You Can’t Get There From Here
10/11/07 Plan: Scheduled to leave at the end of the school day for a flight from Philly at 6:00
Actual: Call from John at 11:30 that my 6:00 flight was cancelled, rebooked at 3:20 must leave school at 12:30. First panic, or panic first?!
New Plan: Get classroom coverage and arrive at Philly in time for 3:20 flight.
Actual: Arrived on time, bags only 1 pound over each and third bag allowed to travel for free. Things are looking up! Checked in and headed to lounge. Flight now delayed until 4:15…then 4:45….finally board. Ready to go. Plane pushed back…headed to taxi….”Hello this is your pilot. JKF just closed. We hope to be able to leave in 2 ½ hours, but we are returning to the gate to deplane. Sit. Call John for update from his computer on what is really going on. Sit. Call John. Scheduled out at 6:50. Sit, Call John, my flight from JFK to Mumbai is delayed so I’ll be fine.
New Plan: Finally board again. Wheels up at 8:15. Still in time to catch my 9:30 (now 9:50) flight to Mumbai.
Actual: Land in JFK before 9:00. Gather hand luggage which was taken at the gate and head to the lounge. It is now 9:15 and they are schedule to close at 9:30. I have only snacked on “Leah” food that I packed in my carry on. Good news. Lounge will stay open for flight, but all restaurants and lounge food are closed! Flight now scheduled for 10:45.
New Plan: Head to gate at 10:15.
Actual: At gate learn departure changed to 11:00….then 11:30. Finally we board and sit and sit and sit. Problem with entertainment system and chief flight attendant doesn’t want to leave without working system. FINALLY take off at 1:00 am after running out of school panicked at 11;30 pm! Ate dinner at 2:00 am! Time to call it a day.
Arrived in Mumbai at 12:24 am Saturday local time (3 pm Friday home time) 32 hours after running out of BMHS to catch my flight. Sailed through immigration, but panicked at customs. I never fudge on customs forms, so I answered the form that I have “no meat products” and “no fruit,” only to find now that my bags will be scanned and they are sure to see the 2 months worth of food I have packed for Leah. Luckily, no problems! I was relieved to see that Leah had paid the money to gain entrance into the arrival area, she was easy to spot in the crowd (Leah: I made her a brightly colored sign with elephants on it, just in case she didn’t recognize me)! I’m glad that she paid the money though, cause I’m not sure I would have spotted her as easily in the massive crowd outside the arrivals area. I now know why international flights arrive in Mumbai late at night, traffic wasn’t too bad and you couldn’t see much of the sights.
Leah had rented a car and driver, so we had no problem getting transportation to the Marriott. I missed most of the sights Leah tried to point out, but did manage to see cab drivers sleeping on the roofs of their taxis, some lights up early in preparation for Diwali, and crazy drivers (Leah: She didn’t even know the half of it!).
Finally, we made it into our room at the Marriott by 3 am. Went to sleep shortly after arriving in the room, but not before unveiling some of the treats to Leah that I had brought her. We both slept for a while, until I woke Leah up because I couldn’t sleep anymore. We spent the day exploring the Marriott and enjoying the Executive Lounge I had talked my way into it, claiming John to be a Gold Marriott Rewards member (in all fairness, I thought he was). The facilities are beautiful and deceiving. Self-described as on the pristine Arabian Sea, but NOT. Well, they are on the Arabian Sea, but it is far from pristine. More treats and goodies revealed. Also, enjoyed our first spa treatment.
First Adventure (Sunday): Taxi to hostel (45 minutes). Oh. My. God. Try as I might, “my brake” in the taxi didn’t work (the same one I liked to use when the girls were learning to drive). And no seatbelts. Oh. My. God. Arrive at the hostel with two bags of the loot. First Impression of dorm: Oh. My. God. Her pictures make it look better than it actually is. I don’t know anyone who lives that way, other than Leah now. Dirty. Small. Dark. Smelly. Then we picked up Carey and headed to the train station (Victoria Terminus) with the hopes of buying the train tickets for the girl’s trip during Diwali. Another taxi ride (45 minutes). These girls are very brave with their exploring. The train station didn’t pan out (Leah: Apparently we can’t order tickets until the day before our trip leaves, at which point there are only “4 Foreign Visa Spots” reserved… and there are 4 of us traveling, sounds like a bad start to a trip). So Leah and I hopped a taxi to head back to the Marriott. Taxi ride (hour and a half). The Taxi driver didn’t even know where the Marriott was, but luckily Leah’s a good navigator, and managed to get us there.
The taxis were not air conditioned, so the windows are down. The fumes and the smells are gagging and nauseating. Everything just comes at you so fast, Leah tried to point things out to me, but I couldn’t even grasp them. There was too much to take in. And then traffic was slow for a while at the.. what was that place (Leah: The Haji Ali) and there must have been 10,000 people in line (or more than a stadium’s worth). Hopefully they all get out to the mosque and back before the tide comes in and covers the walkway.
Daily recap: Spent 3 hours in a taxi, and accomplished nothing. (Leah: Welcome to India Mom).
That evening we went to the dinner buffet and planned our Monday outing.
