We finally made it to India!! We got here yesterday afternoon (Saturday) but the internet has been kind of spotty and I've had some trouble with using the blog website on my computer so I've resorted to using my phone to post. So sorry for the late post and how long it is going to be but needless to say a lot of exciting stuff has happened in the past few days! Also, sorry for there not being any photos, I am having a little trouble figuring out why they aren't showing up but I'll try to get that fixed.
In the days leading up to leaving I was really nervous and anxious, not knowing what to expect from traveling, staying abroad abroad for a month, or the clinics. Luckily, on Thursday morning when we left I was just excited! Emily and I left Raleigh at 10:30am and met up with Sarah in Newark, NJ. We had a 5 hour layover so we decided to grab a burger to celebrate our last American meal and last taste of beef for a while. If you ever get the chance, hang out in an international terminal because there are so many people from all over the world in one place. While we were waiting we talked to a family from Texas who was going to visit their son who was studying abroad in the Czech Republic and a woman on her way home to Romania.
The flight to Brussels was about 7 hours but we were delayed for about 30 minutes after boarding because of bad weather. Many of the people on the plane were also forwarding on to Mumbai like us. I sat next to a mom and her two daughters for both flights. She was born in India but had moved to the U.S. and was going back to visit family. On the flight you could choose from Bollywood or Hollywood movies and they also had Indian and "western" food choices. We arrived in Belgium at 8am their time but but the middle of the night in the U.S. We had just enough time to brush our teeth and get back to feeling a little more human before boarding the flight to Mumbai.
Having not gotten any sleep in almost two days because of traveling and nerves before leaving I was really dreading another long flight. Luckily I was able to fall asleep for the majority of the flight and the stuardess were nice enough to wake me up for meals and snacks. They definitely didn't want anyone going hungry because we got two meals (one of curry chicken and yogurt, the other a sort of Indian hot pocket), a small bag of seasoned chips, and an ice cream bar. Landing in India at night was beautiful, Mumbai was completely lit up and it just felt like a magical place to be, the magnitude of this trip started to sink in.
When we arrived in Mumbai it was about 11pm and we had an 8 hour layover. The international terminal was by far the most gorgeous and extravagant airport we went through but unfortunately we didn't stay there long because we had to go through immigration, pick up our luggage, go through customs, and drop off our luggage before taking a bus to the domestic flights terminal. The bus ride was pretty awesome because it was our first taste of fresh air for almost a day and a half as well as our first experience of India. Although it was about 1am the roads were packed and there was tons of people moving through the airport.
The domestic terminal was very different than the international one. It was much less grand and surprisingly small for such a large city. We had to go through security again and were separated from the men. The women's security point was draped off from the others and had only one line whereas the men's had four or five. The terminal was packed and we spent the first couple hours sitting on the floor before some seats freed up. Luckily we were able to curl up in some seats to sleep and could grab some coffee before the next leg. Our flight to Chennai was delayed an hour, setting us to leave at about 8am.
The flight to Chennai was only 2 hours which felt like nothing after our other long flights and layovers. Although it was short they still fed us breakfast and a coffee/tea service. I sat in the back of the plane whereas Emily and Sarah were in the front. When we landed the front immediately walked through a chute into the airport and the back exited on to the tarmac and rode a bus to the terminal. However, this wasn't explained to us ahead of time and when I found myself alone and being herded on to a bus I was little panicked. After getting off the bus one of the airport staff noticed my obviously lost expression and walked with me to the right floor and terminal where I found I found Emily and Sarah. Again we had 3 hour layover before our final leg.
The flight to Trichy was only an hour long, so basically a blink of an eye in the scheme of our travel. The airplane was a decent size but had propellers, a new experience for all of us. On the plane we got a piece of chocolate cake and water. After getting all the treats and hospitality during our flights the peanuts and pretzels given out in America will never be the same. When we arrived in Trichy we walked from the runway to the airport and picked up our bags before meeting our host, Dr. Albert who works at Bishop Heber College.
We loaded our bags into his car and took the 15 minute drive to the college. I'm pretty sure we all looked wide eyed and gawky from taking in all of our surroundings. There are pretty much no traffic laws and horns are used frequently. The roads were lined on either side by shops, homes, tons of people walking, and cows. Dr. Albert told us the cows had owners and would go home at night but were free to wander to town during the day. Driving through the gate into Bishop Heber was pretty amazing and it was hard to believe this would be our home for the next month. The campus is a relatively small loop of classrooms, buildings, and hostels (dorms). It has a completely different feeling than the bustling streets outside and is kind of like our little bubble in the city.
We are staying in the international hostel. The three of us are in two rooms, I am sharing with Emily. Each room has two beds, a closet, two desks, and a bathroom. Best of all they are air conditioned! One of the professors from the college, Soloman, is also living in the hostel and is kind of like an RA to answer any questions or help us if we need it. We eat all of our meals in the international dining room. Unfortunately, there aren't any other students here right now but there should be some arriving on June 18th so we are very excited! Our first meal was a soup that was similar to broth from a stew, egg noodles with vegetables, spicy chicken, French fries to make us feel at home :), grapes, and a cucumber and carrot salad. They also brought out some Indian coke for us to have for desert. After dinner we walked around the campus and Soloman showed us the different hostels, class buildings, church, gym, and basketball and cricket courts. It was only 8pm at this point but we were exhausted and ready to go to bed. Soloman told us breakfast was served from 7:30 to 8:30 so we all decided to call it a night and try to settle in to our routine.
This morning we got up at 7 to get ready for breakfast. We had corn flakes, some spiced noodles with scrambled eggs, toast, tea and coffee, and freshly squeezed orange juice that was absolutely amazing. All of the food was delicious, even the jelly for the toast was freshly made. The cooking staff is so sweet and friendly and sat in the dining room watching a movie while we ate. After finishing up we went to the roof of the hostel to see the view and check out where we would be doing laundry. From the roof we could see the surrounding houses but a lot of the area was blocked by trees. We then decided to venture out of the campus and on to the streets for the first time. We walked along the roads for about an hour just trying to get used to our new surroundings. Cars, buses, bikes, and motorcycles were all speeding by and if it weren't for all the shops and people also walking around it would have been pretty intimidating. Dr.Albert warned us that people would stare at us because it was the summer and tourists rarely came during this time. He was definitely right but I didn't feel uncomfortable at all. People would just look and keep waking or would nod and smile at us. On our way back through the gate we stopped to look at some flowers on a tree and a man came up to us wanting to know where we were from and if we were liking India. He then adamantly told us that church was about to start and wondered why we weren't already there. We are planning to go to the service on campus next week but Dr. Albert told us it was a couple hours long and in Tamil, not English.
I'll write more about our day and hopefully more details and less of an overview during my next post. We are all so excited to be in India and to start getting in to our routine here :).