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I’m going to try to edit this down, as it’s too long, so I’m removing stuff that doesn’t matter…just FYII didn’t know much about India until I first tried Indian food when I moved to Chicago. Before my boyfriend and I got our apartment in the Buena Park neighborhood, north Chicago, just north of Lincoln Park & Halsted, AKA ‘Boystown’ -We lived at the hotel where my boyfriend worked in the suburb of Schaumburg. I was younger, & drank a lot, & the Indian restaurant next door always had a unique smell. While the first time I noticed this, I was rather put off by the smell of the spices, I noticed over a few weeks’ time that when I was hungover upon waking up, that the smell became enticing until I just had to go try something. I looked at the to-go menu I grabbed one day & decided to try something. I think it was papadam or something like that… I wasn’t a big veggie eater back then, but I liked it. It was a little more expensive than I liked, & it was an upscale restaurant as well, being in an area that was close to hotels, they catered to a lot of travelers anyway. But we finally went in for a complete meal. (I wanted to get the first ‘sample’ meal to-go in case I didn’t like it, as I didn’t want to offend…) But I liked everything I tried. I was hooked. I tried all kinds of new Indian foods, & no, I didn’t find anything that I thought was too spicy for me, though the Vindaloo came close once, but ever since then I haven’t been able to get enough.Being from Central Texas, there were no Indian restaurants near me when I was growing up, especially not in the country. We were a meat & potatoes, comfort food family, & my father has never veered far from what he’s always liked since he was a kid, so that’s where my interests remained for >20 years. But now I’ve tried so many different foods and have become interested in different cultures along the way. Greek food - yum! Indian food - the best! So much so, that I started cooking Indian food myself even though it took so long to make. So, the food is something that can be a reason in itself to visit India if you’re interested enough.From what I noticed with my own family when I first ‘introduced’ them to Indian food was that for different people from different generations, & certainly from different upbringings/parts of the country, you’ll get a wide array of responses. My boyfriend & I decided to visit India, but we were already more interested in traveling abroad by this time, anyway. We had already taken a short but ambitious three-week, twelve-country tour of Europe by then, so we were ready for the ultimate vacation, outside of our comfort zone. We toured parts of Asia, & of course included India. We were in North India. We spent about a month in New Delhi. This was in 2012 when the horrible gang-rape of the young girl on the bus there took place, which was reported all over the world apparently.We also saw many of the tourist sites in New Delhi, we stayed in a couple different hotels in Paharganj, & my boyfriend is of Mexican descent, but everyone in India (& Nepal while we were at, previously) always thought he was either local, or Indian, particularly thinking he was from Gujarat, a well-to-do state with people who tend to have means, wealth, etc. The caste system is apparent, defining your place in society, as does the shade of their skin… the lighter the better. They sell creams that help bleach, or lighten the skin. We don’t have this cream in America at all. In America, we’re all trying to get tans in the sun or using tanning beds while hoping we don’t get skin cancer from it. I noticed that when we were in Varanasi, people that worked in the open sewer system(s) which were basically just ditches that were along the sides of roads, were always of darker skin tones. Then I remembered hearing about people who were considered to be ‘untouchables’ who, it was [once?] thought that even to come into contact with a person of such a lower caste, it could taint the other person’s social status in some way. Not sure if I’m explaining it that well, but to an American, it sounded like an awful position to make someone be in, simply because of their ancestry, skin color/shade, or their name. Especially since, it seemed to someone on the outside looking in, that they were all Indian, so why was there this caste system in place when they’re all Indian? I was only familiar with the American history of slavery being that people were ultimately imported as property/cargo, & it wouldn’t be heard of to have people of your own ancestry to be put down in a system. Of course, even that system that I was aware of in America repulsed me, but it’s the only one I was aware of.So, perhaps it’s something more akin to America’s South vs. North rivalry, which is mild as of today, but was once an extremely divisive issue. So much so, that civil war broke out over the issue of slavery itself, & the idea of equality for everyone, regardless. If the average person from India were to be suddenly dropped in America I think they would have culture shock, too, but in the reverse way that an average American would