*I have slept maybe six hours in the past 48 hours so don't judge.
October 6:
7am: Wake up call from Jeri Bug so I can roll out of bed and head to the airport
8:15am: Arrive at GSP and check-in. I have definitely packed the lightest, should I be worried?
10:20am: Take off from GSP. Everyone is a mix of nervous silence and giddy laughter. No one wants to sleep as part of our jet-lag-aversion-master-plan that soon falls apart.
11:35am: Touchdown in Dulles, DC. We have such a long way to go...
Noonish: Eat lunch at Chipolte in the airport. A line of 18 students and 2 professors, I hope no one else wanted lunch.
1:58pm: Serena kicks my butt in ERS. She hasn't lost a game in a really long time.
3:25pm: Board the plane for Frankfurt. I was part of the first group of 6 going and apparently the lucky group. The second group was delayed and didn't have individual screens or movie options and had to endure three crying babies.
The DC to Frankfurt flight, (times still in US times):
4:47pm: We are served dinner on the flight. It is early and I am not hungry but I eat my "special vegetarian meal" anyways. Pretty decent for airplane food, way to go Lufthansa.
5-7pm: Watch the "Green Lantern" on my mini screen. It wasn't awesome but hey at least I had a mini screen. The poor second group was stuck with one large screen showing Cars 2 without sound. Sucks to suck.
7:07pm: Look up and realize everyone around me is watching Modern Family or 30 Rock. Seems like a much better plan and I proceed to "WatchEnjoy" in Lufthansa terms.
8:30-11:15pm: Try to sleep without much success. I can literally not find a comfortable position. I doze for about 15 minutes at a time.
11:20pm: We are served "breakfast" as it is now 4 something in the morning German time. Bread in package and strange yellow fruit are not appealing to my seasick stomach. At this point, all the time on the plane is beginning to wear on me.
Switch to German time, it's now Oct 7.:
5ish am: Land in Frankfurt and try to make our way to our terminal. It is literally the most remote place in the airport, the ever elusive B46. At least we get to see all the food and shopping options along the way. The duty free store reeks of perfumes and adds to my headiness.
5:45am: Eat breakfast (I guess my second?) at a cafe in the airport. I manage to get my hands on a "CocaCola Light." Oh delicious!
6:15-7:20am: Sleep in the airport on a few chairs curled in the fetal position. Why is it sooo cold?
7:30am: The second group arrives in the terminal very loudly. They are a little grumpy from their flight on an old 747 rather than our fancy airbus.
9:45am: Go exploring with Serena. I buy two Ritter Sport bars in a convenience shop because I love chocolate...a lot.
10:30am: Begin boarding the plane for Chennai. No easy feat with 20 people, but we do it rather efficiently.
Flight from Frankfurt to Chennai:
*Times become extremely confusing to me here as the lack of sleep sets in. The rest of October 7 basically disappears. It's crazy.
11:25am: As we take off I begin to immediately doze off. FINALLY. Except that I can't stay asleep for more than 30 minutes. I am constantly waking up to readjust my position. But hey, at least it is a little rest.
12:30pm: I am woken up by a stewardess. We are served lunch? dinner? I don't know anymore. I am served the "western" vegetarian meal, but would much rather have the Indian vegetarian curry dish than my overly peppered pasta. I am also very nauseous at this point from lack of sleep and the constant "I'm on a boat" swaying feeling. I feel like my head is no longer attached to my body.
12:30-2:00pmish: More intermittent sleep.
After 2: I wake up and feel rested enough and begin to watch Thor. I pause this a lot to talk to people around me or "rest my eyes" or whatever because the fact is, it just doesn't hold my attention. Who knew you would get so many movie reviews in a blog about India?
*Time really starts to go crazy here. I switch my watch to Indian time and am so, so confused.
12:30am (India time): Caitlin and I realize we have the same birthday, two years apart. She proceeds to tell the entire plane.
1amish: We are informed that the plane in front of ours has malfunctioned and is stopped on the runway and can't be moved. At 1:05 this changes to "crashed." Bad translation? Hopefully.
1:15am: We are informed that we have to fly to Bangalore to refuel and then fly back to Chennai for our final landing. Say what?!
1:45am: Land in Bangalore for refueling. The stewardesses try to keep us in our seats but that is just not happening. We are told that we should be back in Chennai by 2:45 but as Dr. Khandke says and hour in India always means at least 2.
3:45am: Land in Chennai! Since I know my crazy times confuse you, that was thirteen hours on one plane. Luckily I haven't gone crazy yet.
4:00am waiting in a line in immigration/customs. It gets a little hairy there for a second as they are suspicious of a large group of college students traveling together with no student visas. We promise we aren't registered for classes here!
