Ugh...

Ok, after many, many hours and two miserable sweaty trips to the Indian Consulate, I finally have my Visa. They gave me an Entry Visa as opposed to a Tourist Visa because I'll be working for an aid agency I guess, but it'll work just fine. Once I get my shots I will be 100% good to go. I am sure that will be a fun experience as well.

Hurry Up And Wait!

I've been told to be prepared to deal with the Indian perception of time, which is most different than Western perception. Apparently, things don't move along so smoothly in chronological order in India. It's more like layers of things happening concurrently. I got a little taste of that this morning while I waited three hours to get my visa processed. It wasn't too bad, and nobody there seemed perturbed by the delay, so I just went along with it. It just sucks that I had to miss my karate class. And I still have to go back at 4:30 to pick it up! This is going to be interesting.

I'm in!

I had my final interview today and I was officially invited to join the team for the trip to India. As soon as I got to work I bought my plane ticket. It was the most expensive ticket I ever bought, so that stung a little, but I am sure it will be worth it. Now all I have to do is get a visa, get some vaccinations and pack!

India

I've signed on with Habitat for Humanity and Global Village to travel to New Delhi, India for two weeks to help build homes for some poor families. We will be helping families in Bawana, an urban slum on the fringe of the city. I've never been to India. My only real international trip was to Italy in February of this year. I am going to use this blog to chronicle the experience.