29 hours later, or are we there yet

Thursday, July 14th, 2011
Hello friends,
we have arrived safely in India, and I am ensconced on the porch of the International Guest House at Madras Christian College, our place of residence while we are here in Chennai.
Its about noon, we're waiting for Aimee, Rachel's sister in law to return from her placement before getting lunch and heading into the city proper for an afternoon of sights and shopping (Rachel is ready to dress more like a local).
Before my reflections on travel, a note. This is going to serve as an all-purpose diary for us-a combination of Voth family trip journal, a chance to update friends and family, an a place to reflect on any of the various cultural experiences we have, and anything else we want to throw in. Thus, fair warning, I feel no obligation towards subject verb agreement, or traditional concepts of narrative flow. This will be primarily for us, and our own enjoyment.
Anyway, first thoughts.
India is a long way away. It took us about 29 hrs. door to door to arrive at our current location, 15 hours of which were on the plane from Chicago to Delhi, squashed in the middle of the 5 across middle row, fighting for armrest space with strangers. It is not a good recipe to arrive rested and rejuvenated, though the novelty of playing tetris on a 777 did distract me for quite some time, and Indian food on an airline is a delightful treat.
Customs in Delhi were surprisingly non-anxious, they needed our word that we weren't smuggling anything illicit or dangerous, but there was no search. I presume they were content that anything Americans let on their planes is OK to allow in India. The men with big guns generally smiled and were helpful. At customs, they did need an address for our location in India, but "International Guest House, Madras Christian College, Chennai" was sufficient, so it seemed largely a formality.
The Delhi airport is nice (apparently, #4 in the world, according to someone), huge, and pretty quiet at 6:30 at night-the chaos of India had to wait until we arrived in Chennai, where there was ample chaos for everyone, from the busy baggage claim, the hundreds of people waiting to pick up travelers at the airport, and of course, the process of getting out of the parking lot.
It is of course cliche, but the experience of watching traffic flow completely naturally, with no concern for street signs, lane markers, pedestrians, or right of way takes some getting used to. As far as I can tell the only rules are stick to your side of the street (left) and don't hit anyone. It, I think, will continually flabbergast me that more cars aren't scraped and dinged up from their time on the busy streets. Even more fun, the Chennai suburban police randomly block off 1 of the 2.5 lanes of traffic on a regular basis with specially made barricades on main roads. They do this, I presume, to disrupt the flow of traffic and bring speeds down (or possibly they just like causing extra chaos). However, Sammy, our driver handled the chaos well, and we arrived in short order at our destination.
Sleep was a little tricky, since we got in at midnight local time, otherwise known as 1:30 in the afternoon, St. Louis, so we all got up early to walk around the quiet campus of Madras Christian College and walk with Aimee to get breakfast-fresh Mangos! The college is clearly an ex-British place, the amount of empty space and greenery seems to be quite unusual, and the shade of the banyan trees is very welcome.
The afternoon promises to be a hot and sticky adventure, but I think after our naps this morning, we will be ready to experience the adventure that is India.
There will be pictures later, I promise.
Samuel Voth Schrag
Thursday, July 14th (I'm going to try and keep track of days, it should be an adventure).