have if they were suddenly dropped off in India. An American would initially be scared. There’s A LOT of stuff going on ALL OVER the place in India. There’s a LOT to have to pay attention to at the same time. Especially in the street; traffic is a nightmare, & I believe that an American would get into some sort of traffic accident within 90 seconds of trying to maneuver anywhere in the streets of a populated Indian city.India welcomed underground transportation much more recently than the West. Only in the past dozen years or so. Many people still rely on the little motorized three-wheeled rickshaws called tuk-tuks. The first time I tried to arrange a ‘taxi’ or whatever mode of transportation, was through the hotel I was staying in. I had just arrived in India and was getting used to the currency conversion. Someone basically tried to charge me the equivalent of $120 for a three kilometer ride. It took me about 20 seconds before I realized that there was something wrong with his math. Of course I hadn’t paid him. I went out to the official taxi areas that didn’t rip you off, and charged everyone the same, as they were regulated effectively. I didn’t want to be a cheap rude visitor, but it is an unusual assumption to the first timer that Indians assume that Americans just have an unending amount of money, no budget, & are just stingy assholes who don’t want to give it up even though they have it. It’s the biggest misconception Indians have about Americans.Locals constantly tried to hustle me, because I can’t hide that I’m white. My boyfriend looked like he was probably, possibly Indian, unless he began engaging in conversation, then by speaking they could tell he was at least from the West, although they often asked if we were from Spain, East Europe somewhere, or sometimes if we were from the UK, that was when we were seen together. On the few times that I did go out of the hotel alone for some reason, I was constantly asked: “Where from?” I’d usually either try to avoid giving an answer, never stopped walking towards my destination, or would just finally say ‘America’ - & it’s odd how their facial expressions would so drastically change. Eyes would open widely as if I had a magic wand hidden somewhere on me and I could somehow improve their day, if not their life. On more than one occasion I was invited to an ‘Uncle’s house’ in places such as Jammu/Kashmir, which I already knew to be a part of the country that Americans are/were either not permitted, or was reportedly a very dangerous place for foreigners, particularly Americans/white westerners due to the possibility of kidnap & murder or extortion of some kind.(Upon repatriation, I read a story about an American who fell for the ‘trap’ & ended up in a basement at what was supposed to be someone’s Uncle’s house in the Jammu/Kashmir area, which is an area in the far north/northwest part of India, & is claimed by three countries: India, Pakistan, & China, all with different ideas of where the border(s) should be, but it’s currently internationally recognized as India’s land, & it’s controlled by India for the most part. There are security checkpoints as you go further into that mountain area, but the American I read about was kept in a basement for I think many months. He was kidnapped at the exact same time I was in Paharganj, & he was actually tricked there - on the exact same street, on the exact same block I was on when I had been told of this wonderful place in Kashmir, at some ‘Uncle’s house’ usually being invited for tea, or a meal.I don’t understand why anyone would actually go with a perfect stranger, especially all alone, to a part of the country which the U.S. Dept. of State openly advises against for the exact reason in which you are being invited to go there… Do people just not read travel advisories? I don’t get that. I read the travel advisories almost every day while I was abroad. I even had automatic alerts sent to me. I guess for some people, especially traveling alone, their judgement can become clouded when they might want to spend time with someone who could be a friend. But for me, everyone that approached me, they always wanted something from me. If I was buying a bottle of water from a shop on the corner a woman might approach me with a baby, indicating her plight, & be wanting some money. If you do give anyone money, and you pass back by them, they’ll ask you again as if they never saw you before. I told one woman, I just gave you 100 rupees! So it felt like it wasn’t appreciated, which is something Americans respond well to. Not a barrage of attacks, but to appreciation for their time, because unlike in India, an American will not waste time trying to bargain, time is more valuable to Americans than money. Whereas in India, someone will spend a very long time bargaining over a few rupees, trying to get the best deal of anyone else all day long.So, while I felt bad about it later, I was buying water from a shop on the corner, then some children approached me. I only saw one or two at first, but when I gave one of them 10 rupees, I was suddenly surrounded by children holding their hands out for anything. I gave