I realised the other day that my journal entries from the course could be a
bit more descriptive of our daily activities and the journal has an
interesting flow/structure so this is my attempt to make it more organized
and also more comprehensive...

Our journey to India has, indeed, come a long way from making that rushed
decision last August and that was about the time I created this blog; it's
amazing that Alaska is still in the mix, even though it's been pushed back,
it has remained a focal point of conversation and we're now planning for
the real thing. India, in the mean time, has become a reality...

After freaking out over all of the planning, visas, gear shopping, and
rounding that out with a back-breaking road trip to move back in with
parents; we were finally on a plane to Seattle. Including the travel time
up till Ranikhet, the total time on our butts was a solid 15 days with a
day or two at Nate's and my parent's places in Wisconsin. By the time I got
to fitting myself for a pack, I had gained quite a bit of pudge and claimed
it was to protect me from the cold that was to come.

September 2nd: We arrived in Seattle and bused our way to Mount Vernon
where we had to walk a mile with heavy duffles to our hotel for the night.
After so much travel, it's safe to say I was a bit volatile and not the
greatest company and I'm glad Nate has the patience to stay with me through
those times.

Anyways, the night was filled with more preparations of bug proofing our
clothes, which was more of a precaution for after the trip than during,
but still a good thing to take care of before leaving the states. After I
came back to the room with our anti-bug stuff to hang dry , the chemicals
began to attack us so I tired to open the door and windows but eventually
had to lock them in the bathroom. No matter what we did though, Nate was
still being assaulted and ended up sleeping on the reading chair by the
window. Even though I had gotten us a king sized bed for the same price as
a regular room, I was the only one that got to enjoy it.

In any case, the next day he was not at all well rested as we piled into
the van to take us to the NOLS headquarters. It was an overwhelming day,
but also the realization that, yes, we are actually going to India!

We rolled in, ate some breakfast, and met 11 other students for the trip.
Everyone seemed really excited to be there and really juiced to get
everything started. The first thing was a little introduction where we
found out that 3 of the students were all from Boulder, with another
student already in India that had come from Taiwan.

The rest of the day was spent rationing out food for the course, completing
paperwork, preparing gear, and outlining travel and leadership goals. Alas,
we had a lot more time on our butts ahead of us.

That night, I took my last real shower in an amazingly serene stone and
wooden cabin that had an open roof to the stars above. Since then, the
whole group dreamt of that shower the entire trip.

September 3rd: We woke up pretty early for our afternoon flight, ate
breakfast and piled into the already loaded vans. The drive to the airport
was traffic free and checking in our luggage with 2 25 kilo bags each went
surprisingly smooth.

Once we were at our gate, everyone went out to grab some food and a bunch
came back with a book to add to the expedition's library/book club.

We grabbed some pretty decent pasta, but fumbled with these ridiculous
forks that were designed to have each, individual noodle pop off into your
lap and I got my good-impression travel pants that Nate bought me for my
birthday stained with oil.

KG, the instructor traveling with us, seems to be very calm and well
traveled. Our transfer in Chicago went just fine and then we were in the
air for our 11 hour flight. MY airport search for the sunglasses (that go
over real glasses) that Nate bought the last pair of from NOLS was
unsuccessful so I then realized I would be a slave to my contacts for the
rest of the trip.

We arrived in Delhi when it was already dark and boarded the bus after Nate
was finished hanging off the back ladder and swinging the gigantic duffles
to the roof with a couple of guys from he trip. I stared out at Delhi in
the darkness for a while and realized at the same time how different it
must be in the light of day. Some things definitely still stuck out though.

As we drove through the traffic, most vehicles would merge by honking and
dangerously going without anyway of knowing it was safe or not, merely
relying on the faith that the next car over has reacted to the horn, since
almost all of the cars don't have side or rear-view mirrors.

I've already slept 10 hours on the plane, but I'm dozing off for another
long stretch through the night that was only interrupted once by a stop at
a gas station/tea house for our first chai experience. It was great to
stretch my legs after sitting/sleeping for so long, it's surprising that
after I got back on the bus, I zonked out yet again.