Arrival in New Delhi

After many hours trapped in my seat with only one bathroom break, playing endless games of freecell on the little screen in the back of the seat in front of me, our plane touched down after 13 and 1/2 hours in the air, direct from Newark. I missed the man who had arrived to pick me up to take me to the hotel where my dad is staying; found someone else to take me to a two star hotel near the airport. Got on the internet, read my old e-mail with the phone number, made contact with my dad by phone and went to bed. Awake at 5 am, but even a few hours stretched out on a bed is better than many hours curled up in the plane.
We are 13 and 1/2 hours ahead of folks back in Santa Cruz. I discovered that making a call home to reassure them I had been found. My dad had called there when I did not arrive at the hotel as scheduled.
My first impression upon walking outside at the New Delhi airport was smoke. People still use wood fires for cooking and heating their living space, I guess. Lots of car, bus, truck and auto rickshaw traffic--horns blaring; many near misses; no delineated lanes, just a free-for-all. No sitings of livestock yet, just one lactating dog.
This morning I bought a cell phone I can use locally and to call the US. If you want to call me, try 910-9711591028. It took me one hour standing at the cell phone stall on the street to get it all connected. I walked with the owner to a photo shop to get a digital passport sized photo for his phone records to establish the phone in my name. He was very polite and accomodating and ended the transaction by giving me 6 numbers where I could reach him, including his personal number. I have a friend for life. I was approached by several beggars while I stood there, but not inundated as I remember from the past.