The ever-important first impression

Matt: “I found another balcony!”
Abbie: “I found another bathroom!”

Such was the exuberant/exhausted conversation of our first night in our new apartment.

Five days, four flights, two elegant hotels, and a mountain of tip money after leaving Washington, Matt and I have finally arrived in Chennai. Writing to you from the Community Liaison Office of the U.S. Consulate General, I am surrounded by the sounds of my new city: Tamil language, heavily accented English, and the ever-encouraged honking of anything on two, three, or four wheels.

I would like to apologize up front for any misspellings or unusual phrases in this post, as the jet lag I thought conquered is beginning to show itself once more. It might be time for more of the candy-like beverage India claims to be coffee.

Where to begin? I think I will relate some first impressions and leave a more detailed account for later entries.

Ok, here goes:
1. It is true that people here are incredibly kind and hospitable.
2. I am somewhat of a curiosity with my western styles.
a. Staring is acceptable in India, therefore people stare at me quite a bit. But in a good way…
3. People don’t seem to take driving/honking personally, so road rage is not what it would be if the traffic were the same in the U.S.
4. Drinking bottled water all the time will take getting used to.
5. “Fresh lime juice” does not necessarily indicate that the vendor recently juiced a lime, but could instead mean that he just mixed lime-flavored Gatorade with sprite. Still refreshing, though.
6. The heat is like an entity in and of itself. I think I shall consider it a lap dog, one who follows you everywhere, but cannot be blamed for its persistence.
7. Without knowing what they actually stand for, EWC means that there is no toilet paper while IWC means there is some available. That is a lesson I only need learn the one time.
8. Mosquitos are so wily that they take no heed of neither mosquito nets, nor plug-ins that are meant to drive them away.
a. I am getting used to the lucid dreams caused by my malaria medicine.

With excitement from India,

Abbie