in the land of bangalore.

well, it's my first day in bangalore. getting here felt like a lifetime.

i left my house in salt lake city at about 4:00 in the morning and arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later. i felt prepared. sad to leave, but prepared. i had all my ducks in a row: packed days before, had $100 in foreign currency, remembered to pack all of my chargers and a converter/adapter.

when i got to the airport, much to my dismay to realize that my new debit cards don't work. that's right...i realized i have no access to my bank. no way to get any money out of my account. so, i left the airport (after already having gone through security), colin picked me up, and we hurried around downtown trying desperately to find an atm so that he could loan me money for the trip. unfortunately, all he could take out is $500 at a time. so, let's just put it this way....money is going to be really tight this summer. hopefully, i am able to get it figured out and if worse comes to worse, i have to option of a western union transfer...but this was not a great way to start the trip. (in fact, it included lots of tears and cursing).

i proceeded to take a 2 1/2 hour flight to chicago, had a 3 1/2 hour layover, then went from chicago to delhi which was a 14 hour flight with a 3 hour layover, and then from delhi to bangalore which was a 2 1/2 hour flight. my driver picked me up and drove for about 40 minutes to my final destination, only to realize that neither of us knew which flat i was to stay in. so, after frantically calling a million numbers in the middle of the night, i finally was able to walk through the door that i will call home for the next 6 weeks. all in all, it took me about 33 hours to get here.

but...what a nice surprise it was to walk into this charming little flat. it is probably one of the nicest places i've ever stayed overseas.

office in my room

my bed

door to my private balcony

the view from my balcony (i actually look out onto a cemetary to the right)

shower/bathroom

outside of the building

so...after a nice long sleep, i woke up this morning, had some cornflakes, and just relaxed. i took a stroll around my neighborhood and had a pretty gross meal at a cafe across the street. i'll probably frequent the cafe quite a bit because it is conveniently close-by and ultra cheap, but i'm going to have to find a different meal.

one of my favorite things about being in another country is that it inspires me to take more photos. i hope you find these inspirational too!

that's all for now. keep checking in for more photos of this little adventure. since i have a computer in my room with constant internet, i will probably be updating often!

peace, love, and a pretty balcony.
xxoo.