Motorcycles and Rickshaws

Greetings from India!

So Lauren and I have been in India for almost two days and I am already amazed at how different life can be in a different portion of God's planet!  Already in this short amount of time I have traveled to a fish market, dealt with local law enforcement (more on that later) and experienced Indian style Pizza Hut.

So first things first, Yesterday (Thursday) James decided to start my Bangalorean adventure with a trip to the heart of one of the city's markets.  I hopped on the back of a motorcycle with him as he weaved in and out of the chaotic and yet surprisingly quick moving street traffic.  One thing on the roads that has caught my eye (other then the wandering cows) is the assumption that you are not the only person on the road trying to get somewhere quickly.  Getting cut off by someone merging into traffic is an assumption not a nuisance and the horn is used as a friendly signal to fellow drivers ahead instead of a warning of a possible collision.  The fact of the matter is everyone on the roads in Bangalore is moving quickly and some of the streets are so busy the only way to merge is to squeeze yourself into a place that the average 24 year old American man thinks is a death wish.  However, no collisions take place as the brakes of the oncoming motorcycles, rickshaws and cars are quickly tapped to create just enough space.  No special fingers are offered after something like this because all the drivers behind you have done the same thing 5 times in the last 5 minutes.




So after an exhilarating motorcycle ride that replaced my Jet lag with a dose of adrenaline we arrived at the market.  The market was located in a part of the city composed primarily of Muslims, so women wearing veils was a normal site.  The market was an extremely colorful and active place.  We were there for fish and after stopping at a few stands James had found lunch and we took a quick tour throughout the rest of the market where I saw loads of fruits, vegetables, and flowers.



So onto dealings with local law enforcement.  As many of you know Lauren and I had some difficulty in our last trip to Chicago attempting to gain permission for reentry into India in August after our Asia trip.  We were told there was nothing we could do and we should register with the Foreign Ministry and seek permission when we arrived.  So Lauren and I headed out this morning at around 10 AM to accomplish that.  After some adventures in gathering all of the needed materials we finally hopped into line with our completed applications.  After one of the pre-screeners looked over our paper work we were given numbers 948 & 949...they were currently serving number 867.  So we took off and got some lunch and about an hour and a half later our turn came up.  After another conversation with what seemed like the 5th person to look at our application without being able to do anything we were brought to the assistant to the head of police who proceeded to pass the buck again!  He said that there was nothing he could do to grant this permission and that we needed to go to the Indian Embassy in the last country of our trip to secure or reentry.  When we asked what if they will not grant it he simply responded with, "that will be less work for me"....greeeeat thanks!  So we are still in the same place but at this point we really have no choice but to try our luck in Kuala Lumpur!

Alright well this has been far to long of a post and its getting close to bed time so good bye for now from Bangalore!

-Aaron