landing

so i stepped off, with expectations fuzzy, a feeling of impending impossibility, and have landed in a bit of an upside-down world. i'm still struggling to find words to really describe what india is like, and i've found my photographs so far come up short in embodying the experience. maybe something about a photo being still and quiet, two words that are just inappropriate to use in reference to india. it's all texture here, heat and smell and noise and color. hard to get any perspective, it all just floods in all the time. there is no 'why,' even though it's the question i find people are always asking me here.

but, on the ground. i've been in chennai, india, for 3 weeks so far. it's gone by both incredibly quickly and extremely slowly. getting anything done takes forever, but then suddenly something falls in your lap. i'm still finally getting the last logistical details settled. i've found a permanent (well, for the next few months anyway) place to live, will move in tomorrow. after a couple weeks of ambivalence about how to best use my time here (here?)/now(/in life), i've started taking south indian/carnatic flute lessons (went for my fourth today). i have a ton to learn and a lot of practicing ahead of me! but so far so good, my teacher is pushing me as hard as i'm pushing myself, so i think it'll be a great relationship and i'll be able to get a lot done. the more of the music i hear, the more convinced i become that this was the right thing to do (or, at least, a good thing to do...). not so sure where it'll all end up, but for now, i'm along for the ride.