Small town perks

We live in a small town (20,000).  People here are friendly.  We have been trying for a week to get our sim cards activated so that we could have cell phones and a dongle (for wi-fi) and we keep running into problems. The shop keeper who has been helping us felt sorry for us and gave us temporary cards to use until ours get activated.  It was very nice of him.  It meant that I could call my family today (it's my birthday).

Later in the evening we went to make copies of our passports and the shop keeper invited us to sit with him and his friend to have some chai.  We couldn't talk too much to each other but it was very friendly.  As we were leaving, we thanked him and he said "You are our guests."

We have met some of the faculty at the university and one woman who is an English professor has been very kind and helpful.  She brought me some Cadbury chocolate and cake for my birthday.

Srinagar

Life in Srinagar is very different:
1. The power is out usually 3-5 hours a day.
2.  If the tv is working properly we get 3 channels in English.
3.  We have to take bucket showers and remember to turn on the water heater at least 20 minutes beforehand.
4. There are a lot of cows just hanging out in the market and walking in the streets.
5.  Stuff is cheap! A somosa from a street vendor costs 7 rupees ($0.13). We can feed both of us for lunch for under $2.  We have the Super Deluxe room at the hotel for $37/night (and that's expensive!). 
6.  People stare at us all the time.  There are no other white people in this town.
7.  People find it both funny and nice that we can speak some Hindi.
8.  The roads in and out of town are crazy!  They are very narrow, curvy, and bumpy (we are in the mountains).  We hired a car to take us to a town called Pauri which was 30 km away-it took almost an hour.  My sides were a little sore when we got back from trying to remain upright and not get flung side to side in the car.
9.  Indians honk their horns ALL the time because the streets are so crowded.  Our hotel is on the main road through town so we hear a lot of honking.  At night it's quiet though because there aren't many people walking around or driving.

 These are the sights from the balcony of our hotel.

Christmas

This is a children's Christmas parade we saw from the balcony of our hotel.  The little girls are dressed as angels and the boys as santas.  There is also a pretend brass band made up of other children at the end.

This is the floor mat outside our hotel.

Surreal turns into grateful

My trip began with a surreal feeling. Even though I had known I would some day move to India for over 4 years, I could not believe the time had come. Was I prepared? No, I don't think that's possible. I was nervous about the unknown and still am. But I have realized that much of the nervousness stems from pride and not wanting to look stupid. I pray that God will give me the strength to embrace humility and make me more like Jesus in that way.

Somewhere along the way, my surreal feeling turned into gratitude. I am thankful that I get to have this experience. I appreciate the moden consciences on the airplanes (mostly all the entertainment choices). I am grateful the Fulbright representative was on time at the airport and easy to find. Our hotel is very comfortable with great Internet! A good night's sleep and a shower really refresh the soul. I'm also very thankful for my wonderful husband. It's a lot of fun going on an adventure with your best friend!

I know that this is a "honeymoon phase" and that reality will hit me like a ton of bricks, but I'm going to try and embrace each phase as it comes.