Alright, let's get settled.

I've been in India for approximately 4 days. During that time, I've gone to bed before sunset and awoken before dawn (thanks, jet lag), vomited once (only once!), travelled by plane, train, and bus, and eaten some really good Indian food. I've also made a bunch of friends, went to the bazaar, took some trippy anti-nausea medication, and killed a spider the size of a quarter in my apartment. It's been busy.

New Delhi
I arrived in New Delhi at 2 in the morning and it was 30 degrees Celsius (that's upper 80's in Fahrenheit for those not using the metric system). It was 30 degrees at 2 in the morning. Plus the humidity. Gah.

The hotel was cute and lemon-themed. I met a bunch of people, slept most of the time, and ate some Indian food.

They took the lemon theme very seriously.

An unexpected thing the guide books forgot to mention:
the light switches operate opposite the way they do in the States.
It was really confusing for a time.

The Journey to Woodstock
After a day just hanging out in the hotel, we left for the train station at 5 AM (I had been up since 2, so it wasn't a huge deal). Again, super humid and hot, even that early. A couple people in the group felt sick with the heat/jet lag/culture shock, but I am proud to say that I did fine all the way to the mountain. The train car was air conditioned, which made the windows fog up on the outside, which was terribly frustrating for those of us who hadn't seen Delhi before! I spent my time with a group of five ladies and we chatted and played cards for the ride. We were incredibly loud the whole ride, so I feel bad for the Indians riding the train with us. Seriously. We were totally obnoxious.

Making friends on the train!

This was what I saw when I turned around in the bus.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised...

We arrived in Dehradun, a town at the base of the mountain range. We had lunch (I had chicken lazeez and a sweet lime soda), then boarded a bus to go up the mountain. I had been advised to take an anti-nausea pill for the trip, so I did. Once I found out that it worked by inducing sleep, though, I instantly regretted it. I react pretty badly to sleep medication, and besides, I wanted to see the trip up the mountain! So I kept myself awake. That worked well until I had to get off the bus and talk to people. I found myself in a sort of medicinal out-of-body experience: I was dizzy, my coordination was affected, my concentration was completely shot, and my speech felt slurred. It was terrible! I had wanted so badly to make a good impression my first time on the mountain, and I couldn't remember anyone's name or answer questions well. I felt completely overwhelmed. I finally made it to my apartment (which is super cute, by the way!), and fell asleep on my mattress. I woke up at 5:30 the next morning without my luggage, any internet, or any idea of what to do or when to do it.

Don't Worry, It Gets Better
My situation sounds fairly helpless, and it was, but Woodstock has this amazing way of pulling together and getting you on your feet. The next morning, my neighbor (a fellow Ole!) invited me over to watch a movie (she was also up early because of jet lag). As soon as the movie was done, my luggage arrived! Soon after that, someone came to connect the gas line to my stove! People just have a way of showing up when you're not expecting them, which is wonderful and serendipitous. (We'll just have to see if they show up when I actually need them...)

I've just completed Day One of New Staff Orientation, and I feel great about it. This was a wonderful decision for me, and I feel very settled in already. The staff are welcoming and kind, and I can ask someone just about anything, including poop and/or vomit, and they will be happy to help. There's a scrappy, DIY, been-there-done-that kind of attitude about this place, and I think I'll fit right in.

This is Mussoorie, when I went to the bazaar.
It takes about 20 minutes to walk there from Woodstock.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is the view from my front door.