I'm going to....India!

This past December, a flier was placed in my mailbox at the school promoting teachers from West Virginia to go to India for a teacher's institute. It was being sponsored by Davis & Elkins College and the West Virginia Humanities Council.
I decided to apply for it and wrote my application and I got my recommendation from my principal at the last minute. I mailed the application just prior to the deadline.
Last Wednesday I got a letter from D&E stating I had been accepted to this program. I am going to be one of 20 teachers in the state going to India in July. I have t0 pay $500. I don't think that's bad considering that airfare is well over $1,000. In June I'll have to go to Elkins for orientation for three days and then in late July we'll leave from Washington, D.C. to go to India for a week.
I am so looking forward to this as I have never really traveled much. I've been to a few places in the United States and certainly never out of the country. My concerns are how I am going to be on a flight that last almost an entire day, and their local customs such as food and customs against using your left hand. Also, July is the high monsoon season. It will be hot and humid and local customs usually don't look to shorts as being an acceptable custom. I hope the orientation in June will address these concerns of mine.
I've had a passport since 2006 and have wanted to use it and this summer I will. I'll have to apply a tourist visa for India for $73 this spring. I bought a Lonely Planet travel guide for India right after Christmas at a Waldenbooks store closing in the Uniontown Mall.
I'll keep posting about this trip on this blog every once in a while and I'll be sure ot post videos and photos once the trip is over!
Check out the following website for information on the trip:
http://www.davisandelkins.edu/csega.indiainstituteforteachers.cfm