Leaving on a Jetplane

We arrived at the Kelowna Airport just after 4am and waited to get checked in. Judy was just ahead of me in line and the staff for the flight had not yet arrived. My two bags were just under the 50kg allowed and got my tickets prepared for the journey ahead. Mayette and Dave arrived a bit after us and we were all checked in and ready to begin. A group photo before clearing security and on with the journey. Poor Mayette, her brother had worked in a factory that built blasting caps and had played on her Nintendo DS. This triggered a complete search of all of her baggage in the Kelowna Airport as well as a while cleaning all of the games with a special wipecloth to remove any residue. Jody also found out what was allowed as liquids in her carry on but at least was able to get them to her family and not have to throw all of her items away.

We arrived in Seattle after a short flight and got breakfast together. We are all so excited to begin this big adventure. I still do not know what program I will be working on but that is fine. I am up for anything. The wait in Seattle seems to take forever but finally it is time to board the flight to New York. All we get on this flight is a little snack and most of the entertainment services require you to pay for them. We make good time across the continent but then get stuck in a holding pattern due to some thunderst0rms in the New York area. The hour and a half we had in New York slowly dissappears and when we finally land our Mumbai flight is mostly boarded and waiting for us. Thankfully it is only a few gates away and as we approach the gate are rushed onto the plan. We do have a bit of a delay before leaving as one copilot was not able to fly and the airline had to get another pilot. This flight has a lot of extra seats and I get a center section to myself. All four of the team are in aisle seats that form a small box near the rear of the first section of economy class. The New York flight had been full and cramped.

What a long flight, it is over 15 hours in the air and makes us land in Mumbai almost 25 hours after we leave New York based on local times. I end up watching a few movies and try to get a bit of sleep but it is hard in economy to get comfortable enough to really get to sleep. We arrive in Mumbai and find that only Mayette got all of her bags with Jody, Dave and I all missing a bag each. By the time we sort this out we miss our flight to Chennai and have to figure out how to complete the next leg of the journey. Finally we head to a hotel that has an Internet connection so that we can get in contact with the office to arrange a flight to Chennai. The hotel is fine and we also order a bit of food before we have to leave in a few hours to catch our new flight. I am amazed at the number of porters that want to help you and charge for it even when you are not asking for assistance. It can make you feel very uncomfortable to have such aggressive requests for tips. I really need to read my Lonely Planet on what are acceptable tips.

We leave at 7:30 for the domestic airport and it was a fairly costly 5 hour stay at the hotel but so worth it as we were able to freshen up a bit before getting through to Chennai. The flight to Chennai is nice and I got the window seat so can look at the landscape as we cross the Indian Subcontinent. When the flight attendants do the safety briefing before taking off, I thought I heard them say "Knock on wood and kiss your ass goodbye" when talking about the airbags deploying when speaking in either Hindi or Tamil. Needless to say, when I told the others of the team we all had a great laugh.

We arrive in Chennai, and Jody and Dave get their bags right away and I fear that mine are all lost but it is just that they are on another cart and finally arrive. Phew! There is a Sutherland driver waiting for us and we get through a throng of people waiting at the exit and into the car waiting for us. Now we get to really experience driving in Chennai. It is like a motocross race with the lines on the road only being guides as it shows three lanes but there are easily 5 or 6 vehicles wide. The drive to the hotel does not take very long but we find that the road in front is under construction and makes for a bumpy ride into the hotel with the front gate blocked and we end up taking a back entrance into the hotel to drop off our luggage. I have no idea how the driver is going to be able to back out of the lane as it had a few very tight corners. We get put up in two separate apartments, with Jody and Mayette in one and Dave and I in the other. The air is very hot and the air conditioners have to work overtime to cool down the rooms. But at least we are here and the first part of our amazing journey is over.