28, 29 September 11: Beijing to Delhi

During the duration of my overlay at Beijing International, I ate chopped cucumber in a spicy red sauce along with seaweed udon soup. I later enjoyed a snack of marinated peanuts and celery. I enjoyed trying the various new (to me) beverages in the vending machines. The prices were high in the airport. I blew through $30 just feeding and hydrating myself. I wandered a lot. The corridors were lined with Balenciaga, Salvatore Ferragamo, and Chanel. A Starbucks was under construction. Efficient bathroom attendees entered the stall after each use to sanitize and perfume. I used my first squat toilet. It was spotless. I'll post pictures soon. I didn't talk much all day. I offered to take pictures of a family and after that they gave me grapes, but our interaction was limited as we could only share food, not a common language.

My flight from Beijing to Delhi was again very restful. Lots of sleep punctuated with an occasional groggy rise to check the time. I slept through meals and drinks on this flight. The passengers of this flight felt more foreign compared to those on my flight into Beijing. While there were plenty of westernized Indians, many still wear traditional clothing, especially the older generations. The style is so distinctly Indian. Old Sikh couples, he in his turban, she in her sari, look so distinguished. I don't really know how to discuss this without exoticizing and “othering” Eastern culture, so I'll leave it at that for now.

I expected more pandemonium at the Delhi airport. It was quiet, clean, and orderly, if not as modern and state of the art as Beijing's. I received my first “namaste” in the bathroom, which had a Western toilet. I quickly passed through customs and had no issues changing my dollars and yuan to rupees. As an FYI, 287 USD got me over 12,000 INR. My room tonight costs 450 INR, or about $9, for comparison.

Everything I'd read said the exit from Indira Gahndi airport is one of the most intense first experiences of India; that there's filth and noise and stink and humans everywhere. I braced myself and headed out and... nothing. There were orderly rows of Indians behind the partitions, there to pick up guests or greet family members. There was traffic and it was humid, but it was far, far tamer than I expected. I picked up two bottles of water, paying what're likely to be exorbitant airport prices, for about $0.80.

After that I started looking for my prearranged cab....

27, 28 September 11: LA to Beijing

 
I can't leave the airport! I need a visa. Should've checked it out before I left. That said, if I'm going to spend a day in an airport I'm glad it's this one.

My flight from LA was comfortable and uneventful. The plane was only 80% full so I had an empty seat next to me. On both flights so far, I've been next to the window, which is my preference. I like to squeeze myself into the 90 degree angle made by the seat and the wall of the plane. I slept like crazy. Luckily, the flight attendant woke me to ask my dietary requirements. Otherwise I would've been stuck with beef and pork for dinner and breakfast, respectively. My timeline is obscured because of the amount of sleeping I did. I only woke for my vegetarian meals. For dinner, I had a greasy noodle dish, and for breakfast, I ate seaweed and onions with rice. I preferred breakfast. We arrived here at 0500, Wednesday.

It took a while to get through security. Customs seized my bike lock. Whatever.

This airport is fantastic. I found an amazing shower in the women's restroom. It's a separate room with a divided shower and bidet, as well as a huge vanity and sink. The room was spotless, and I was unsure if it was available for use. I used it anyway. The shower itself was at least 8 feet high, with double shower heads, one of which was detachable. My period started last night during the flight, and travel always makes me extra greasy and gross looking. Bathing felt so good. All the better because it felt forbidden. Why would something this nice be available to anyone? And if it was broadly available, why wasn't there anyone else waiting to use it? I took my sweet time. I shaved and shampooed and brushed. I even applied makeup. What the hell. I changed my clothes and washed my underwear. It was perfect.  When I left the shower room, the cleaning lady gave me a long, dirty look, but I'm getting enough of those in general to not know whether it was my appearance or my behavior that warranted it.

I like being foreign so far. I like looking at people and not caring. I like that anything foolish I do will be attributed to my culture and not to me individually. I like the liberation that anonymity provides. I like that when people are looking at me, it's through a lens I can't identify with, a language and culture I know nothing about. Thus far, I'm remarkably comfortable and confident. I worried that in the face of a novel situation, I'd panic, but it's been the total opposite. I'm very excited for India because I recognize that it'll be on an entirely different level than this. Everything here is organized and clean and efficient. There are international outlets in the floor every 10 feet to charge laptops and electronics. At Sky Harbor, I found only one outlet. At LAX, there were only outlets available at special stands, where you were squished between other technology users. I did have to scan my passport to use the free wifi. I'm sure the government could read this message if they wanted to. The price of all this comfort is a lack of privacy. I had to scan my passport in order to access the wifi. Also, certain websites, like Facebook, are inaccessible, and many internet searches related to China cause the browser to shut down.

Right now, I'm clean and cozy on a bench that overlooks the dismal skyline. It's so hazy that visibility is probably limited to under a mile. There are buildings in the distance, but they're just an outline, only a shade or two darker than the sky. I knew China was polluted, but never had any concrete visualization of what that pollution looked like. I'm also publicly enjoying a frosty Chinese lager that I bought from a vending machine, not so much because I felt like a beer, but because I could. I'm going to surf the internet and people watch for the next 8 hours before my flight.

Later
I've been people watching and wandering for hours. This is the biggest terminal in the world! And only 5 restaurants. This doesn't feel like a developing country at all. It reminds me of the U.S. in the late 90s and early 00s. All ostentation and acquisition.

26 September 11: Phoenix to LA

I just begrudgingly spent $5 on a 12 oz chai at an LAX Starbucks, but comforted myself with the fact that that same denomination will buy me at least 50 chai masalas in the coming months. 

On the flight from Phoenix to LA, I sat next to a man en route to his home in Guatemala. As you know, I'm enamored of Central America. He kindly obliged me as I assaulted him with a barrage of questions. He lives in the mountains, so doesn't have to deal with humidity. The winters are cold; it freezes but never snows. The summers get hot, but I can't imagine they're anywhere near as hot as Arizona. He says the heat is intense because you're so much closer to the sun. The cost of living is cheaper than in Arizona, but no where near as low as it once was. It's natural beauty is breathtaking. I want to visit. 

Things I forgot to pack: tampons, headphones (picked up some cheap ones in the airport), phone charger (though the phone will likely be worthless in a few hours). I'm already grateful that I packed as lightly as I did and will likely ditch this fat Lonely Planet once I get to Delhi. 

I spend all of tomorrow in Beijing. Right now, I don't have internet access because I don't want to pay—f you t-mobile for your wifi monopoly—but hope upon arrival to research the ease with which I can leave the Chinese airport and explore the city for a few hours. I'd really like to ditch my belongings in a locker and ride around town for a bit. Eat some strange food and people watch. Otherwise, it'll be a long day in the airport, and it's my understanding that information access is severely truncated in China, no?