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.

Arrived in New Delhi safe and sound!

First day of work is 8 hours from now (it is 1 am here). More soon!

Great Sinatra/Springsteen Quote

While I've kept this blog to just travel updates (I'll be in India in one week!), I am also a huge Sinatra fan, and today I can't help but share a new item that I loved instantly. It is a quote by my favorite living artist (Bruce Springsteen) about Old Blue Eyes that expresses both American legends with perfect pitch:

My first recollection of Frank's voice was coming out of a jukebox in a dark bar on a Sunday afternoon when my mother and I went in searching for my father. I always remember she said, "Listen to that, that's Frank Sinatra, he's from New Jersey." It was a voice filled with bad attitude, life, beauty, excitement, a nasty sense of freedom, sex, and a sad knowledge of the ways of the world. Every song seemed to have its postscript, "and if you don't like it, here's a punch in the kisser.” But it was the deep blueness of Frank's voice that affected me the most, and while his music became synonymous with black tie, the good life, the best booze, women, sophistication, his blues voice was always the sound of hard luck, and men late at night with the last ten dollars in their pockets, trying to figure a way out.

On behalf of all New Jersey, Frank, I wanna say: "Hail Brother, you sang out our soul.”

- Bruce Springsteen

And if you're a real Sinatra fan, you should also check out my #1 favorite Sinatra letter of all time, which ends with Sinatra making the following offer to a journalist:

...if you are a gambling man, [and]:

a) You prove, without a doubt, that I have ever punched an elderly drunk or elderly anybody, you can pick up $100,000.

b) I will allow you to pull my "hairpiece"; if it moves, I will give you another $100,000; if it does not, I punch you in the mouth. How about it?

(Signed, 'Sinatra')

In today's 24-hour-a-day entertainment cycle, a modern-day PR spokesman would never let that letter be written... but I bet it would feel SO good if they could!

Any other Sinatra/Springsteen fans out there, holla back. :) In the meantime, back to keeping the rest of you posted on my adventures!

Next stop: India

The Evitorial Page is back.  This summer, I'll be in New Delhi, interning with a great organization that uses cutting edge technology to deliver healthcare in rural areas - connecting patients to world-class doctors in a city 15 hours away! And they do it using local entrepreneurs. Those are a lot of buzz words but I promise it's SUPER COOL.


Read up on World Health Partners here: http://worldhealthpartners.org/default.aspx

Many thanks to The Blakeley Foundation, and the Blakeley family, without whose generosity and support of The Fletcher School, this opportunity would be impossible.

There are shots to get, plane tickets to book and an apartment to find...
Can't wait to tell you more!

Merry Christmas!

To ring in the holiday, here's Dad in a welding mask while cutting onions on Christmas Eve. He says it works and he didn't shed a tear. If you know him, you don't find this odd or surprising at all :) Hope everyone's holidays are just as weird and full of love.

-Evitorial Page

Email from my friend Simon

From: Simon
To: Evvie
Date: December 13, 2010

I just checked the Evitorial, and there hasn't been an update since July.

what the f*** evvie?

I'm in the middle of final exams, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a few more weeks for an update, but I promise it will be full of a recap of my Thailand trip, and life in Boston.


Happy Holidays, everyone!!


Evvie


P.S. The Evitorial Page responds to all email inquiries. We reserve the right to publish them on this blog. With love.