November 13th, 2009 - Arrival In Chennai (3am Chennai Time)

My first impression of India as we got off of the airplane was hustle and bustle, honking horns, and sweltering humidity. Priyanka and I were almost euphoric as we got off of the airplane – partially because our long trip was finally over, and partially because our adventure was about to begin!

Customs was a breeze – we were literally through in 5 minutes. Baggage claim was also no big deal – all four of our checked bags arrived in one piece. Outside the airport hundreds of people lined the walkways waiting for loved ones to arrive. We were met by a driver holding a “Welcome P. Banerjee” sign. He helped us haul our stuff into his van, and we set off for SPASTN. The first surprise was that there were no seatbelts in the van, but we made it to the centre in one piece.

This is when the culture shock set in. We were shown to our “room” by the security guard at the centre. When he opened the door we discovered that it was crawling with literally hundreds of ants and centipedes,

and was also home to a large pink gecko. Priyanka and I simultaneously looked at each other and said “hotel?”. The guard must have seen the shock on our faces, because he quickly showed us another, cleaner room.

The accommodations are pretty basic. Two single beds pushed together in the middle of the room. One electrical outlet. A ceiling fan. There is nowhere to hang out mosquito nets because of the ceiling fan over the bed, so we decided we’re going to have to just sleep with them covering our bodies. The bathroom has a flush toilet and a sink with cold water. There is a shower of sorts, and even a hot water heater for the shower.

At this point I broke down a little bit, just from feeling overwhelmed by the long trip, the large amount of bugs, and missing my friends and family. Thankfully Priyanka was there to give me a hug and put a positive spin on things

J

We’re both feeling a little bit home sick now, but mostly better. After all, this will be the adventure of a lifetime. We haven’t managed to find a phone yet, but I did get a signal on my Canadian cell phone, so we sent text messages through to our families. Tomorrow, we are hoping to get to a phone to call home, buy a supply of bottled water (for tonight we have water purification tablets along), and try to get a cell phone and internet sorted out.