One week in

India welcomed us by exposing us to its crazy driving! If any of you have ever been in an Indian, African (or I assume Latin American, Chinese etc) city during rush hour, you will know what I mean. Despite there being three lanes marked on the road, there was often 5 lanes of vehicles which was slightly worrying. The Indians also seem to use their horn for every communication possible - overtake, don't overtake, idiot, thank you, I'm stopping, I'm coming, hello, why not honk right now, any movement of lanes, and on and on. It was an enjoyable and definitely exhilarating experience when you forgot about the any traffic accident facts.

After a fairly uneventful yet tedious 13 hour bus ride, we arrived in the small town which is to be our home for the next 3 months or so. 

The views on the way up from Delhi to the foothills of the Himalayas made us all grateful to be living in the mountains instead of in the capital. Our brief stint in the city was extremely hot, humid and dull. Admittedly this wasn't aided by the fact I had had very little sleep during my flight to India which made me less able to be excited by the place for more than the first hour or so. Don't get me wrong, I would love to explore Delhi when I am fresh faced - perhaps I will be able to before I leave for Uganda. However we were all much happier to reach the mountains and the slightly cooler and much less sticky air. 

The bus ride was not too uncomfortable and could have been so much worse as we weren't sharing it with any livestock or a greater number of people than available seats. It was very long and laborious during which I discovered several contortions I didn't know I could sleep in prior to the journey. 

Having been here for over a week now, I'm am slowly getting used to waking up to spectacular views all around us. We are truly blessed by the creation in north India! It is often shrouded by cloud because we are so high up, so we can feel in a bubble for much of the day which is very peculiar, but when there's a break in the cloud, the views are beautiful (as you can see).

I am loving Indian food. There is a lot of rice, which I am not tired of yet, but in three months time this may be a little different. We have a cooked meal at lunch and dinner time, but they aren't too heavy so I'm not eating tonnes. It is all very tasty but not overwhelmingly spicey. The curries are the highlight, especially the paneer one or any involving lentils and beans. On Thursday night I learnt how to make an Indian breakfast called alou parata (not sure of the spelling). It is basically a chapati with a potato mash with lots of spices in the middle and it is delicious! It was so much fun learning how to make them, and I was so much better at the end of the two and a half hours are making over 50 paratas. I have the recipe in my journal, so I may treat you lovely people to an Indian dish when I'm home.

Today, we are going shopping to get some Punjab suits made. It's all very exciting! The clothes here are beautiful - I have borrowed one suit a couple of times when it is respectful to have the local dress. They are super comfy and can be any pattern or colour, so very personal. Many of us are looking forward to out day trip too, despite the inevitable mud after the huge thunder storm last night which lasted for a good 7 hours at least and the probability of more rain. We had lots of power cuts last night which interrupted our work, but I got to test out my head torch which worked a treat.

Missing everyone at home, but settling in and loving India. And now that I have Internet, life is even better :)