welcome to india

I keep on getting welcomed to India.

My first step into India proper, that is out of Mumbai Airport, I am greeted by the familiar face of a team mate who just arrive right at that moment (thank you universe).  He says to me, “Welcome to India, let’s get some chai.” 

So we grab a rickshaw that takes us to the street where the Mumbai team is living and go to their favorite chai stand.  It’s amazing what a cup of steaming chai can do for you on a blisteringly hot day; I can’t describe it, but it’s just right. 

Within a half hour, I’ve eaten all sorts of street food that we are told not to eat in the states (but that is just out of obligation).  Samosas in buns, this fried onion thing whose name I keep on forgetting, a sawed open coconut etc.  Is it sanitary? Probably not.  But is this India? Definitely. 

**

My first night in Hubli, I was exhausted.  I was living alone.  I was soaked to the bone in sweat.  All I had the mental and physical capacity to do was figure out how to take a shower, make my bed with the sheet and pillow I had just bought, and crash.

I thought about applying some DEET because well…this is the tropics, there are mosquitoes, I live next to an open lot of vegetation, but why not use tonight to test the extent of the problem? Plus, I had just washed off 3 days worth of gunk on my skin, let’s not add some more poison.

I wake up with over 63 red bumps adorning my skin.  Probably more, my hands can only probe to certain areas and with a certain degree of tactile accuracy.  My land lady sees me later, “what happened to your face?!” she exclaims. 

My personalized welcome to India, that’s what happened.

**

My roommate speculates that maybe by being bitten, I will not get sick…digestion-wise.  Like it’s a tradeoff.  No such lapse of hospitality in India.

**

“There is a saying,” I am told by a young man clearly extremely enthusiastic to be in the company of such an exotic foreigner (hah!), “’treat the guests as Gods.’”

I’m not sure if even Gods are welcomed so warmly to crash a super traditional wedding that I just ran into.  Well, to be technically correct, I ran into the groom’s horseback, music-filled, progression to the temple on the night of their engagement.  Of course, I was invited to the actual wedding to be held the next day. 

Welcome to India, you simply must experience one of our weddings.