them each a 10 rupee note or whatever it was, then the woman came to me with a child, and I offered her 10 rupees, but she saw that I had a 50 rupee note that I was holding at the same time. She WOULD NOT take that 10 rupee note. I should’ve just given her the 50, but it was the point that my offer wasn’t good enough for her that made me tell her, “No, 10 rupees or nothing.” I didn’t say it in a rude way, but I was clear. However she wouldn’t take the 10, of course I was already walking away by then, so she just followed me asking me for 50, 50 50! So I just put the money all back in my pocket and continued to my hotel where she was not permitted to follow me inside. I probably would’ve given her the 10, then the 50 if she had just taken the 10 rupees first, but to an American, it’s insulting and rude to have the offer be refused because they saw something more.On a different occasion, there’s a woman who had a system going. She had a clipboard and a piece of paper, again following me as I walked. (If you stop for someone, you could be surrounded, this I know from even being in bad neighborhoods back in the States) so she poorly explained that she was raising money for women and was collecting signatures & money, all the signatures she was trying to show me, honestly I didn’t care about. I offered her 10 rupees. I know it’s not much, but you can buy breakfast for 10 rupees. I did once. She wanted my signature, but I told her I’m not giving my signature or name to her, but I’d give her the 10 I had, she tried to slap me in the face. I guess because she was insulted by the small amount I was offering. Well, again, it was assumed that I had more money than I did/do, & I was certainly not going to give her the only other note I had, which was a 1000 rupee note. So she basically got paid 10 rupees to slap me in the face, or attempt to.A few days later I was out in the same spot with my boyfriend and she came up to us, & before I could get the words out of my mouth to tell him not to give her anything, she had already tried to slap him in the face for doing the exact thing I did, only he scribbled something on her clipboard, then gave her the 10… & I told him ‘see, I told you not to give her anything…’ He always told me that the crazy stuff happens just to me, but he got to see one thing that was approaching what I had to deal with on a nearly daily, if not constant basis.Finally, I’ll mention the ‘touts’… when we were taking a tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaw on three wheels) from the train station in Agra to our hotel, the driver pulled over on a long stretch of road to try his damnedest to get us to buy a tour from the opposite side of the Taj Mahal, where there was virtually no one at, & I kept saying no, but my boyfriend just wouldn’t stop entertaining this horrible idea. Sorry, but I’m NOT going to just go where some stranger asks me to go, where I wouldn’t know how to get back, & there’s no one else around. He would show us these things that people wrote in a notepad in (the language we spoke) which looked suspiciously like they were praising him way too much. I personally thought it sounded like he would possibly take you where he said he would, then only return you after however long he wanted to, while charging you however much per hour, per person, per mile, etc, & then only if you wrote what a wonderful trip it was in his little book so he could then use that to persuade yet another person. We were on the side of the road for 20 or 30 minutes. I had a very serious, long talk with my boyfriend about how when I said no to something, we can discuss it ALONE and not in front of the guy because I obviously don’t want to say what I think is really going on, with this guy particularly I could tell - he was unstable and did not like criticism in the slightest.Even though I wasn’t saying anything negative, he had already forced us to go to a different hotel than we asked for, again because my boyfriend caved. My thoughts are: when you tell someone you already have a hotel, then let him take you to a different hotel, or are otherwise caught in the telling of a fib, he won’t take you seriously because he will think you’re hiding something else from him that he could swindle from you. That’s what I hated the most about visiting India, feeling like I had to constantly be on guard from being swindled, & the fact that it wasn’t just me being paranoid. My boyfriend just didn’t have the same target on him, I assume because I’m white and he’s mexican/dark skinned, whatever. But he totally didn’t get it at all, & I already have severe social anxiety problems and have to take medication on a daily basis, as well as having to take ‘nerve pills’ i.e. xanax, whatever. My rx is actually for Ativan 2mg every 4–6 hours/as needed, or at least it was at the time… it was stressful enough trying to get the rx’s that I took on a daily basis already.Those were also some of the reasons we cut our trip short. Difficulty obtaining the several different medications I’m prescribed legally in America, while in India, or Indonesia, Singapore, Nepal, China, or Japan, all of which were places