Let the Journey Begin

Well, everyone....I've made it. I am officially blogging from Rising Star Outreach in India. My year-long adventure has finally started!!! I have unpacked, showered (thankfully), and am settling in to what will be my life for the next 12 months. 

Every great journey or adventure starts with travel. I can't help but feel like I'm in an Indiana Jones movie when I'm taking all these different flights--jumping from one place to the next (you know in the movies when he flies and it shows the red line with the plane going from each place he has stopped?). Thankfully, I was able to get from Las Vegas to Chennai with very little problems. The journey started in Vegas where there was a little trouble getting on a flight from Vegas to Chicago. You see, unlike last year, I traveled stand-by this year through my Uncle Gary. It was his graduation present to me and I couldn't be more grateful. The thing with stand-by, though, is that it deals with the extremes--you can either get on the flight first-class or not make it at all. We knew from the get-go that getting from Vegas to Chicago would be the hardest part of the trip. I tried and failed to get on the 5:30pm flight on Thursday but thankfully was able to get on the red-eye to Chicago that night (and I only got on that flight cause Gary was with me and was able to work some serious magic and save me a seat). I arrived in Chicago at 5:45am and had a whooping 10.5 hours to kill before my next flight to Delhi. I had toyed with the idea of the leaving the airport for a bit and either wandering the city or getting a hotel room to sleep for awhile (red-eyes are a killer). After talking to a gate agent and hearing that security at O'Hare takes 2 HOURS to get through...I quickly nixed that plans. I hate going through security with a passion so the thought of waiting 2 hours for it was an automatic answer to my question. On a side note: the power went out as I was typing just now...gotta love India :). 

Anyways, since I decided not to leave I spent the 10.5 hours wandering the terminal, finding a bench to sleep on, sleeping on said bench, playing on the computer, eating, and just about anything else I could think of to occupy my time at O'Hare. When the time came, though, for my flight to Delhi...the tension came like a ton of bricks. It's a 15 hours flight from Chicago to Delhi and I was REALLY REALLY hoping to get either first or business class through stand-by. The chances looked ok but you never really know until you get that golden ticket. So I sat anxiously staring at the gate attendants--willing them to call my name and re-book me. Finally...they called me up to be re-booked....and guess who was sitting in seat 3J in first class, yep, yours truly. Best. Flight. Ever. I had my own little cubicle complete with a swiveling chair that reclined into a bed. I spent 15 hours being waited on, eating gourmet food (dinner had 4 courses and was served on glass plates with multiple forks and knives), watching movies, lounging in my chair, and sleeping. 15 hours have never gone by so fast. As I was leaving I tried to take a few pics of my first class cubicle:

 View from the back--you can see the ottoman, chair, and desk that the video screen popped up from.

 Chair swiveled three directions: straight front, diagonal (to lay back in the bed) and sideways towards the window and this lovely desk.

 Yep, my cubicle even had a coat rack, as well as, comforter and pillow.

 Airplane chair from Heaven. Love. It.

Check out the leg room!!

As you can see, it was ridiculously legit. But sadly after 15 hours I had to get back to reality and catch one more flight from Delhi to Chennai. I got through customs, rechecked my bags, and got to my gate without a hitch...until I heard the flight was delayed. I should have figured as much, nothing in India runs on time, but still it surprised me and made me even more tired than I already was. I realized, though, that this delay could potentially mess-up my pick-up with the Rising Star driver in Chennai--would he wait for me? Would I be stranded at the airport? I had no idea. I spent the entire three hour flight to Chennai stressing over this and devising a plan if the driver indeed was not there. We landed an hour and 40 minutes after our scheduled time. After getting all my luggage I quickly went outside to see if I had a means of getting to Rising Star. My flight was the only one that got in at that time and I was the only non-Indian on the flight, so I stuck out like a sore-thumb which made me even MORE nervous and anxious. I got outside the door: no driver. A little bit more panicky. I walked along outside looking but still no sign (don't worry Mom I didn't leave the airport). Finally I asked a policeman stationed outside if there was another place where drivers may be. The policeman didn't speak English, but, thankfully, an Indian man leaving the airport did. He asked me if I was looking for a driver and after I told him I was, he walked me to where the drivers waited for passengers (it was at the exit which is why I didn't see them before cause I knew better than to leave the airport by myself at 1:30am). Sure enough, the Rising Star driver (Sankel) was waiting there with my name on a sign. 

We loaded everything into the Rising Star van and as soon as I sat down I felt instant relief. A weight had been lifted off my shoulders that I had been carrying since I left Las Vegas--I was completely safe. I didn't have to be on guard, keeping all my belongings within eye-shot. This feeling of safety brought me back to a quote, "Someone once said that this is the place where everything's better and everything's safe". If you recognize this quote, you are a One Tree Hill fan like myself. Yep, I'm talking about One Tree Hill from the CW. Janelle and I spent the last month before I left cramming in seasons 7 and 8 so I could be up to date when I left, so the series is still very prevalent in my mind. That mind kept playing through my head as I drove the hour and a half from the airport to Rising Star's campus. To me, Rising Star fits that quote perfectly--it's the place that is better and safer than anywhere else in India. Pulling into the campus, I couldn't help feel like I was coming home. After 2 days of wandering airports and catching flights I had finally made it home. Granted, it's not as good as my real home in Vegas with my family...but this will definitely do for the next year. :)

Vanakkam