In India... finally.

Since the last post, we have left Singapore behind and started our adventure in India. Times were tough for the terrific two-some. Tiger airways, our supposed “budget” airline forced us to abandon 13+ kg of our possessions to be picked up upon our return to Singapore. Included in these beloved possessions was Derek’s famous satchel, which he has been depressed and moody about since. After a 4.5 hr flight from Singapore to Bangalore, we found out that we’d be forced to journey far, far into the heart of Bangalore in order to find acceptable lodging. (We landed in a new airport, just 2 weeks old that was far from the city.) The next day we explored Bangalore and were nearly trodden/run over a plethora of times. Bangalore is swell; the temperature was fantastic, the people were nice, and the food was great. That evening, we caught another flight to New Delhi on a much more pleasant budget airline, IndiGo. We arrived around midnight and found a taxi driver waiting with our names on a crumpled piece of paper, which he was holding up. After an hour and a half drive and a search for the house of a WHO employee in the dark, we found the house of Ms. Madhu Sareen. We will be staying with her for the next week and then possibly moving in closer to the city. In the morning we started our first day in New Delhi; Rachel going to work at the WHO and Derek exploring the city. Work at the WHO was pleasant. Rachel’s boss is a nice man from the Maldives who will be guiding her on creating a document to evaluate the Healthy Settings program in Southeast Asia. In order to complete this task, Rachel will need to make calls and send e-mails to all the country offices around SE Asia to ask them for progress reports and then compile them into a document. There are many other interns working with her, from places such as the US, Nepal, Myanmar, and many other countries. We are hoping to travel with them on the weekends to sites around India. While Rachel was at work, Derek wandered aimlessly throughout the greater New Delhi area. After making 3 or 4 new friends and hours of searching, he finally arrived at the mission home. He will probably be trying to work with the missionaries and a humanitarian aid couple, as well as possibly teaching institute. THE END.