Baptism by Fire....or water.

I just arrive at Scott's apartment in Chennai. I will update the specifics tomorrow, because i just took some ambien and i can feel it kicking in. The title should give you a hint.
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Okay, so it's the afternoon the 20th and Scott and I are currently in his apartment lounging around waiting for some rice to cook. We are both pretty tired because we went to bed at around 4 AM last night. My flight got in at 1:10 AM. Why did we go to sleep at 4? Well I'll tell you.

So my traveling started at 10:16 AM on the 18th, which was supposed to get to the Newark Airport at around 2:30 PM. My flight left at 8:25 PM, but the next bus got me to the airport at 6:45, and was just cutting it too close.

After the 4 and a half hour bus ride, I took the monorail to the airport, and in the process almost got separated from my bag. But, my bag and me made it to Terminal B where Jet Airways was.

Wait. Where is Jet Airways? I ask about 5 attendants where the check-in was for Jet Airways, and they all point me in different directions. The last one tells me that Jet Airways hasn't set up yet. I have gotten to the airport before my airline. Noted, Jet Airways.

So eventually I get on the plane (after 6 hours of waiting) and fly for 6 hours to Belgium. I sit next to a super affectionate, super French couple and watched Step Up 2: The Streets. It was a pretty good plane ride.

I arrive in Brussels, wait for an hour, and then board my next plane. This flight is 10 hours long. Roundabout hour 3 my back is killing me from sitting for so long. I watch 3 movies, nap a little (though I don't want to go to sleep for fear of exacerbating my jet lag), and watch a killer episode of Planet Earth. Which one? Seasonal Forests.Did you know that there is a forest in South America where there are deer who are normally the size of a medium dog, who's young are the size of kittens? Deer Kittens. Are you kidding me, Earth?

The plane finally lands in Chennai and it is pouring outside. There's lightening and thunder and super strong wind. A truck with a boarding staircase drives up to the plane, but eventually retreats for safe, less gusty area. The pilot goes on the PA system and says that we need to stay on the tarmac until the storm dies down. We are delayed for 30 minutes on the tarmac of our destination.

We finally get to the airpot itself and head to customs. Customs take approximately 2 minutes including waiting in line, and then I go off to claim my baggage. While waiting, an official over the PA system says, "Allison Cairnee, please come to the front desk. Allison Cairnee." After locating the front desk, I tell the man who I am. He tells me that my brother was having car trouble and he'd be late. 'No problem,' I thought. 30 minutes later I collected by bag and was waiting for Scott to arrive. No Scott. Suddenly I hear, "Allison Cairnee, please come to the front desk. Allison Cairnee." I return to the desk. The man tells me that Scott is stuck in traffic, but gives me his phone number. I call my brother, the handset disconnects twice from the reciever, but I finally talk to him. He is five minutes away. We hang up, and I go outside.

It's my first time in India since 2006 and that India smell hits me really hard. It's not the bad smell of burning sewage that I also closely associate with India, but the other, less offensive smell. It's a little smoky, a little like tumeric, and everpresent. I see Scott, wave, and try to find my way over the 4 foot metal barricade. After hugging, we get in the car (I try to get in the driver's seat before I realize that traffic is different here). He tells me about the hellish trip he's had (a breakdown followed by an insane traffic jam), and says that the car keeps getting water logged. By this point, it has begun raining again, but fairly lightly. However, the unevenly paved Indian roads have aquired oceanic puddles that make the car hiss and promptly power down. The power in the car keeps going out, but amidst our many pirate jokes, we get closer and closer to his apartment with relatively high spirits.

The problem arises when we are faced with the fact that in front of Scott's apartment parking lot is a monumental lake. A truck slowly drives through it, and his wake breaks on the newly made shore a few feet in front of us.

"We need another plan," Scott says. I definitely agree.

We try a back route, Scott braving the ever-deepening sea beneath us. The car squeals, and shuts down. We wait a few minutes for the engine to drain before realizing that where we are the engine is underwater. Therefore, it's not draining.

"We need another plan." Scott repeats.

He rolls up his pants, gets out and pushes the car back about 40 feet. We wait a minute, and then head off down another route. Trying to come at the apartment from a different road, we go through another epic puddle. Whispering words of encouragement, we urge the car to make it just two more blocks. But, the car is tired, and the water is deep. With a silent shudder, the car goes to sleep. Once more, Scott braves the murky, sewage-ridden water to bring the car to safety. After half a block, I join him. Waving to his newspaper vendor, Scott gets back in the car and we close in on the apartment. I give it one big push over the threshold, and we park it. We've made it. It's 3:30 AM. We go upstairs, where we find that the power is out. Luckily, Padma (my sister-in-law) had set out several candles to help us stumble around the apartment and had made my bed, which is a mat on the floor. Scott and I drink some fairly ambiguously named "Sleepy Tea", and head off to bed.

By the time I got in my pajamas, took my Ambien, and went to sleep, I had been traveling for 30 hours.

So that was my first night in India. Padma, Scott and I are going to see the new Batman movie tonight and go to some really nice French pastry shop. I don't know what else is on the docket, besides sleep, that is.

For now, I am in India and things are going well. I haven't come to a conclusion about how I feel about being here. I like it, but 9 months is a pretty big commitment. I think as soon as I have a home base, a daily schedule, and more than one pair of pants, I'll be happy. But before all that, and before I can even begin to fathom traveling to New Delhi on the 25th, I need to catch up on some sleep.

I'll update you all soon,
Allison