Thursday, May 31, 2007

In case you haven't noticed...

"The white people are melting." This is a quote from my favorite
Mathew Perry film, Fools Rush In, and it is exactly how I am feeling
here in India.

My trip here began with a few bumps in the road. I got the the
airport and the lady at the ticket counter didn't have any tickets on
file for me. Called the travel agent and found out that I was
supposed to come and pick up my paper tickets, which she never told
me otherwise I would have! So someone from the travel agency dropped
off my tickets at the airport and I got on my flight. I made it to
Chicago fine and didn't have any delays, and I realized that while
O'Hare may be very busy, it is a very nice airport. Then I flew to
London.

After I got into London I had to change airlines so I asked the
airline agent that answers questions after you get off the plane
about what I was supposed to do. He explained how and where I needed
to go to get that done but also made sure that my bags were checked
all the way to Mumbai. Well good thing that he checked because my
bags weren't checked all the way to Mumbai, they were only checked to
London. So if he hadn't double checked that I would be sitting here
in Pune with no suitcases. After I went through customs and
immigration, I went to go check in with my new airline and learned
that they weren't open yet so I was stuck with my bags. Well since I
really wanted to go and take the tour of Wimbledon I had to find some
place to put my bags. At the airport they had a left luggage place so
it cost me 18 pounds or roughly 36 dollars to have my bags held for
the day. After that it only took a hour and a half on the London tube
and a 15 minute walk down the road and I was at Wimbledon. And I got
to see Centre Court even though it is currently under
construction!!!!!!! Even though it started to rain during the tour
and I now have a really gross blister on my foot, it was totally
worth it!!!!!!!! So I took the tour and bought some souvenirs and I
headed back to the airport to check in. Then I found out that I could
only have 1 personal item. I couldn't have a carry-on and a personal
item, which is always my backpack. So then I became one of those
people you make fun of at the airport who is standing at the counter
shoving stuff into other suitcases and trying to make it all fit
without going over weight. Plus my personal item couldn't weigh over
10 kg (which I don't know is in pounds) and I kept trying to take
stuff out of it but it was still weighing more and finally the lady
at the counter told me it was ok. I think that she was just trying to
get rid of me.

After all of that my flight to Mumbai was really great. No one was
sitting next to me and I had a window seat so after I ate, I watched
an episode of House on the really cool video on demand system that
they have on the airplane and I feel asleep and woke up when the
flight attendant asked me if I wanted breakfast. Then even more fun
started. I got through customs and immigration just fine, both my
suitcases showed up (thank goodness) and my ride to Sangam was
waiting for me. Let me tell you driving in India is the craziest
driving I've been around, and trust me that is saying something. I
wasn't too nervous because this guy is a driver and that is what he
does but man I thought we were going to take out a few people on
their motorcycles. Crazy!!!!!

So I'm at Sangam. One other girl, Anna, is already here and the other
2 girls are arriving tomorrow. We will all be sharing a room for the
first week, so we can better understand what a participate goes
through when staying here. We will start training tomorrow afternoon.
I think that I'm going to have a really great time...Once I get used
to the humidity. Everyone says that this is the worst time of year
because it is so humid and the monsoon hasn't started yet and once
that starts, the humidity should break. I figure after a few days, I
won't notice the humidity and heat anymore.

I have already been in the pool and boy was it refreshing!!!!!!!!

christa

ps: sangam has wireless internet so I can hook up anywhere in the
range and email and type away!!!!!! Hopefully I won't be so busy all
the time that I can blog very often!!!!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Christa:
I didn't know you were posting messages already! Besides the few "bumps" you seemed to have arrived in fine fashion even if you are a bit moist! :-)
I'll check back often to see what your days come to hold and the new experiences you have.
I didn't realize you leave in NOvember for Africa - I thought you had a 8-12 months in SD before leaving.
You are a brave, curious, exciting young woman Christa! Stay safe and have a wonderful experience!
Britt
Erin and I are doing art projects and she just brought up one time when you were babysitting her and you saw a rainbow together!
Love,
Britt