First Impressions

Day 3: Delhi is great so far. Day 1 was overhwhelming; based on my first impression (and probably jetlag), I was very wary of the city and everyone in it. The fact that after picking me up at the airport, my cab driver drove away with my two big bags when I wasn't looking did not help. My Indian roommate was able to track him down through the cab company and despite his flimsy excuse get them back for me. That left me feeling relieved and lucky, not to mention chastened.

Day 2 brought more comfort, and Day 3 has me feeling borderline familiar. I feel as though I can read people better, and am seeing more women out and about. It's a wonderful city, and I'm looking forward to exploring the infinite sites, activities and people here.

Some impressions and surprising lessons so far:

• Few women take public transit or walk around alone. The ratio of men to women in cabs/trains/buses is about 30 or 40:1. I'm told that women generally drive (or are driven), or stay at home. Our entire office is run by a woman, so it's clear that there is gender equality, but in public it's less common another woman, especially alone.
• There are a lot of people in this city. "Duh," right? But even Captain Obvious would agree it's unlike anywhere else in the world. With people constantly coming/going/honking/running/chatting in close proximity, it's like a bustling ant hill at all times. Navigating the chaos is getting easier with each day.
• I need to learn Hindi! Before coming, I was told that "everyone speaks English." While this is true at the office, it's not true on the street. I will feel more comfortable navigating the city once I can communicate.
• Only major roads have street names (as far as I can tell). A house's location is determined by its neighborhood and what block it is on, but there is no sense to the order of blocks or the shape of the roads. So I better start memorizing some maps!

Looking forward to learning more about the culture and the city and sharing as I go. A major victory is that I found a permanent place to live in a safe neighborhood (yay!), and will move in on Saturday.