Arrival in Chennai

After 30 hours of rushing through airports, travelling from day to night and then morning again on the plane, and then a car-ride experience, we’ve arrived at Philip’s parents’ home in Madras. On our way over, I shared with Philip my excitement about all I get to see and do over the next couple of weeks and he responded, “Well, I just hope you don’t barf.” That comment certainly provided me with the sense of security I was looking for. Oddly enough, the flight from Seattle to Paris was rotten, but Air France nearly redeemed itself with the service to Madras. Of course, it may have been that we actually caught some shut eye on the second flight. We nearly missed our connecting flight from Paris to Madras as our flight from Seattle was late. The Charles de Gaulle airport is an absolute mess and we took a shuttle bus in circles around the terminals several times before reaching our gate. Fortunately, with the assistance of some Tylenol p.m. we got about 4 hours of actual sleep time in before arriving in Madras. In total we spend about 11 ½ hours flying to Paris from Seattle and 11 hours from Paris to Madras.After making it through customs, Philip’s parents and brother were there to greet among masses of other folks waiting for their family members to arrive or waiting for the next person in desperate need of a cab. They had hired a car and driver to come to get us. We all packed into the Qualis (with Philip’s dad in the way back and no seatbelts). It was quite a drive back. Much of it was along a road that was about 3 lanes wide, but still left me inquiring to Philip, “Are there designated lanes on the roads?” Drivers drove on whichever section of the road they felt they fit—sometimes there was one other vehicle right next to us, other times we were 4 vehicles across nearly bumping mirrors. We whipped in and out of the way of auto- rickshaws, buses, bicycles and stray dogs—all this at 2:30 in the morning. The roads are filled with potholes that have been broken up by the monsoons and do not resemble Seattle city roads and streets. The driver (with his own car) picked up Philip’s parents at their house, waited with them at the airport because our flight was nearly 2 hours late and then drove us back to the house which is over an hour away from the airport. All that and the rental of the car and driver cost a mere $15 America. That’s likely how we’ll get around most of the time we’re in Madras. My first impressions of Madras were created in the darkness of the morning, so I am looking forward to a few days out and about to really see what the city is like. Everyone here is doing well and they are delighted that we will be here for a few days. They each ask several times over how my family is doing and particularly inquire about Karsten and Blair. It was great to meet Pratap—Philip’s brother and I was happy to discover that when we travel to Kerala I will not be the only one who does not speak the native language as he finds it difficult to communicate with his aunts and uncles. I suppose, Philip will be translating for both of us. Last note, we can’t make international calls from the house so we’ll go around to the corner shop to do so. We’ll do this as often as we can to keep in touch and wish everyone a Merry Christmas.