As of this evening, I’ve been in India for a week and only have two days left before I leave. I’ve been reflecting on all of my experiences so far, many of which were fairly comical and probably had the locals saying to each other “dumb American.”  Unfortunately, I didn’t find any guides on “How to be Tourist Who Actually Has a Clue About Everyday Occurrences When Visiting India,” so I am learning through my series of “first” experiences.
The first “first” and most exciting was my first experience in business class on an international flight.  Let’s just say that the trip far exceeded my expectations and was the complete opposite of my experience traveling to Australia.  Here is a snip of my instagram story, in which you can see that I could not contain my excitement and disbelief.  I actually was able to get some sleep on the plane (because my seat reclined ALL THE WAY DOWN).  Thank you to my employer for the amazing travel accommodations! Anyone traveling internationally with the option for Etihad Airways – I highly recommend.

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Back to the real purpose of my post – India is a much different country than the United States, so I spent lots of time skimming other blogs and articles on the internet to make sure that I was prepared for what to expect.

But I still wasn’t quite prepared…

I’m spending my trip here in India in the state of Kerela in the city of Kochi (or Cochin).  Upon my arrival and during my first week, I quickly learned that this is not a large tourist destination like other parts of India.  I have met two other Americans (that are working here for KPMG), and I have seen maybe three other people who are not Indian.  Here I am, a blonde, white woman who is clearly not from here.  Trigger – a lot of stares my way.  I have plastered a huge smile on my face and just smile at everyone that I see.  Most people just smile shyly and then look away, and two guys passing me on a scooter gave each other high-fives when I smiled at them.  Not a single person has been rude or disrespectful. I’ll take it!

Dress

I came to India fully intending to dress culturally appropriately, as not to draw any additional attention to myself (see above) or offend anyone.  I packed clothes that cover my shoulders, my chest and my knees, but I still don’t quite fit in.  My “first” experience related to dress is that when I arrived, unbeknownst to me, I still didn’t have appropriate clothing on.  I later read that women do not typically wear tight-fitting clothes around the butt (i.e. NO LEGGINGS), or if they do, they wear long, loose-fitting shirts over their pants.  Whoops – minute one in the country and I have on leggings.  I missed that memo, but I’d also been traveling for 30+ hours and looked like it, so I hoped that people weren’t judging too harshly.  Starting the next day, I made sure that my clothes were more appropriate.  On the day that I ventured out to explore, I dressed comfortably in loose clothes that covered the right things.  Shout-out to my sister for these cute pants!

Dressing for the workplace is also a much different experience than I’m used to.  At home I wear dresses or skirts every day, but for this trip, I packed pants and tops with longer sleeves and sweaters.  I did pack a couple of dresses and planned to wear them, but after being here, decided that I’d rather keep wearing pants, so that led to a trip to the mall for a couple more work outfits!

On the Road

I’d read about the driving and traffic in India, but nothing could have prepared me for my first in-car experience.  The other KPMG folks here laughed when I spoke about the driving here and just told me that I should see some of the other cities!  My guess is that at least 50% of the population that drives rides a scooter or motorcycle, rather than a car because it’s easier to weave in and out of traffic or drive on the shoulder.  It is also very loud, as it is custom to use your horn often to signal to other cars, bikes, and/or pedestrians that you are there.  I am grateful that I do not have to try to drive while I am here and was even happier to discover they have Uber.
One of the really cool features that they have in India on Uber is the UberGo option, in which you hire a car and driver for an extended period of time with multiple drop offs.  Since I was being a tourist on Saturday, I thought that this would be the best option for me as I went from place to place, but after an hour and a half in the car in traffic to get to my first destination, the driver ended the ride and asked for payment (guess he was already sick of me!).  Luckily, I did not have any issues calling an Uber at any point during the day, but even if I did, there are rickshaws (taxi equivalent) EVERYWHERE.

Hotel

When I was checking in, there were several people who assisted with my check-in process (feeling like royalty over here).  After giving me my hotel key, I set off to find my room, quickly realizing that I had two hotel employees in tow.  Once we got to my room, one began unloading my bags and bringing them in, while the other walked my around my room to show me all of the amenities and features.  Every time that I come in and out of the hotel, everyone working the front desk welcomes me.  As I come and go (whether walking or getting into a car) the security and valets wish me a good morning or evening and always open the car doors for me (sometimes it’s a two or three-man job!).  The service has been exceptional and everyone is going above and beyond to make the guests feel as welcome as possible.  What I do not know is if I am receiving this treatment because I am an American or is this is good ole’ Indian hospitality (is that a thing?).

