really sucked as I was in the very last row next to the window. It stank of the bathrooms for about the first hour or two, until I got used to the smell. Because I was against the wall, my seat did not fully go back into a restful position. I got no sleep and was extremely tired by the time I landed. But hey, I got to watch 'He's Just Not That Into You', so that's a bonus (that was sarcasm for those of you who don't know the movie).

London was fantastic. This may seem strange, but I was most shocked at the English cars. I've seen them in movies (Bourne Identity) and thought that they used more modern cars now. Oh well. I was also shocked by their subway - DC subway is SO much better (discounting our latest accident). The Underground was so very slow, the lights kept on going out, and it has the seating capacity of about 1/4 of the DC metro.

Anyhow, I went to the Tower of London first. First built around 1000AD - prisoned, tortured, and killed many. Royalty in the past lived there. This is where Ann Boleyn was beheaded by King Henry VIII

Then I went off to St Paul's Cathedral. It is absolutely beautiful. Then went to Westminister Abbey which was less beautiful, but A LOT more dead people. In St Paul's, all the dead were down in the crypt, where one expects to find dead people. At Westminister, they are everywhere. And they are WAY more famous. Queen Mary I, Queen Elizabeth I, King Richard III... and also non-royalty famous people like Laurence Olivier, Lord Byron, and Handel. It was pretty freaking cool. Then I saw Big Ben and the Parlament and walked to Buckingham Palace. Picture are to come.

After this 10.5 mile trek through London (on no sleep, mind you), I was on my way back to India. This time I got a better seat and could sleep a little better, but I was probably out for about 2-3 hours. So this means 2-3 hours sleep in about 36 hours. I was also able to watch a better movie: Gran Torino.

I arrived in India around noon yesterday (June 26) and realized I had no money. This is the first hitch mentioned earlier. I spent all my cash in London (I was expecting to use my card everywhere) and I tried to withdraw from an ATM at Heathrow, but it didn't work. So I got to India and the first money exchange guy told me to try the ATMs just outside. This didn't work. I saw an American guy that had been on my plane and I begged 2 dollars off of him. Tried to get this exchanged along with the 1.5 pounds that I had left from London, but he wouldn't take it. He called his supervisor and got permission for someone else to take my credit card. So we had to go back inside the airport (after the money guy had to convince the armed guard to let me back in - those pesky AK-47s). It turned out fine and got enough money to last my trip.

Got in a pre-paid taxi and, of course, it turns out that the taxi driver (who said he knew where he was going), didn't know where he was going. 2 hours later, I arrived safely at the hotel. Tyler was already here - I took a shower and slept for about 6 hours. We woke around 8pm and headed out for a scrumptious authentic Indian meal. Came back and found Anil had arrived, then slept more.

And now here I am. It's 8:30am. I need breakfast. We're going to Old Delhi today and some temples and palaces tomorrow.

I've written enough. Hope everyone is well.