7 July - New Delhi

Day one is usually for acclimation unless I'm on an assignment and schedules are tight.

In the breakfast room I met a young woman named Jen, a Spanish teacher from Florida working in the summer as a flight coordinator for a youth tour company. She ushers high-schoolers from home to the destination country, hangs out a bit, and escorts them back. She's slated for a city tour today, and I'm slated for the Internet check-in, ATM hunt, and catching up on any lost sleep. We agree to meet this evening.

During the day I took care of such errands as email, arranging my room, surfing the web, and then, finally, when I could delay it no longer, getting out of the hotel for that first solo walk about the hood. This is necessary to conquer the 'I-don't-know-anything-this-is-so-foreign-I-think-I'll-just stay-in-my-room mentality. My goal: ATM finding.

TRAVELER'sTIP  I can't remember the last time I exchanged foreign currency during my International travels. Airports all seem to have ATMs; I tend to have some currency on hand from previous trips; and the transaction fees from ATMS are often far less than exchange fees.

It was a relatively short walk. Down the alley. Turn left onto the side road, Esplande. Walk to the main street. Cross. Bank is on the right. Relatively simple. But here are the instructions they don't give: 

1. Ignore the stares and laughs of men. 

2. Don't panic when you don't see another female until the main road. 

3. Watch out for the homeless dogs and men lying about. 

4. When turning out of the alley, stay in the road as the sidewalk is virtually non-existent. 

5. Be prepared to walk sideways between bicycle taxis on your left and cars and human-drawn carts on your right. 

6. Don't step in the mud. 

7. When crossing the street, find something moving and walk parallel quickly sidestepping to the right in any open space. 

8. Repeat #7 until arrival on the other side. 

Seriously. Isn't there a gaming app called 'Need for Survival: Walking in Chandni Chowk.?'

The miracle wasn't getting to the bank. The miracle was there was cash in the ATM. I was grateful to discover this after having to fight for my place in line. I'm learning Indians (particularly men) have a loose idea of 'line.' The ride from the airport should have prepared me for that.

A rest in the afternoon, and then Jen and I met up for the Cinema. Awesome! Bollywood in Delhi! We were two of about 6 women and two hundred men in the one-theatre cinema. The movie: Bol Balchan. It was a calvacade of Bollywood favorites in an uproariously funny plot of mis-identity, dual-identity, and non-stop action. 3 hours long with Intermission. In Hindi, lightly peppered with the odd English phrase, such as "Hard work is the keyhole to saxophone."

Back outside, it was now after 10pm. Even at night, the same rules applied. Walking sideways over the mud and quickly sidestepping pavement-sleepers, we made our back.