7.23.2007
i'm not dead
...yet.
just wanted to drop by real quick and say hello. and i'll be honest with you, i did forget about you. you being this blog of course.
i love my peoples. :)
anyhoo, i'm in india right now and it's been a bittersweet experience. my flight here was AWFUL. i was supposed to fly air france to chennai with a stopover in paris. unfortunately, my flight to paris was delayed over 2 hours due to congestion traffic at newark airport, so i missed my connection to chennai. the next direct flight to chennai wasn't for another 2 days (!!!) which would have made me miss the first event/reason why i'm in india. so they rebooked me on two aeroflot flights (paris to moscow, moscow to dehli) and then an indian airways flight (dehli to chennai) which landed me in india about a day later than intended, but a a day earlier than my rescheduled flight. unfortunately, all 3 flights were delayed, and i missed my scheduled flight to chennai. fortunately, my moscow to dehli flight was so delayed that my delayed flight to moscow was okay. funny how that stuff works.
to top it all off, one of the airlines i flew lost my luggage! surprise, surprise. but it's been about 3 days and i haven't seen it. i've been on the phone every free minute trying to track it down, but no one seems to know where it is. i get different answers every time i call, and everyone seems to be pointing fingers at every one else. bah humbug.
on the positive side, since i didn't have my suit and had to dress business for the event, i went out and bought a traditional indian business outfit. the greatest part is that i fooled about half of the people i met. they all thought i was indian, and that's really why i'm here: to try to get mistaken as a local. :)
i have always secretly believed in guardian angels (well, not so secret anymore), but i met this man who helped me so much while trotting to different cities. we were both headed to chennai and were experiencing the same problems trying to get there. he was a great friend and helped me navigate my way through the crazy indian airports. when my bags were lost, he fought with the airline representatives with me to follow the proper procedures. he even missed the indian airways flight with me because we were occupied fighting for my baggage claim form. all i know is that i owe this man so much, but i have no idea how to repay him.
on another positive note, indian people are so freakin' friendly. also, they play arrested development reruns here! i want to live here...
but then again, there's a whole lot of poverty. this is okay, but it makes me very sad.
things i learned from this trip:
just wanted to drop by real quick and say hello. and i'll be honest with you, i did forget about you. you being this blog of course.
i love my peoples. :)
anyhoo, i'm in india right now and it's been a bittersweet experience. my flight here was AWFUL. i was supposed to fly air france to chennai with a stopover in paris. unfortunately, my flight to paris was delayed over 2 hours due to congestion traffic at newark airport, so i missed my connection to chennai. the next direct flight to chennai wasn't for another 2 days (!!!) which would have made me miss the first event/reason why i'm in india. so they rebooked me on two aeroflot flights (paris to moscow, moscow to dehli) and then an indian airways flight (dehli to chennai) which landed me in india about a day later than intended, but a a day earlier than my rescheduled flight. unfortunately, all 3 flights were delayed, and i missed my scheduled flight to chennai. fortunately, my moscow to dehli flight was so delayed that my delayed flight to moscow was okay. funny how that stuff works.
to top it all off, one of the airlines i flew lost my luggage! surprise, surprise. but it's been about 3 days and i haven't seen it. i've been on the phone every free minute trying to track it down, but no one seems to know where it is. i get different answers every time i call, and everyone seems to be pointing fingers at every one else. bah humbug.
on the positive side, since i didn't have my suit and had to dress business for the event, i went out and bought a traditional indian business outfit. the greatest part is that i fooled about half of the people i met. they all thought i was indian, and that's really why i'm here: to try to get mistaken as a local. :)
i have always secretly believed in guardian angels (well, not so secret anymore), but i met this man who helped me so much while trotting to different cities. we were both headed to chennai and were experiencing the same problems trying to get there. he was a great friend and helped me navigate my way through the crazy indian airports. when my bags were lost, he fought with the airline representatives with me to follow the proper procedures. he even missed the indian airways flight with me because we were occupied fighting for my baggage claim form. all i know is that i owe this man so much, but i have no idea how to repay him.
on another positive note, indian people are so freakin' friendly. also, they play arrested development reruns here! i want to live here...
but then again, there's a whole lot of poverty. this is okay, but it makes me very sad.
things i learned from this trip:
- never fly air france.
- air france and aeroflot never pick up their phones.
- us customer service kicks serious a$$ (in a good way).
- never take for granted american airports.
- the moscow airport is the most confusing and unorganized airport i have ever been in
- it takes 45 to 90 minutes to switch terminals (international to domestic terminals) via a shuttle at the dehli airport. by taxi, it takes 15 minutes!
- indians are very kind to people who are interested in learning about their culture (and they'll want to show you and take you everywhere).
- indian traffic is crazier than china traffic because you're actually moving.
- us passports can get you a lot of things faster.
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Holy crazy story! Hope it all ends well and you're happily reunited w/your luggage before a splendidly perfect flight home! I have my fingers crossed for you :)
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