Eating

As many people know, I am a fairly picky eater, but I try to be open to new foods and trying new things.  For my very first meal in India, I chose to eat at the hotel restaurant since it was convenient.  Once I sat down, I had a line of every person working in the restaurant (about 15 people) come through to greet me and chat if they spoke enough English.  The restaurant served a buffet, and I was asked if I would like to serve myself or have someone serve me.  Obviously at a buffet, I don’t need someone to serve me, so I went to scope out the food, finding that there were mostly Indian dishes.  I took a chicken option with some rice and proceeded back to the table.  Again, I had a line of people come through and offer to get me different items including things that weren’t even on the buffet like pizza and naan.  NAAN!  Yes, I love naan, so I quickly ordered that knowing what I would be getting.  A few minutes later, a server brought by a plate of dinner rolls, so I assumed that I had misunderstood something.  Nope, another five minutes passed and a basket of homemade naan was brought out.  YUM. The server asked if I wanted garlic with my naan and I enthusiastically nodded.  But wait! This time I actually misunderstood!  He had actually asked if I wanted curry with my naan and I COMPLETELY misheard him.  In order not to appear rude, especially since I was so excited when he asked, I tried the curry.  I actually liked it and ate most of what was brought and realized that I’d found a safe dish for other meals while I am here.  I had barely finished one piece of the naan when another server came and asked if I’d like another basket. I finished my food and continued turning down the offering of additional dishes until I finally paid and left.  Whew, what an experience. Talk about that good ole’ Indian hospitality! (But wait, I still don’t know if that’s a real thing.)
In the following meals, I tried to venture out to other places, but I’d been told by friends, my doctor and other bloggers that you have to be very careful about the food that you eat in India.  In an ill-fated attempt at trying to use a local delivery service, I spent hours (literally) scouring menus to find something to order, only to find out after choosing something that you must have an Indian phone number to create an account.  GRRR.  Unable to determine where I should and should not go or what I should and should not try with no one to ask in the moment, I was so relieved when I discovered that the mall had a Cold Stone and that there is a McDonald’s around the corner from my hotel.  Cue me eating ice cream for the next couple of meals (ain’t no shame in my game).  We did have one little mix-up at Cold Stone when the person making my creation enthusiastically made my ice cream with strawberries and walnuts, rather than strawberries and bananas.  It was an interesting combination, but still hit the spot! [I guess it would have been a little too on the nose if it was at least bananas and walnuts! Oh well.]

Since then, I’ve tried a couple of recommendations from my fellow KPMGers and continued to order from the hotel’s international menu for room service. I’ve found one Indian restaurant that I really liked, where I ate real Indian food, and I am also excited because I have a big meal planned tomorrow night with a group of KPMG locals who will show me the right things for me to try at least once before I leave!

Shopping

One experience that I didn’t quite think I could mess up is shopping.  Once again, wrong!  I was quickly directed to the local mall, LuLu Mall, when I asked about where I could go grocery shopping.  I learned that the LuLu Mall is the largest mall in India with four stories, hundreds of stores, a huge hypermarket (think Wal-Mart), and entertainment including a movie theater, bowling alley, ice skating rink, and amusement park.
I perused the mall and mostly window shopped before making my way to the hypermarket to buy some groceries.  I had made one purchase before going into the hypermarket and didn’t think twice before I waltzed right into the store with my shopping bag.  The security guard chased me down, stopped me, and stapled my bag shut.  Hmm…that made sense to me that they didn’t want me to steal, so I continued on my way.  I then realized that everyone else had carts that they had brought in with them, and I couldn’t find a cart anywhere.  I started picking up some groceries and juggled all of my items as I walked around the store.  I couldn’t find the milk and I was very confused in the produce section (but luckily figured it out before embarrassing myself more that you have someone weigh your product and tape up the bags before proceeding to the final check-out line).  I was so overwhelmed on this trip that I grabbed what I could carry and went on my way.  On my next trip to the hypermarket, I found out that they have a designated “Bag Depot” where you drop all of your bags before entering the hypermarket.  Whoops.  And all carts are stored outside of the store as well. Again, whoops. And I learned that milk is sold in bags, not cartons. No wonder I couldn’t find it!  With all of my newfound knowledge, I was ready to take on the world as I dropped my bags off and grabbed a cart for this shopping trip, knowing exactly what I was doing (kind of)!

Money

The dollar goes a long way in India and I still can’t quite believe it, even after being here a week.  I’ve paid as little as $0.50 for an Uber and my 1.5 hour Uber drive cost about $6.50.  I can eat my Gotta Have It in a waffle cone at Cold Stone for about $3.50 and a McFlurry at McDonald’s for $1.  The best Indian meal that I’ve had so far cost about $4 and included an appetizer, entrée, and bread. The hotel restaurant and room service is “expensive,” but I paid $10-$12 per meal in room and paid about $20 for the buffet.  Most everything is cash only (you can even pay in cash for Uber), so having cash on hand is key.  Luckily there are ATMs everywhere (including the airport!).
Even though I have made a bit of a fool of myself a couple of times, I have had a great experience on this trip so far.  Everyone that I have met has been so nice, and I have made several connections at work, which is always an added bonus!  They’re all already asking when I’m going to come back, so I guess we will see what happens in the future!  At least if I get to come back, I will be a pro at handling every day activities ☺️