4:35am: We get to baggage claim. This takes at least half an hour and for a few minutes I seriously fear that my luggage has been lost. But somehow we all manage to get all of our bags, yay!
5:05am: Enter India. We step outside the airport and walk down a small runway lined with hundreds of Indian faces. I am overwhelmed by my first experience as the clear minority in a situation. Luckily we meet Suri, our head man in charge for our stay at MCC. He leads us to the vans ignoring the honking and heckling.
5:15-5:40am: We travel by bus through Chennai to the MCC campus. Holy scary driving, it is like nothing I have ever seen. We see some very uniquely Indian things including two cows in the roads and a number of roadside shrines. Holy cow, I am in India.
*In case you missed it, it took us 36 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds to reach our destination (we know because Ryan timed us). But let me tell you, it was totally worth it.
6am: Upon arrival we are immediately served tea and biscuits, I love it. We also meet a few of the MCC staff and are shown our rooms. I sit on the bed only for a few seconds for fear I will pass out.
7am: I go for a walk around MCC with a few others. We see fruit bats, deer and so many plants. I am in love with the campus.
8am: We are served breakfast with both western and traditional Indian dishes. The rice dumplings and soup like dip they prepare for us is incredibly delicious.
9:05am: I go for another walk, this time with a different group of people. At one point I am literally inches from a full grown buck. They are beautiful, all still having white spots and being slightly shorter than North American deer.
9:30am: Serena, Elizabeth C and I go into a random wooded area through an inviting gate. It is an odd area that seems completely abandoned except for a few newly planted saplings. At the time it seemed very adventurous, but that could be the jet lag talking.
9:45am: Stumble upon a cricket game. We have never seen a match before and it is pretty interesting. However, we don't watch much of the game as we are soon approached by a group of friendly Indian men. They ask us for our "goodname" and tell us they work at IBM and that their boss, Shiva, "is a very good person, like you." They repeat this three times. They take pictures with us and upon leaving tell us we are all looking "very cute today." All in all a very amusing encounter.
10amish: We make it back to the guest house and sit outside for a bit. The air is very sticky, so we move inside to the dining hall and I begin this blog as a way to keep me awake. I am trying to save my nap for after lunch. As I continue to sit, it is becoming increasingly difficult, thus my continuous ramblings.
Things still yet to come today:
My first bucket shower, I am so looking forward to that.
A John Lennon tribute concert put on by MCC students.
Sleep.
That's all for now folks,
Joy
October 6:
7am: Wake up call from Jeri Bug so I can roll out of bed and head to the airport
8:15am: Arrive at GSP and check-in. I have definitely packed the lightest, should I be worried?
10:20am: Take off from GSP. Everyone is a mix of nervous silence and giddy laughter. No one wants to sleep as part of our jet-lag-aversion-master-plan that soon falls apart.
11:35am: Touchdown in Dulles, DC. We have such a long way to go...
Noonish: Eat lunch at Chipolte in the airport. A line of 18 students and 2 professors, I hope no one else wanted lunch.
1:58pm: Serena kicks my butt in ERS. She hasn't lost a game in a really long time.
3:25pm: Board the plane for Frankfurt. I was part of the first group of 6 going and apparently the lucky group. The second group was delayed and didn't have individual screens or movie options and had to endure three crying babies.
The DC to Frankfurt flight, (times still in US times):
4:47pm: We are served dinner on the flight. It is early and I am not hungry but I eat my "special vegetarian meal" anyways. Pretty decent for airplane food, way to go Lufthansa.
5-7pm: Watch the "Green Lantern" on my mini screen. It wasn't awesome but hey at least I had a mini screen. The poor second group was stuck with one large screen showing Cars 2 without sound. Sucks to suck.
7:07pm: Look up and realize everyone around me is watching Modern Family or 30 Rock. Seems like a much better plan and I proceed to "WatchEnjoy" in Lufthansa terms.
8:30-11:15pm: Try to sleep without much success. I can literally not find a comfortable position. I doze for about 15 minutes at a time.
11:20pm: We are served "breakfast" as it is now 4 something in the morning German time. Bread in package and strange yellow fruit are not appealing to my seasick stomach. At this point, all the time on the plane is beginning to wear on me.
Switch to German time, it's now Oct 7.:
5ish am: Land in Frankfurt and try to make our way to our terminal. It is literally the most remote place in the airport, the ever elusive B46. At least we get to see all the food and shopping options along the way. The duty free store reeks of perfumes and adds to my headiness.
5:45am: Eat breakfast (I guess my second?) at a cafe in the airport. I manage to get my hands on a "CocaCola Light." Oh delicious!
6:15-7:20am: Sleep in the airport on a few chairs curled in the fetal position. Why is it sooo cold?
7:30am: The second group arrives in the terminal very loudly. They are a little grumpy from their flight on an old 747 rather than our fancy airbus.
