I travelled home to NC USA for a 2 week visit, beginning this last Wed Oct 15th. As I left for the airport at 4AM, there were a lot of cars stopped straight ahead upon leaving, and people standing outside pointing upwards. For every point past that area, this side of the road was dark, so no street lights were working. It was really impossible to drive on that side of the road, so we (did the logical thing??) and...headed into the other lane, into oncoming traffic. We drove in this set of “lanes” for about 5 kms. I really had thought I had reached the pinnacle of horror on the Bangalore roads until this particular morning. Seeing so many headlights coming at us, and saying “Oh my God, Oh my God, Oh my God!!”, so many times, really woke me up, and I am sure did not provide the driver any relaxation. Of course, like so many other trips, the fear lingers only for a short period, until you realize you are alive, and you “re-set” and move on. I truly thought this would be the highlight of the day. Well, it was quite a highlight, but it turned into a long and interesting travel day. I had booked the 3 flight option, of Bangalore to Heathrow to JFK to RDU. The flight out of Bangalore left on time, and then at Heathrow, the flight to JFK was delayed. It was delayed only for an hour, so still plenty of time, no worries. The Heathrow pilot announced, once we were all buckled in, that the plane had needed some maintenance, and also, realized they "needed to change a wheel". I thought to myself, “I could have done without hearing that”. Would I worry about this wheel for 7 hours? I think in situations like this, little white lies like “needed to fuel up!” would do just fine. The trip is still, at this point, pretty uneventful, just fine, and I can even help the fun couple from France fill out their declaration cards, though we don’t understand each other. “ZERO” is a universal symbol, and seems to work best on these cards! Ha
Getting off the plane at JFK is where things went awry. As I was arriving 1st destination “in country”, I had to pick up my bag, re-check it and go through customs. Down in the bowels of baggage and customs, there are no marquees with flight statuses. So I checked my bag and took the train to the other terminal, and right when I got there...I see that the flight from JFK to Raleigh is CANCELLED. Not postponed. It is the only RED status flight on the entire board. It is late at night, so I begin to worry I will be stuck. I move as quickly as possible to a long line of “every other passenger due to be on this plane”. There are 2 agents at the counter (and 75 people in line?). Many people are on phones, but at this time, I am in between phones as my India phone is not working (not international) and I have not been using my US iphone, so for internet, I was not connecting (turned out I needed a mobileiron update anyway, so that would not have worked), so I NEEDED THESE AGENTS. I met 2 other new friends in the line as we waited...one, a young guy who has flown from CHENNAI that day, home to see his family in Raleigh. He has been teaching in a school there for the last 9 months, most recently, and on and off in India for 3 years I believe. The other, a young student who is splitting education time between Columbia and Duke in finishing her NP degree, and is heading back home to Durham. We are all desperate to get home. The girl says she will drive if we can’t get a flight. I do not know her at all yet, but I know we are leaving NY that night, no matter what. She gets to the counter first and gets issued a new ticket. I think “Great, there is another flight!”. I find out soon enough that THIS NEW FLIGHT LEAVES FROM LA GUARDIA, not JFK. It leaves in 90 minutes. I immediately think of the Seinfeld show where they can never “get through NY traffic” without a lot of maneuvering, and delays. I also know I will not be able to get my bag (as it was checked a train ride away) in time. I decide to risk it, and so the young teacher and I get a yellow cab and head to La Guardia. I realize that NY traffic is a piece of cake compared to Bangalore traffic, as we ride into La Guardia with plenty of time to spare.
That flight is delayed as well……and so I get to Raleigh after being up for about 32 hours, on a trip sandwiched between driving down a street the wrong way and a cancelled flight. They flew my bag to Raleigh the next day, so I had no clothes or supplies (think: nothing), and since I arrived after midnight, I could buy nothing. At that point, my main worry was knowing that EVERYTHING was in that bag, and just hoping that it would arrive. Luckily it did, and though I lost a half day of time and was completely exhausted...I made it, and also made 2 new friends along the way.
In the meantime, I have taken a couple of pictures (today was able to go to the NC State Fair!) and will write a couple of blogs “from NC” and post these soon. The most awesome fall weather in NC right now...
I have used the phrases "In India...", or "In Bangalore...", only about 500 times in the last 3 days!
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