12-26-08

Yesterday was a day of traveling. It was quite boring for most of the time, but there was one moment of adventure. As we were boarding the plane in Brussels, the man checking our boarding passes said, “Ms. Hitchings, can I see your wallet?” Ms. Hitchings is, by my way of thinking, my mother, not me. She pulled out her wallet and showed it to him. He handed it back saying, “No. Ms. Hitchings, Eleanor. May I see your wallet?” I opened my disorganized purse and started shuffeling through it. I checked all the pockets, starting to get worried. The man then smiled and held up my faded leather wallet. “Is this yours? It was left on the last flight.” I was relieved, but one can imagine the teasing and remonstrations I received. I was also worried. If I was so careless as to simply leave my wallet behind, how would I fare in a country where the likelihood of its being stolen was much higher than in Bloomington? I will try to be more aware of my surroundings and possessions from now on.
The flight from Brussels to Chennai was much nicer than American flights. The flight attendants were helpful and kind. The food was delicious. The seats had more space. It was almost comfortable even by normal standards rather than plane standards.
We arrived in Chennai around midnight. That means it was approximately 2:30 in the afternoon back home. This, combined with 36 hours of travel, resulted in an odd overly-tired awakeness. The airport was an airport, albeit an airport with a slightly dirtier carpet. That didn’t bother me, though. The first thing I noticed when we walked outside was the overwhelming number of people. Around a thousand people, of different shapes, sizes, complexions, and styles of clothing ranging from western jeans and T-shirts to brightly colored saris to a man in a sarong and no shoes were waiting to pick up the new arrivals. Many were waving signs saying “Mr. Smith. Welcome to India” or “Mrs. Thompson and family. New Woodlands Hotel”.
The smell is what struck me next. It varied from step to step. I passed a man with a bag full of garlands of flowers and their sweet perfume overwhelmed my senses. Next moment I was covering my nose with a scarf to block out the smell of pollution. Fortunately, one of my friends had given me some rupees as a Christmas present. It was life saving. We got a pre-paid taxi and headed for the hotel immediately. The taxi driver suggested we tip the porter, who only carried one our four bags, 10 rupees, which he scoffed at.
The taxi and the driving capabilities of its driver were quite incredible. The driver placed our luggage in the trunk and slammed it closed, causing the feeble door to wobble considerably. The engine was loud and, as we started off, the entire car shook. Once we got going however, the driver was soon weaving in and out of traffic, sometimes with less than a foot of space to spare between us and the other car, and honking at both trucks three times our size and motorcycles one third our size. We arrived at our hotel to discover that our rooms had been given away, despite the 3600 rupee ($75) deposit we had paid to ensure a room for at least our first night. We ended up squeezing into one small room with a bed and an extra mattress. I claimed the mattress and Mom got the bed, leaving Patrick in some chairs and Dad sleeping on a blanket on the marble floor. I awoke to the sun shining on my face. I looked out the window and saw palm trees and other greenery. I then learned how to take bath with just a smallish bucket of hot water and discovered that I had either somehow misplaced my toothbrush or never packed it. I suspect it probably fell out on the plane with my wallet and was not deemed important enough to turn in.
After spending some time organizing ourselves and our suitcases (I put on my sari three times before I was satisfied that it wasn’t horribly poofy) we walked down the four flights of stairs to our breakfast. The elevator was broken. Breakfast was excellent. We each had one Idly, a rice cake, with various sauces and Dad and I each had a Dosai, bread, which we shared, of course. The total cost of our meal, along with two teas and two coffees, was 214 rupees, less than four dollars. It was at this point that I decided to move t India but have a job in the US so I can always eat as much delicious food as I want. We are now repacking and planning on moving to our two rooms which we had reserved. It is a beautiful day outside; it is not too hot or humid and the birds are singing.