Finally in Bangalore!

We landed!!! What a relief... Next was Immigration, baggage claim, and Customs. Now, almost 2 hours after we landed it was time to find our ride home! Laura said she didn't remember what Jaideep (we're going to call him J. from now on..) looked like, so we were hoping our blond hair made us stick out enough for him to recognize us, but not so much that we looked like we didn't know what we were doing. Our plan didn't work! Within seconds of passing through Customs, we were bombarded with strange men asking to be our driver, and asking to carry our luggage.(insert panic attack #2) Definitely a culture shock! We kept walking and pretended we knew what we were doing(which actually worked!) we found J. and let me tell you: I was SO relieved! Later when he was giving us his first impressions of us, he said that my face lit up like I just won the Lottery when I finally saw him. We were greeted with strawberry-banana shakes, doughnuts and bottled water. Then, promptly met by a cab... We had almost an hour to take in the scenes and J. gave us a quick run down of our week to come. I was so excited!!! We got home a little before 3 am and were shown our room, and left to get some rest.


Our first full day in Bangalore was great! We woke to sounds of "autos" whizzing by on the nearby road, and peeked out to see school kids in uniform walking to school, and women in saris with water jugs on their heads. We were in India!!! I still couldn't believe it. Here was our first view of Bangalore:And of course we needed showers after traveling for 24 hours... The "shower" was an experience in itself! It consisted of a large bucket, a small bucket, and a faucet. We were told that if we had a cloudy day the water probably wouldn't be very hot because the water heater was on the roof, and warmed by the sun. Our showers were almost always cold!!
Next was breakfast. J's wife, Yamena made home made Dosas and a green curry sauce. Dosas are similar to a savory crepe, but made with rice flour. And their curry is not the yellow spice you buy here in America. They have a curry plant and use the tender, baby leaves in practically every dish! Here's the plant they have in their back yard:While breakfast was being made, J. took us outside and taught us how to open coconuts by hand!

After breakfast, we headed out! I must admit, I was a little nervous! We just drove around alittle bit before meeting J's wife Y. and daughter, A. for lunch. We went to a special restaurant where they serve your meal on a huge banana leaf! It was really cool! For dessert J. bought us some rose-leaf topped with a cherry thing. It was...delicious? Ok, I couldn't finish mine. I almost choked. But I'm glad I tried it! Almost every Indian sweet is covered with silver leaf! It not only looks beautiful, but has antioxidant health benefits too.

After lunch J. took us to "Home-Buzzzz" (similar to our CVS) where we bought our week's supply of water, and toilet paper!
Up next: Day 2! Ducks, Ice cream and Mehendi.