Indiaaaa

I AM HERE. And it wasn't quite like jumping into a tornado but all the intensity warnings weren't entirely off so I think I will just recap activities until I can find some way to explain everything else.. let's see. Tuesday night I got picked up from the airport and taken to my lovely hotel, kind of noisy but private bathroom/free breakfast buffet, etc. First day I straight up followed the LP recommendations for first day in India, figuring they knew their stuff about good "acclimatizing" attractions. But I did take the metro to the National Museum, not too confusing as all the signs are in English and actually less hectic than street transportation. The museum mostly had art, lots of stone and bronze sculptures, some old musical instruments, lots of school kids running around and saying "hi ma'am". Then I walked to the India Gate, kind of like the Arc du Triumph (sp?) and mostly a photo op for mobs of Indian/foreign tourists but on the way to my next stop.. but I kind of failed at judging walking distance from the map and ended up taking an auto-rickshaw, THAT was exciting. Humayun's Tomb is a predecessor to the Taj I guess, beautiful gardens surrounding a big Persian-influenced building w/ some really cool geometric patterns and I met an NRI family from Seattle, random. Day 2 I took the metro to Old Delhi, wandered around the Red Fort, Jama Masjid (biggest mosque in Delhi), Raj Ghat where Gandhi was cremated, and the Gandhi museum. Then train to Agra, arrived an hour and a half late but luckily my hotel pickup was still there so now I'm here in Agra, the Taj is closed on Fridays but I think I'm going to venture to an old ruined city like an hour away that sounds pretty cool. Yeah I'd like to offer some insights into Indian street life or something but to be honest, when I'm walking down the street I'm so involved in watching my bag, ignoring all the stares and "hello ma'am"s, and figuring out how to get where I'm going that I can't really people watch.. so I guess it just stores up and then I process things when I'm relaxing. But. I have seen cows in the street. And there seem to be no single women anywhere. And food so far has been excellent. I think I bought a bottle of water that had been refilled through a hole in the bottom but I noticed before I drank too much, no Delhi belly yet yay! I think I got too used to being around friends and family while I was home, I miss everyone a lot but as I told the concerned lady on the train, I'd rather be here doing this all by myself than not doing it at all!