The Journey to India!

Blog 3 -The Journey to India!

After a two-hour scenic van ride to Newark in heavy traffic, we finally arrived at the airport at 6pm. Luckily, compared to Thailand and Indonesia, we had a long 14-hour direct flight to New Delhi, leaving at 9pm and arriving at 9pm in Delhi. With three stories to check in from, it was an interesting process to get to the group check in! Once we checked in and compared our seats, we stood in line for TSA, with only half the group receiving it, we split ways. Although we entered in the normal TSA line, we somehow were brought to a TSA pre-check line. As Max brought so many things, some couldn’t fit in his 70 lbs checked bag, so he also had tons of things in his carry on. Madison and I got by without a problem, Dane was selected for a random screening, and Max was with the TSA agent as 2 of his 3 bags needed to be checked. After everyone got through, we went to the gate, where Elizabeth kindly offered that she will watch some of our bags as we go out to eat. 

Once we finished cruising through every part of the terminal, Dane and I got our last burger (as cows are sacred in India), and the rest got some Tex-Mex or wings. Later, the flight crew checked our visas while waiting for our flight at the terminal, then they announced a two-hour delay due to the awaiting aircraft being late, so that meant more free time! We learned that Wendy’s was right next to our terminal so we went, but it closed RIGHT as we got there. As we were bored, Madison and I decided to race on our suitcases in the terminal to Starbucks (which was a long distance). Madison will say she won 2 out of 3, but it was a dirty race. Anyways we eventually boarded the plane, ate our first Indian meal, talked to an awesome girl from Newark in our grade, and personally slept most of the plane ride not watching one movie, making it a short 14 hours, then landing into Delhi around midnight! 

I will never forget exiting the terminal and feeling the humidity absorb us, as well as seeing TONS of people waiting outside at midnight: at this moment (amongst many others) I realized that I am actually in India and this will be my new home. Unfortunately, we had to say goodbye to our wonderful chaperone Elizabeth who was now going to tour India with her children! Although we arrived at 12am, we actually left around 1:30pm due to bad traffic as this was rush hour! During this time, I was amazed by the non-stop honking, auto rickshaws, stray dogs, heat, and pollution. The restaurant stayed open for us at 2am so we ate dinner, and went to sleep ready for the next day of meeting new people and another orientation, this time in India!