After three long days of travel, I’ve arrived in India to begin my Fulbright project!

I landed in Mumbai shortly after 1 a.m., and it only took 90 minutes or so for the requisite luggage wrangling (everything made it, thankfully) . . . customs navigation (after “The Orange Incident of 2017” I remind myself to discard any fresh fruit from my backpack beforehand) . . . and immigration questioning (“why do I have the wrong kind of visa?” the guy kept asking [note: I don’t, really]). So, I was wiped but excited when I finally stepped out into the hot-wet-blanket air of Mumbai to look for my driver. One 3 a.m. hotel check-in and delightfully sound sleep later, I was on the road again–a beautiful 3.5 hour drive inland to Pune, my new temporary home.

If you’ve never heard of Pune (pronounced poo-nay), it’s located South-East of Mumbai in a state called Maharashtra. It’s either India’s 7th or 9th largest city, depending on the source, and it seems to be roughly the size of Charlotte, NC but with a population similar to Los Angeles (both around 4 million). Apparently Pune was rated India’s most livable city a few years ago, and it has experienced a lot of growth ever since (here’s a really quick take on some things that make Pune a nice city.

I plan to learn a lot more about this city and state in the coming weeks and months, and I hope you’ll join me for part or all of my journey. For now, I’m mesmerized by what I’ve just learned is the official state animal of Maharashtra: the Indian Giant Squirrel! I hope to see these guys on one of my neighborhood walks…

Until next post!

P.S. After 2.5 years of no international trips, I’m reminded that–aside from the utter exhaustion and sleep deprivation (you can only snooze so much sitting upright in a cramped economy airline seat, after all)–I really do enjoy this kind of long-haul travel. I love international airports (Schiphol for the win, I say!), hearing so many different languages spoken all around me, and even the in-flight movies on the teeny tiny seat-back screens. The most intriguing part to me is the people watching: tons of folks of all ages and cultures from all over the world with different colored passports heading off on their own journeys around the globe. Personally, I find some comfort in observing the things people seem to have in common no matter where they come from–like when people offer to help strangers lift heavy bags into overhead bins, gesture to let someone go ahead of them in the boarding line (it really does happen), or make silly faces and smile at the baby on the plane (perhaps while praying to their particular god(s) in their particular language, “Please don’t let that lovely baby cry the whole 9 hour flight!”