{"id":592,"date":"2014-09-28T00:42:20","date_gmt":"2014-09-28T00:42:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/?p=592"},"modified":"2014-10-18T19:16:11","modified_gmt":"2014-10-18T19:16:11","slug":"india-2014-no-rails-new-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/2014\/09\/28\/india-2014-no-rails-new-adventure\/","title":{"rendered":"India 2014: No Rails, New Adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re both in the midst of packing anxiety and have started a few days early measuring suitcases, copying ID documents, and making props for our shadow puppet show. In reality we started months ago getting shots, watching documentaries, and getting together visas\/rupees\/clothing for this journey, but now as our flight looms the frenzy begins. <\/p>\n

It’s a long journey: first to Newark, then on to Mumbai, then 3-4 hours by private bus to Pune, and I’m anticipating the first couple days after we land will be brutal. We’re going for a friend’s wedding–a pair of friends who were initially wedding clients that I married civilly here, and who are now journeying to the bride’s ancestral home for a more traditional Indian ceremony. It was a tough decision whether to go–I’ve always wanted to go to India and it seemed a huge advantage to go with someone who knew the country, rather than a tourist jaunt–but work, allergies, a sick kitty, money, etc. made us pause. We decided to go for it, damn the expense, and our poor Daphne passed away before we had to worry finding good care for her while we were gone. <\/p>\n

So today I’m getting this blog and my laptop set up–I’m going to have to continue to work as best I can, and that means retrieving email–and doing a preliminary packing job to see if there are any big problems. I’m hoping my suitcase will be fairly empty so it can come back full of saris, gifts, and tea (we’ll be buying our wedding clothes there, plus bringing home a few items for friends and neighbors). <\/p>\n

Things I’m most apprehensive about: <\/p>\n

Getting there.<\/strong> The initial transit will be more than 24 hours, and exhausting, plus worries about more nutjobs setting fires at airports and Ukrainian missiles and Icelandic volcanoes delaying or canceling our flights. This isn’t such a big deal going over, but coming back I have a wedding three days after I get home, so that makes me a bit anxious though a delay that long is exceedingly unlikely. <\/p>\n

Being there.<\/strong> We’ve been warned: keep tight hold of valuables. Don’t smile at people. Don’t go anywhere alone, or out at all at night if you can avoid it. Don’t drink bottled water unless you’re certain it’s the real stuff from the factory, not resold bottles refilled at taps and glued shut (a booming industry, we understand). Don’t eat street food. <\/em>Plus, the emotional strain of being immensely privileged in the midst of intense poverty. <\/p>\n

For me, one more big fear: breathing.<\/em> I just had sinus surgery three weeks ago and though I’ve been cleared by my ENT for travel (and he goes regularly to Rajasthan to operate on kids with cleft palates there) both he and my hostess raised concerns about dust and dryness. I bought three cotton\/silk scarves at the thrift store today to wear as emergency dust masks. <\/p>\n

Getting home on time.<\/strong> For work, as I mentioned. There’s an additional part of this trip planned at a wildlife sanctuary, but we couldn’t take the extra two weeks off. In a way, I’m relieved–the group will be taking an overnight train ride to another state and it may be a harrowing experience. Those of you who have traveled to Rough Guide<\/em> countries know the kind of thing: sleeping with your head on your valuables, locking and tying down as much as you can, etc. <\/p>\n

Things I’m most looking forward to:<\/p>\n

The wedding rituals.<\/strong> I’ve never had mehndi (the hennaing of delicate patterns on the hand and feet before a wedding) though many of my clients have sported it at their weddings. I’ve been invited to participate in that, as well as shopping for Indian wedding wear (! those of you who know me know that shopping is something I abhor). We Americans are performing at the wedding reception, a traditional Indian practice where guests present songs, dances, and sketches in honor of the bridal couple. I’m sure we’ll suck, but if you can’t give your overseas hosts something to mock you for as an American, surely you are failing a basic principle of your U.S. citizenship. <\/p>\n

\"Mehndi.<\/a>

Mehndi. Photo by John and Colette Photography, used with permission.<\/p><\/div>\n

The wedding itself.<\/strong> It will be educational and interesting to see a real Hindu priest perform the real deal in real India (though I’ve been warned the ceremony is long and sort of informal by American standards, I’m thrilled!)<\/p>\n

Having my mind blown.<\/strong> It’s been a long time since I’ve traveled to a country that turns my routine thoughts and habits upside-down. Though it will be difficult to process the profound suffering one can’t help but see, India will be a whirl of new ideas, images, feelings, and people….and though I’m sure I’ll be overwhelmed physically and mentally by it all, I can’t wait. —eliz. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re both in the midst of packing anxiety and have started a few days early measuring suitcases, copying ID documents, and making props for our shadow puppet show. In reality we started months ago getting shots, watching documentaries, and getting together visas\/rupees\/clothing for this journey, but now as our flight looms the frenzy begins. It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-592","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-planning"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":606,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592\/revisions\/606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rudolphparty.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}