Initial thoughts from India

It's been a week since I left Iowa for India, and life here has been treating me pretty well. Initially we were in Bangalore, and we've since moved out to an area a little more secluded. There's monkeys, birds, and overall things are pretty peaceful. We've been going through some informal training on Indian culture, and the projects we'll be working on. I'm inspired by the people I'll be working with, their stories are all incredible, and I'm honored to be in this adventure with all of them. 

The other night we arranged a Skype call with Jed, the fellow that was working on the project, I've been assigned to. The facility where we're staying doesn't have WiFi, so I had to plug my computer into their system. The internet wouldn't work, so we tried another computer, still nothing... So I asked for technical support, (not hard to find in India, actually she was right next to me). She couldn't get it working either, so she suggested I used one of their other computers, the problem being it had no camera, microphone or speakers. So I fetched a camera and microphone, she handed me some headphones, and we patched things together for it to work. I finally called Jed to find only to find out the headphones didn't work, we disconnected and tried another pair, and when we finally got connected and I apologized of the difficulties, he said, "Welcome to India."

When I initially told people I was going to India, friends that had been raved about what an fascinating place it was. I've not even been here a week and it's already exceeded my expectations. In my short time here I've been on sensory overload, with all the sights, sounds, and smells that make up the beautiful country of India and I can't wait to get started on the work I'll be doing.