Monsoon and my arrival

I have arrived, and apparently the monsoon season arrived along with me. There have been several delicious down pours already today and the air is thick and warm. More than once I was drenched and dry within 10 minutes. I haven't seen much of Delhi as of yet - we were in orientation in a conference center all morning long. The little I have seen reminds me a lot of some parts of Brazil. I am in a nice enough hotel with western toilets, air conditioning and such, so I am more than comfortable. After orientation my fellow Gujarati students and a Kashmiri student and I briefly toured around and did a bit of shopping. I bought my first kurta, pants and matching doopata (pictures to follow) at Fab India. Apparently there is another Fab India in Ahmedabad. The store is filled with what seems like every possible shade, pattern, color and size of Indian clothing for women. I could spend hours trying to find the most interesting combinations. I found a pleasant outfit that I think will be both conservative enough and that doesn't make me feel like a fool to wear. Tomorrow is when the real adventure begins. I leave the hotel at 4am for my flight to Ahmedabad. It seems we will be staying with host families, though that part is still very unclear. My spoken Hindi is a bit sad, but I understand more than I had expected. At the moment I am in the office of the hotel with a few Indian men typing away and taking phone calls - there are very nice and speak very slowly to me. I wish I could understand well enough to get the jokes that they are constantly exchanging. I am trying to stay awake long enough to get myself some dinner.