Arrival in India, somewhat out of order

Sooo. I'm here. Apologies for not updating you all sooner, the power here is intermittent and so is the internet so finding a time when the two overlap is a little difficult, along with the fact that I've been a prisoner in my own house for awhile, only about 5 days I guess but it seems like a month. Seriously, I sat in my room for 4 days straight.

The trip over was a doozy, the only bonus was I can say that I've flown over Finland, Russia, Iran and Pakistan. Quite the lineup huh? Lousy view from the windows though and 16 hours is a bit of a drag, 4 movies is really a lot to ask of yourself. Otherwise it was pretty quiet, I almost made $400 bucks by getting bumped to some other flights out of Pitt, no luck though, they couldn't work it out, would have been nice though, and more direct. I made it to Mumbai/Bombay (depending on your choice or your ethnicity here in India) without any real misshaps. I will say this though. Mumbai is a big city. We flew for 15 minutes over it without a break. They're not kidding when they say that 7 or 8 million people live in its slums. Slumdog Millionaire style and all I got to see them from the runway, quite a site, lots of the blue tarps that aid organizations hand out. Looks like a sea of blue from the air as well. It really does impress the problem of crowding on you.

You know, when I travel, especially to developing countries, I always get a sense of the why questions that come up during development talks. Why not get them clean water? Why not build houses? And all of those other mindlessly obvious questions. Well because there are 8 million of them in the city not paying any types of taxes and living with absolutely nothing and no chance of moving around. India has over 600 million (with an M) people living on less than $2 a day. Which is a staggering number, but one that I'm finding to be less staggering than it sounds. For instance, yesterday, as the rich Sahib that I am, speaking of which, ironically, a "Seth" is a very rich man with philanthropic tendencies here in India. But as I was saying, I went in to town for the first time and paid for both my servant and I to go to the City Palace, a large park (Mohti Magri (a park dedicated to the patron king of the city Pratap Singh)) and the bus back and forth. Here's the kicker to connect it. It cost me $2.10. At home in the states the same day would have cost about 35-40$. So. While $2 a day is a ridiculously low amount in comparison to the US, as an amount to live by in India where food, housing, and other costs are so much lower, it is actually a reasonable sum.

Here's where you think I'm a terrible person. There's that whole idea that the mind can adapt itself to anything. Usually it comes up in movies where the main characters are debating murder, I just saw Rope last week and it's a good example. The argument is the anyone can become accustomed to murder. Maybe that's the case, I wouldn't know, lucky you all, I'm not a serial killer in your midst. But my point is that the poverty here is surprisingly unshocking. I know. Say it. Seth's a terrible person. No, I'm not saying that I like it, I'm just saying that it is. I'm not crying myself to sleep because of the people that I'm observing in the streets. The standard of living is low here and few people have access to a doctor and adequate healthcare. But it's not too hard to adjust to. Think about this, India makes Morocco, Panama, or Costa Rica, look like Miami beach. People really are dying in the streets.

I wasn't really going anywhere with all that and for those of you following my first trip abroad via email sorry, that's how I write.

I'm going to sign off for now because there are two Indian men glaring at me to finish this up. Take care and I'll drop you some more lines later when I get the chance.