Nagpur - City of Oranges

Nagpur is a large city by my standards but so-so by Indian standards, just a measly 4.5 million.It’s located in the eastern part of Maharashtra state – Mumbai is in the western part of the state if that gives you a marker, and if that doesn't help at all I put a map at the bottom of the post. Nagpur is fairly central within India both east to west and north to south. Here’s what I’ve found out about it so far: it is the city of oranges, it has a tiger reservation and nature reserve close by, it has multiple colleges/universities so it draws students from other parts of India, I've also read that it draws middle class retirees - interesting mix there, it contains the zero mile marker of India, the weather is good by my standards although I’ll catch the tail end of monsoon season (for the time I’ll be there the average low is in the 60s and average high in the 80s.. this is their winter and they advise bringing winter clothes which confuses me), there are loads of festivals (this isn’t specific to Nagpur but is true of India in general from what I’ve read), and it is one of the cleanest and greenest – I’m pretty sure meaning actual foliage, not recycling but I'll report back on this – cities in India! It’s not a touristy city so I’m thinking I’ll stand out more being white in Nagpur than I would if I were in Mumbai or New Delhi where westerners are everywhere. I think this is a good thing and a bad thing. My cousin Sarah who spent a year in India warned me that people will probably stare, which will be a little weird – I feel like that would make me really self-conscious or make me think that I’m doing something wrong. But I think it will be really great to be in a non-tourist area because Sarah also said she found everyone to be very friendly and helpful whereas maybe this isn’t as true in places overrun with tourists. Sarah (you didn’t know you’d become a celebrity in my blog did you??) spent a year in Bangalore and has been giving me great advice on what to expect when I arrive, what to pack, some cultural norms – like never hand anything to anyone with your left hand it’s a sign of disrespect, and other pointers. It’s been great to have her as a guide as I’ve been getting ready to go over!

It’ll be interesting to see how my impressions of Nagpur and India in general from what I’ve read online and in my guidebook will match up to how it really is. I’ll be doing last minute preparations tomorrow and then flying out on Saturday if hurricane Irene doesn’t interfere. It’s a 15 hour flight from Newark to Mumbai then another hour flight the following morning to Nagpur, plus a 9.5 hour time change... here goes!