Global Trek

The week before we leave I am anxious.  I'm not sure what to pack - we need appropriate business attire for our formal meetings, I want to have casual wear for our "tourist" days and I definitely do not want to lug anything around unnecessarily.  Currently the weather over there is similar to a late New England spring, so I find myself digging into my off-season storage trunks, pulling out dresses and slacks that are usually reserved for May and June.  I have request the local currency where I can and I feel comforted knowing I'll arrive with dirhams; will at least have cash ready for our first stop in the UAE.  India, I learn does not allow its money to be ordered outside the country and I panic slightly - no cash upon arrival has never been a good idea in my own humble traveling opinion. But I have read the books I could squeeze in between homework assignments, I have photocopied my passport, sent our agenda to my family, prepared as best I know how. 

Our flight is scheduled to leave on Sunday the 26th of Feburary, and whether I feel ready or not, I am boarding that plane. It is onward to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and then to India(!) - Delhi and Agra  - a global trek as part of our final semester for school, a capstone of our work in ways; the opportunity to learn and understand how business is done on the other side of the world.  I consider myself rather well traveled; I've been lucky enough to see a good portion of Europe, a touch of Africa, the United States, and even visit our good friends Down Under.  Yet until this trip I had never been to Asia, never traveled to this corner of our planet. 

What I expected: the UAE, Dubai in particular, would feel a bit like a very clean, very expensive version of Las Vegas. (It does.) Abu Dhabi had me thinking of oil, of money. (They have a lot of both; more than they know what to do with, in fact.)

India was the place that had me more curious; a bit more unsure of what might be waiting.  What I imagined in two words: sensory overload.  What I found: sensory overload - and so much more.  India is unlike any other place I have ever been.  It's wild, hectic, and doesn't always make a lot of sense - while still, ironically enough, making plenty of sense.  There are people everywhere, the traffic is hilariously insane (painted lanes are merely guidelines - everywhere we saw what would normally be a four lane road easily become seven or eight).  The sounds, the smells, the colors, all seemed heightened and more vivid. Monkeys hang from the trees.  Cows roam the streets freely.  It is beautiful, magical, and stunning while simultaneously overwhelming, intense, and poverty stricken. India can feel like a spot that has been turned around and spun like a snow globe, and yet, you can make sense of everything and understand all that is said or posted because everyone speaks English.  It's a bit surreal.  I found myself fascinated at every turn and I'm not entirely sure I have yet found the words to do the country justice. 

Before I left, one of my classmates, whose parents are originally from India and has been several times himself, told me that people tend to fall into one of two camps regarding their first visit to India.  One side is people who are glad they see it but are overwhelmed and need to retreat each day to decompress.  For them one visit is enough.  Others fall in love immediately and simply cannot get their fill.  To be totally honest, I expected that I would fall in the first category.  I was excited to visit, no question, but before I even arrived I wondered if maybe one trip would be all I would need; that I would only want one opportunity to see that corner of the world.  Instead I found myself enamoured, surprising even myself by my immediate rapture. 

Naturally, I am already plotting my return.