The Grand Adventure Begins!

Eleven suitcases, 8 carry-ons, 4 kids and 2 adults – we made it to Chennai, India! Thanks to Uncle W & Aunt G for the luggage delivery/escort – we literally filled up the pickup truck with the suitcases!! It was great to have that special hug before embarking on the Grand Adventure!!

The flights were wonderfully uneventful… Other than Jamie beginning his self imposed diet. Good thing he likes bread and they serve bread on the flights!!The kids are all relatively picky – they just simply enjoy the “American comfort foods”. Joey ventured the most in the “try new foods” department. But I had to laugh as he exclaimed last night (after tooth brushing x 2!) why do I still taste the lunch we had – and I really didn’t like it?! I loved the awe as we took off and the kids looked out the window. Alina dutifully counted the three planes to keep track of our progress. Hubby and I had a good laugh as she barreled through the Frankfurt airport with her rolling carry-on … taking out 3 people and a barrier before bumping into a huge pole. Then Jamie says, ”What? What pole?” as he stood with his back to it!! Ha!

When you land in Chennai from an international flight, you arrive at midnight-ish. You are greeted by the heat and humidity as you pass from the airplane to the airport. At the last visit – we were also greeted by the onslaught of humanity. This trip was pleasantly gentle as far as the crowds went. We also got to experience the H1N1 screening… something we had kind of pushed out of our lives since it went barreling through Texas relatively early in the pandemic. All the immigration people were wearing masks and they zapped us with a thermometer thing. Thankfully no one was running a fever!! Immigration papers, H1N1 papers, passports checked – we just went zipping along. Then into the parking lot – beep-beep and people! Lots of cars, motorbikes, horns and people... Oh yes, and the heat – even at midnight!!

The drive to the hotel is a nice gentle introduction into the new culture and world! Yes, the steering wheel is on the “other side” of the car. I don’t think the kids noticed the driving on the “wrong side” as we just simply drove down the middle. They did notice people digging in the road. Well, I noticed 2 people digging and 5 or 6 people watching – it must be an international union of ditch-digger-watchers. Amazing to me is the level of physical labor – no special equipment – just a shovel and dish pan (to drain the water). Arrival at the hotel was nice… discovering the flowers and the people.

So today is Day One of the Grand Adventure. Nothing special planned for the day. We’ll come up with a plan in a little while. Just sleeping and getting out to peek at reality will probably be enough for today. Personally, I’d like to track down the Tour de France on TV…hmmm. Meanwhile, I’ll survive on Twitter updates from Lance, George & Team Astana.
We hope to see the house today or tomorrow and possibly get moved in, in an odd sort of way, by Wednesday. Waiting for keys, airfreight and a ride!! It really seems like a dream – very surreal. All is well!!