9:45am: Go exploring with Serena. I buy two Ritter Sport bars in a convenience shop because I love chocolate...a lot.
10:30am: Begin boarding the plane for Chennai. No easy feat with 20 people, but we do it rather efficiently.
Flight from Frankfurt to Chennai:
*Times become extremely confusing to me here as the lack of sleep sets in. The rest of October 7 basically disappears. It's crazy.
11:25am: As we take off I begin to immediately doze off. FINALLY. Except that I can't stay asleep for more than 30 minutes. I am constantly waking up to readjust my position. But hey, at least it is a little rest.
12:30pm: I am woken up by a stewardess. We are served lunch? dinner? I don't know anymore. I am served the "western" vegetarian meal, but would much rather have the Indian vegetarian curry dish than my overly peppered pasta. I am also very nauseous at this point from lack of sleep and the constant "I'm on a boat" swaying feeling. I feel like my head is no longer attached to my body.
12:30-2:00pmish: More intermittent sleep.
After 2: I wake up and feel rested enough and begin to watch Thor. I pause this a lot to talk to people around me or "rest my eyes" or whatever because the fact is, it just doesn't hold my attention. Who knew you would get so many movie reviews in a blog about India?
*Time really starts to go crazy here. I switch my watch to Indian time and am so, so confused.
12:30am (India time): Caitlin and I realize we have the same birthday, two years apart. She proceeds to tell the entire plane.
1amish: We are informed that the plane in front of ours has malfunctioned and is stopped on the runway and can't be moved. At 1:05 this changes to "crashed." Bad translation? Hopefully.
1:15am: We are informed that we have to fly to Bangalore to refuel and then fly back to Chennai for our final landing. Say what?!
1:45am: Land in Bangalore for refueling. The stewardesses try to keep us in our seats but that is just not happening. We are told that we should be back in Chennai by 2:45 but as Dr. Khandke says and hour in India always means at least 2.
3:45am: Land in Chennai! Since I know my crazy times confuse you, that was thirteen hours on one plane. Luckily I haven't gone crazy yet.
4:00am waiting in a line in immigration/customs. It gets a little hairy there for a second as they are suspicious of a large group of college students traveling together with no student visas. We promise we aren't registered for classes here!
4:35am: We get to baggage claim. This takes at least half an hour and for a few minutes I seriously fear that my luggage has been lost. But somehow we all manage to get all of our bags, yay!
5:05am: Enter India. We step outside the airport and walk down a small runway lined with hundreds of Indian faces. I am overwhelmed by my first experience as the clear minority in a situation. Luckily we meet Suri, our head man in charge for our stay at MCC. He leads us to the vans ignoring the honking and heckling.
5:15-5:40am: We travel by bus through Chennai to the MCC campus. Holy scary driving, it is like nothing I have ever seen. We see some very uniquely Indian things including two cows in the roads and a number of roadside shrines. Holy cow, I am in India.
*In case you missed it, it took us 36 hours, 36 minutes and 36 seconds to reach our destination (we know because Ryan timed us). But let me tell you, it was totally worth it.
6am: Upon arrival we are immediately served tea and biscuits, I love it. We also meet a few of the MCC staff and are shown our rooms. I sit on the bed only for a few seconds for fear I will pass out.
7am: I go for a walk around MCC with a few others. We see fruit bats, deer and so many plants. I am in love with the campus.
8am: We are served breakfast with both western and traditional Indian dishes. The rice dumplings and soup like dip they prepare for us is incredibly delicious.
9:05am: I go for another walk, this time with a different group of people. At one point I am literally inches from a full grown buck. They are beautiful, all still having white spots and being slightly shorter than North American deer.
9:30am: Serena, Elizabeth C and I go into a random wooded area through an inviting gate. It is an odd area that seems completely abandoned except for a few newly planted saplings. At the time it seemed very adventurous, but that could be the jet lag talking.
9:45am: Stumble upon a cricket game. We have never seen a match before and it is pretty interesting. However, we don't watch much of the game as we are soon approached by a group of friendly Indian men. They ask us for our "goodname" and tell us they work at IBM and that their boss, Shiva, "is a very good person, like you." They repeat this three times. They take pictures with us and upon leaving tell us we are all looking "very cute today." All in all a very amusing encounter.
10amish: We make it back to the guest house and sit outside for a bit. The air is very sticky, so we move inside to the dining hall and I begin this blog as a way to keep me awake. I am trying to save my nap for after lunch. As I continue to sit, it is becoming increasingly difficult, thus my continuous ramblings.
Things still yet to come today:
My first bucket shower, I am so looking forward to that.
A John Lennon tribute concert put on by MCC students.
Sleep.
That's all for now folks,
Joy
No comments:
Post a Comment