McDonald's delivers?

I know that this update is long overdue. It's been a week now since I've arrived in Gurgaon and despite my many past visits, India never ceases to amaze me. In frustrating and wonderous ways.

The first thing about India is that no matter what airport I disembark from, I will be assailed with the same "scent" of India. It is one of humidity, spice and humanity. It never fails to remind me where I am.

The second thing about India is that bureaucracy is rampant. For example, getting Jai home was a challenge of epic proportions and I don't think I could have done it without my dear cousins - Titiksha and Parichay - helping me out. They were so kind to come get me at the airport and then spent the next 4 hours - yes, I said 4 hours - with me at the airport cargo area - working the various bureaucracies at the airline office, then the office to get permission to get into the cargo area - which cost 1000 rupees, then permission to go to the duty office - because for some bizarre reason, you have to pay a duty to get your dog out of cargo, then you have to have permission to leave the cargo area and pay yet another toll for passage through the building. As a first experience in India, it was less than impressive. and don't get me started on the fact that all the paperwork was done without computers, on pads of paper which each month get stacked on the prior month's pads, never to be filed away.

After finally leaving the airport, we drove to my apartment. Gurgaon is unlike any place I have been in India. It is known as the mall capital of the country, and as we drove to my new home, I saw that it lives up to the moniker. I went to one of the malls on Saturday to pick up some groceries and run some other errands. Imagine my amazement at: 1. having to pass guards to get into the mall, and 2. seeing a Bath and Beauty Works, Nine West, Nike, Adidas, MAC stores. I am definitely not in Kansas anymore.

When I got to the apartment, I was given a reference list of numbers which included Pizza Hut and McDonalds. Both of which deliver, but don't order a hamburger since there is no beef served at McDonalds. So far, the only place I've seen beef is at the restaurants in the finest hotels. It is the strangest thing to think that I can order a veggie burger, milkshake and fries to be brought to my home, but I can't drink the water from the faucet (for fear of illness) and the only place there is running hot water is in the shower and then only from a very small water heater in the bathroom.
It just goes to show that India is a city of extremes.

I have pretty much settled into my apartment and started work on Monday. It felt very much like the first day of school - what should I wear, will people be nice, will I have someone to sit with at lunch etc. It was fine and more on work later.

The season here at the moment is still monsoon - and the rains are coming down heavy. It has created so many potholes in the roads and so much flooding, that at times traffic is backed up for hours. I am fortunate to have a car and driver so I don't have to deal with the traffic, but to be honest, I don't think I could ever drive in India. Horns are used constantly, just to let you know that a car is behind you, beside you etc. And then there are the cows, who don't follow any traffic rules, but may just be standing or sitting in the middle of the road. They aren't dangerous but they do expect you to go around them. If you weren't traveling at breakneck speeds and then suddenly swerving around them, it might be funny that the docile cow directs traffic.

The other major culture shock is the rupee - at the moment, the exchange rate is roughly 50 rupees to one $1. So I carry around bills of 1000, 500 and 100 rupees at any given time. My groceries for example were over a thousand rupees! or just about 20 bucks.

These are but a few of the random observations I come across and I'll be sure to share more in the days and weeks to come.