we visited while in Asia during that trip. I was able to get my pain medication while in Indonesia easily while in Bali, but in Jogjakarta/Yogyakarta it was far more difficult. In America my rx was for Norco/Hydrocodone 10mg with 325mg of tylenol mixed with the pill. I brought what I had in my rx bottle with me, but I wasn’t able to get the exact same meds while in any of those countries. I could get Tramadol (in Indonesia: Bali, but I couldn’t get it readily in Jogjakarta. It’s as if the pharmacies just didn’t restock when they were out of something. Then in Singapore I actually went to a physician, who saw me quite quickly, but told me that I didn’t need a prescription to buy hydrocodone there. He said to just go to the pharmacy and show them the letter I had from my doctor, which wasn’t a prescription, just a letter that explained my meds, & that I could just buy it. So I did that, & of course, the pharmacy lady told me I had to have a rx from a Singapore doctor to get it.I explained what happened with the doctor I saw two blocks away in Singapore, and she seemed as confused as I was. She was able to sell me a max of thirty codeine/tylenol tablets, which I bought because that was all I could get. Yet I was able to get the Ativan easily and in the quantity that would last me a month more easily in Indonesia (Bali) & India, although one of the boxes I bought in India was all fake, the whole box… which is a dangerous situation to have to be in. One cannot simply STOP taking that kind of medication. It can be extremely dangerous, fatal, you could have grand mall seizures and die. I have had seizures from not having that medication before, it’s horrendous. So when I realized I was nearly out and didn’t have any more of the non-faked meds, I had to very rapidly taper off of the very few pills I had left while I was in China because I couldn’t get ANY prescription medication in China, & I didn’t want to attract attention to myself as if I was trying to do anything wrong.So without realizing it, when I was in India, I was apparently buying the codeine on the black market, even though I was buying it in a pharmacy. They didn’t even tell me it was recently made illegal. But the pharmacies apparently still had their stocks of old meds. (Indians don’t throw away anything. But that’s another paragraph I’ll spare you.) They simply sold me whatever they could/would, though sometimes a more conscientious person would try to intervene. That’s when I noticed something was ‘up’ about it, but as long as I bought it from the same individual I figured it was ok. So when I realized it was illegal. I tried to get all I would need for my whole trip all at once, but he seemed to balk at that, so I ended up going to a different pharmacy which I should’ve just gone to from the beginning which was on the same street as my hotel, instead of going 8 kilometers away to one I found online.Anyway, that was a problem, but now that I know what to expect, I would still go back. (As long as I had my medication situation handled ahead of time, legally, for the duration of my trip.) If you visit India for the first time, if the local person talking to you asks: “First time India?” Just tell them: “No” otherwise they’ll see how green you are and try to swindle you out of whatever they can. I’m not trying to pigeonhole all Indians, but that was my experience. It was kinda crazy, but I did go to the touristy areas like Agra/the Taj Mahal, Varanasi/the River Ganges, & the Paharganj area of New Delhi, which is cheaper but is filled with tourists. We ended up in Kolkata in yet another tourist trap/expat neighborhood there, too (Near the American Embassy, on a street mockingly called: ‘Ho Chi Minh’ Street or Trail, or something like that). We stayed there in Kolkata for a good long while, yet I could still never figure out how to get back to the hotel from the ATM that was a somewhat long way away. I sort of had a panic attack while I was in Kolkata, & I was getting homesick I guess, or maybe culture shock combined with my social anxiety, etc was somehow getting to me, but whatever it was that bothered me caused me to pick myself up, go to a nice hotel with room service, hot water, & a comfortable bed - but it cost me… I ended up mentally ‘stuck’ there, unable to move until I forced myself to - but even then it was only because I was nearing less than three or four weeks from my visa expiration date, so I absolutely didn’t have a choice. I still remember it being one of the more difficult things I’ve had to make myself do, mentally.Even though I had been in Kolkata for a while by that point, certain directions confused me. I was staying at the ‘Astoria’ on Sudder Street, & I could get TO the ATM but I couldn’t get back to the hotel from it. For some reason I always got lost. I never made it back on my own without a rickshaw driver to take me back to the hotel, as all I had was it’s address. So I lucked out at 3am one time I went! After that incident, I always asked my boyfriend to come with me.Ask me if you have any other questions… I like talking about India, as you can see from my lengthy response to the question at hand…