After 30 some odd hours of flying and driving I finally arrived in Bhubaneswar. We got off the tarmac at about 6:30 at night when the sun was setting and the temperature felt reminiscent of afternoons in Florida. Little did I know that India has only one time zone, therefore the sun rises at about 4:30 or 5 in the morning, sets at 6:60 or 7 and by the time my lazy self rolls out of bed its the hottest period of the day. For the first few days here the temperature was around the vicinity of 98 to 99 degrees Fahrenheit with will humidity. When you breath in it feels as if you are inhaling something heavier than oxygen.

I am living on the top floor of my bosses house and our room is separated by the rest of the house by a rooftop terrace and the view is gorgeous. From our balcony you can see some of the many temples of Bhubaneswar (which is known as the Temple city of India and has about 600 in the city limits). My boss, Subrat, along with his wife were kind enough to install an A/C in our room, although they have not put one in their own living room. We also have a bunson burner type stove complete with a propane tank we need to turn on and each time we need to use it. Maybe by the end of this trip I won't be afraid of using a grill. I've learned that showers are a western thing and evidently not prevalent in residences. Our bathroom has what is called a bath. There is a nozzle that comes out of the wall next to the sink and a bucket and basically what you do is fill up the bucket and bathe yourself from there. The floor is slightly slanted and has a drain to let all of the excess water flow through. The toilet is on an elevated platform about a foot and a half up from the rest of the floor and is quite literally a throne. haha

I guess the saying no rest for the weary truly applies here. Katrina and I went to work the morning after we arrived. We typically leave the house around 9:30 and return at 6. Something I had entirely forgotten about was that there is a 6 day work week instead of five so I guess I will be able to get a lot accomplished. So much for my perpetual procrastination... The office is a very nice building that is typical east Indian architecture. Wide-open with no doors (except for the bathrooms and front doors), cool tile floors and a throw rug here or there. Every morning around 10:15 we are given a cup of tea and provided lunch around 1. We are then given another cup of tea around 4 and samosas at 5. I feel as if everywhere I go the host is trying to either offer me tea, biscuits, or sweets. I guess we could learn a thing or two about hospitality.

I think quite possibly the my bosses family (the Singhdeos) are the nicest, most hospitable family I have ever been fortunate enough to meet. We had been discussing that no matter how light our clothes were they are still too heavy to wear in this heat and humidity so after work yesterday they took us shopping for some lighter clothes and I have to say they are quite pleasant. I got two long tunics made of cotton and a salwar, which is a long tunic and pants similar to what genies wear (I don't know how else to describe them). The best part was that the tunics cost 199 rupees, about $4.30, and the salwar altogether cost 899 rupees. They are perhaps the most comfortable clothes I own.

The monsoon rains have finally started and I feel like I am Forest Gump when he is in Vietnam and the downpours start. It is the hardest I have ever seen it rain in my life. In the U.S. it rains cats and dogs but in India it rains elephants and cows. I have actually been woken up by it in the morning and even though our door is elevated little puddles have still managed to seep their way through. The worst part though it that on our way to work we drive past the slums and they are completely flooded and the open sewage has overflowed into their shanties. The children that play in the puddles that are up to their knees in the slums seemingly don't care that the rainwater has been mixed in with these impurities.

One of the men who works in the office with Katrina, Ben (the two other interns) and I has a brother who is getting married and we are fortunate enough to have been invited so I will be able to go to my first real Indian wedding. I guess that gives us an excuse to buy sarees :) Its amazing that someone who does not even know us would be kind enough to invite us into their homes for such a special occasion. I will be sure to post pictures as soon as I figure out how to upload them to my computer.