Here safely, but with a slight hiccup

Hi
It is 3:10pm on sunday afternoon, India time.
We got at the volunteers home at 1pm. We are both pretty shattered at the moment so we are just pottering about.
The flights were ok- delayed start in Heathrow yesterday which was a bit of a nightmare. At Heathrow they did not seem to know what to do with us because we were coming here.. But the rest of it was ok. Just not much sleep. Not keen on Russian air line food either. On the second flight, they insisted on serving 'dinner'- at midnight! So we could not get any quiet until about 1am.
However, my luggage is lost in the system somewhere. We had our first taste of Indian bureaucracy this morning at 7am (after 3 hours of interupted sleep) trying to report it and filling all of the forms in. I am being optimistic that they will find it but I may have to re-buy everything and claim on the travel insurance. As you can imagine, I am a bit upset about it as currently I have the clothes I am standing up in!
India is a bit of a culture shock, as you probably imagine. The drive here from Dehli was interesting- very little traffic controls and lots of beeping of horns- undertaking & overtaking, and I really don't know how the traffic signals work! Yes, there are cows roaming about randomly eating rubbish, as well as camels pulling carts. Also, the motorbike riders do not wear helmets, and tend to have children and wives on the back as well! There are lots of big trucks everywhere- and you seem to beep your horn to get them to notice you.... I have seen some of the tut-tut's as well. Clare counted 20 people on the back of one of them (it had a larger area at the back- not the normal tut-tut). Lots of men around- not many women out & about, they seem to be working in the fields. Also it is a strange mixture of older buildings & half built new ones. I can't really describe it.. It is very hot & humid.
We stopped on the way fromDehli to Jaipur, and I bought some clothes. Got ripped off as I thought I had bought 2 dresses, and they must have taken one out of the bag after I had haggled down the price... Oh well.. So that was another first..
There are some other volunteers at the house as well. 3 lads and 1 girl. 2 of the lads and the girl are doing the street children programme, same as Claire. No one is doing the Women's empowerment programme.. They seem friendly enough. The organiser is coming to see us tomorrow morning between 10-11am. I am going to ask them to help me with the luggage as well.
So, what are my first impressions. I am feeling a bit tired and stressed. It is so different yet familiar as there are so many scenes of India shown on the telly/movies. I will feel better later, when we have rested & when we can get our bearings a bit.
Caroline
xx