India Trip, Sept 30- Oct 1

'Wheelchair guy' let me push mom through Chicago Airport .. Don't think he was suppose to do that, but he had his hands full pushing another lady :-)

Mom & I are in India at the home of Dana & Judy Crider. We made it and here's how we got here:

Sunday, Sept 30th:

We departed from the Orlando Airport at 4 pm heading to Chicago. Not long after landing in Chicago and me being allowed to push mom through the airport in a wheelchair (more on that later) we entered into another world at the gate for our flight to New Delhi. My instincts as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) immediately kicked in and I begun to feel 'at home' once again. Being immersed in another culture again was one of the things I was looking forward to and here it was happening at the gate already :-).

This flight from Chicago (scheduled for 7:05 pm departed about a half hour late) to New Delhi was a concern to both mom & me because of it's length which we thought would be 15 hours. It turned out to be only 13 hrs & 54 min from wheels off the ground in Chicago to wheels on the ground in New Delhi. We both did real well. We had seats across the aisle from each other, our own movie screen in the seat in front of us, and plenty of food/liquids. I've been very impressed with mom's ability to adapt to her surroundings.

Monday, October 1:

Somewhere over during our flight we jumped ahead to Monday, October 1st and landed in India at 8:30 at night. For my sake we had requested a wheelchair for mom (she doesn't need it really). Plus: it gets us on the plane earlier than everyone else and after a long flight I'm able to follow the person pushing the chair, who knows exactly where they're going, rather than to figure out a foreign airport. Minus: last off the plane and waiting for the chair to arrive after landing. So, we sat at the end of the ramp in New Delhi while they figured out how to get all 5 people who requested wheelchairs their chairs. Mom & another man were the first 'out of the gate' in the wheelchair race. We got to customs via a circuitous route as the elevator wasn't working on the side we came out. We whipped through customs -- was it the wheelchair (perhaps another plus for that chair :-) and had caught up with our fellow travelers at the luggage carousal (as they called it). Here there are people to help you do everything. It takes a while to let go of the American self sufficiency, but once you do it is quite a blessing to let them bless.

Dana Crider (my cousin by marriage) was there to meet us as we rolled out. He was a welcomed sight and immediately took charge of the situation calling a taxi and getting us where we needed to be. I had the privilege of sitting in the front seat of our taxi (picture above). Surprisingly I wasn't nervous as our driver took us through the busy streets to the Metropolis Tourist Home Hotel. Wasn't nervous that I could touch the car next to us & in front of us if there wasn't a windshield. Wasn't nervous when I noticed that our driver had pulled in his side mirror so it wouldn't get damaged though it stuck out a mere hand lenth. Wasn't nervous as the trucks that are only allowed into the city after 9 pm filled the far left lane and the rest of us filled the other two by making it three and sometines four lanes :-). I wasn't nervous at all amazingly -- perhaps I was more asleep than I realized.

After a nice shower Mom & I bedded down in our Deluxe room, at right, for a nice sleep before our 5am get up. Unfortunately the street outside our room, due to the trucks in the city only after 9 pm, and it being a market street... was quite a hustle & bustle with activity and sleep was sporadic. Mom jumped up at one point, when a motorcycle was using his horn to alert the other drivers around him that he was there, wondering if that was our alarm.

We definitely are in India ..