Hey WiBBiters! As many of you guys know, I am spending the next few weeks in India.

Today was the first day I was able to settle in after 48 hours of traveling.

We flew out of New York EARLY Tuesday morning into London. After a “Home Alone” style dash to catch our next plane we ended up in New Delhi for a 16 hour layover.  During our free time we decided to go out and explore.

I must say, New Delhi was a difficult place to visit, for me anyway. My first thought was “Man, it really smells bad here.. Maybe it’s just the airport.” After going out-and-about I realized that the pollution is insane! I struggled to breathe most of my time there. The smog was so bad that it actually affected my ability to see distance. Everything past a certain distance was just a fuzz of contaminated air. The smells were so offensive and stomach churning. I found out very soon that it is because of the impoverished living that is widespread in New Delhi. I learned quickly that I did not have the stomach or the emotions to deal with this. It really affected me. I told my wife, “I want to go home, RIGHT NOW…” I couldn’t have been happier to get out of that place. We had to drive 4 hours to our next airport from New Delhi and every inch of that drive was on a stretch of road surrounded by extremely impoverished living.  I literally teared up several times during the drive. In the US I am accustom to seeing poverty, however, it is not as widespread. For example, in Baltimore, Maryland there are a lot of rough areas, but they are not constant. If you drive around the city you will see a bad area for a few blocks and then it will change. I have never seen any place where people had to live in crudely fashioned “mud huts” before.

Anyway, once we flew to our final destination, Nagpur, I noticed quickly that this place was a lot different. It is very pleasant here. The weather is amazing and the people are incredible. So far I have met some very awesome people, including one aspiring software developer that is currently studying Java. I may try to turn her on to WiBit.Net, I haven’t really decided yet ;-)

Wild cows in the streets!

I am going to try and learn how to play Cricket. It is a huge sport here. I actually got a chance to watch part of a local organized game this evening. I told my family here that I will take them to the States and show them a NFL game so they can see a real sport. Ha ha ha! Kidding, of course…

I may, from time to time, write about my experiences here and I will also try and join the podcasts if I can. The time difference is a challenge, but we can hopefully work it out so that I am on at least one recording.

Beautiful Indian sunrise from my plane window