Everyone who’s been to India says that it’s a huge culture shock. Chris and I figured that it would be a breeze after having been through Africa and the Middle East. Some people may call it cocky but I’d consider it to be our optimistic “bring-it-on attitude” that responded by saying it would be no big deal. After all, we are world travelers…

WRONG! WRONG! WRONG! I couldn’t have eaten those words any quicker than I did when I got off the train station in Varanasi. Yes, India has it’s own culture and chaos but Varanasi is the epitome of India lifestyle, culture, beliefs, and traditions all lumped into one city. It was 6:00am in the morning and our eyes were still have filled with sleep. The morning started with a rickshaw ride to a guesthouse. Once we settled on a price, the driver set off constantly honking, swerving around cows, nearly running people and dogs over, and almost being crushed by large pinata-like decorated Indian trucks. We stopped unexpectedly within 10 minutes of our destination for a chai (Indian culture is to offer tea to all guests/newcomers). I didn’t know what we were stopping for as there was only a small rickety wooden shed in which there was a man sitting on the table next to a boiling kettle, but I couldn’t be more happy. My eyes burned from the think smog and pollution that setteled on the streets and I did everything I could to remove the burn for the short time we were standing still. The driver brought us back two small cups of chai in clay/mud-like cups. We were told to NEVER drink the water in India and while it was hot tea, I was still hesitant. We drank the chai to be polite, and afterwards handed the cups to the driver, who then instructed us to throw them into the ground. He said they would smash to pieces and decompose overtime. “OK,” I said as my mind still wondered if this tea would make me sick.  The driver jumped back into his autorickshaw and we zoomed onward toward the guesthouse.
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1. People bathing in the same water that they brush their teeth in, drink, do laundry, dispose of trash/waste, and scatter human ashes (India)
2. Being asked for bribes by the people who are supposed to ensure you aren’t being asked for bribes (Egypt)
3. Men walking around the streets (uniform and non-uniform alike) sporting machine guns, AK47′s, and rifles (Africa, Middle East, India)
4. Men killing live sheep, skinning them, and hanging them on hooks in the road… right next to the vegetable stand (Syria)
5. Magnificent new high rise buildings right next to war-torn shot up, bombed and burnt buildings (Lebanon)
6. Small children wandering the streets like packs of wolves wreaking havoc during school days and on school hours when they should be learning (Tanzania)
7. Ordering and eating a full breakfast for $0.04 (India)
8. The inside of a hippo’s vicious mouth up close and personal or being run out of camp by elephants for that matter (Botswana)
9. Driving full speed into oncoming traffic on the wrong side of the highway (Uganda)
10. People sharing the small amounts of food they’ve been given with others even though they themselves haven’t eaten in 5 days (Kenya)