My first impression of India

Conversion Rate: $1USD = 46.1IR (Indian Rupee)
Time Difference: 12 hours and 30 minutes ahead of PST. Before landing in Delhi, I had thought that Afghanistan was the only country with a 30-minute time difference from the rest of the world. I have since learned that it is the same in Nepal and Iran.
Hello/goodbye: namaste (with 4 official languages throughout India, Hindi is a good staple, given 80% of the population is Hindi)
Thank you: shukriya
Cost of a room: 1,050 IR
Preferred method of transportation: Tuk Tuk. Different from the rest, the driver is inside the cab, steering from a big-wheel type steering contraption.

I have suffered many plane rides with crying children. It doesn't bother me too much. However, the flight to Delhi had 3 or 4 children who did not just cry, they spent most of the time screaming bloody murder. It was like nothing I have ever heard before, uncontrolled hysteria. I heard it again in the immigration line. It was only a couple minutes before the immigration officials moved the woman and her child to the front of the line.

We are staying in Paharganj, New Delhi. I arrived this afternoon and Athanasia is arriving tonight. I have not yet ventured out, so I can only comment on my experiences so far in this small area. It is dirty, dusty and polluted, but doesn't seem as polluted as Hong Kong. The trash isn't too bad, the clutter is due mostly to dust and the remains of partially constructed sidewalks and buildings. Not surprising as I saw underground street work being done by a skinny Indian man who was using an pickaxe to dig through the asphalt. In this heat, I'd quit too. I've spent the last 6 weeks in extreme heat. When I got off the plane here, the severe dry heat was suffocating. On the street, I was approached by a 6-year old kid who asked for a cigarette. I was harassed by a12-year old boy who was so wasted he could barely stand up, at noon. When I went to look at a room in a hotel, I had to walk over two separate guys passed out in the hallway. The rest of the people I have met had been helpful kind. I had the best Chicken Masala I've ever eaten. It cost $3USD. So far, the experience has been full of contradictions and complete sensory overload: sight, smell, sound. It's like nothing I've ever seen before. I've only been here for 3 hours.