Second Adventure (Monday): After our morning ritual at the Executive Lounge, we met our driver, Saldanha, and headed first to the hostel to deliver a suitcase (which wouldn’t fit in the trunk of the little car) and swap it out for a suitcase Leah is sending home. At least this car was air conditioned. This is a much more civilized way to travel (except for the accident we were in and the chase that pursued. License plate MH 02 3974 if you see him!). Brief stop at the hostel and we were off to the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel (Leah: No relation to the Taj Mahal, that’s in Agra, India). We had to buy a disposable camera, because Leah forget hers (Leah: I carry my camera everywhere! But I took it out of my purse to take a picture of our completed dolphin puzzle we had been assembling). We stayed at the Gateway long enough to take a picture and leave because we seemed to be a bigger attraction than the Gateway. Leah misunderstood, thinking someone wanted us to take a picture of them. Little did she know, they wanted to take a picture with her! Then we headed (Leah: in Mom’s case “tripped her way.” Mom bruised her foot and was hobbling around the rest of the day) to one of Leah’s favorite merchants (Leah: Rajesh).
After making a haul at Rajesh’s stall, we mentioned we were interested in sari fabric. One of his trusty assistants lead us down an alley and up many flights of steps to the “other side” where I hope Leah never ventures by herself. Reminiscent of the upstairs hidden rooms behind mirror walls found in Dubai when shopping for purses. We were instructed to remove our shoes and sit on the cushioned area as bolts and bolts of saris were unfolded before us. Much more elaborate than our budget would allow. But we did buy outfits for the Ebb Tide Christmas Open House. Pictures from the disposable camera (Leah: I know, I know!) will follow.
We limped our way back to the driver to proceed to our next stop, the Haji Ali. The traffic was bad (again) and there was no place for us to stop and take a picture. We then headed to the Dhobi Ghats (Leah: laundry colony), where the driver illegally parked so we could hop out and take a picture. We were exhausted and frustrated and just told the driver to take us back to the hotel.
Daily recap: We hired a driver for 7.25 hours (which only cost $25 total) but we spent 5.25 hours driving (Leah: sitting in traffic), with only 2 hours actually spent walking around.
We had dinner at the Italian Restaurant, again, Mezzo Mezzo, if only food would stay with Leah.
Tuesday:
Plan: Get up, get dressed, carry more food to dorm, attend Finance class, attend Hindi, and shop in Matunga.
Actual: My foot swollen and throbbing and Leah in intestinal distress. Got dressed, but never made it out of the hotel. Instead, went back to bed and caught up on much needed sleep.
Spent most of the delightful day by the pool, with a nice breeze blowing (keeps the foul smell away). Was a good decision to have another Marriott (Leah: Mom had enough of India exposure).
10/11/07 Plan: Scheduled to leave at the end of the school day for a flight from Philly at 6:00
Actual: Call from John at 11:30 that my 6:00 flight was cancelled, rebooked at 3:20 must leave school at 12:30. First panic, or panic first?!
New Plan: Get classroom coverage and arrive at Philly in time for 3:20 flight.
Actual: Arrived on time, bags only 1 pound over each and third bag allowed to travel for free. Things are looking up! Checked in and headed to lounge. Flight now delayed until 4:15…then 4:45….finally board. Ready to go. Plane pushed back…headed to taxi….”Hello this is your pilot. JKF just closed. We hope to be able to leave in 2 ½ hours, but we are returning to the gate to deplane. Sit. Call John for update from his computer on what is really going on. Sit. Call John. Scheduled out at 6:50. Sit, Call John, my flight from JFK to Mumbai is delayed so I’ll be fine.
New Plan: Finally board again. Wheels up at 8:15. Still in time to catch my 9:30 (now 9:50) flight to Mumbai.
Actual: Land in JFK before 9:00. Gather hand luggage which was taken at the gate and head to the lounge. It is now 9:15 and they are schedule to close at 9:30. I have only snacked on “Leah” food that I packed in my carry on. Good news. Lounge will stay open for flight, but all restaurants and lounge food are closed! Flight now scheduled for 10:45.
New Plan: Head to gate at 10:15.
Actual: At gate learn departure changed to 11:00….then 11:30. Finally we board and sit and sit and sit. Problem with entertainment system and chief flight attendant doesn’t want to leave without working system. FINALLY take off at 1:00 am after running out of school panicked at 11;30 pm! Ate dinner at 2:00 am! Time to call it a day.
Arrived in Mumbai at 12:24 am Saturday local time (3 pm Friday home time) 32 hours after running out of BMHS to catch my flight. Sailed through immigration, but panicked at customs. I never fudge on customs forms, so I answered the form that I have “no meat products” and “no fruit,” only to find now that my bags will be scanned and they are sure to see the 2 months worth of food I have packed for Leah. Luckily, no problems! I was relieved to see that Leah had paid the money to gain entrance into the arrival area, she was easy to spot in the crowd (Leah: I made her a brightly colored sign with elephants on it, just in case she didn’t recognize me)! I’m glad that she paid the money though, cause I’m not sure I would have spotted her as easily in the massive crowd outside the arrivals area. I now know why international flights arrive in Mumbai late at night, traffic wasn’t too bad and you couldn’t see much of the sights.
Leah had rented a car and driver, so we had no problem getting transportation to the Marriott. I missed most of the sights Leah tried to point out, but did manage to see cab drivers sleeping on the roofs of their taxis, some lights up early in preparation for Diwali, and crazy drivers (Leah: She didn’t even know the half of it!).
Finally, we made it into our room at the Marriott by 3 am. Went to sleep shortly after arriving in the room, but not before unveiling some of the treats to Leah that I had brought her. We both slept for a while, until I woke Leah up because I couldn’t sleep anymore. We spent the day exploring the Marriott and enjoying the Executive Lounge I had talked my way into it, claiming John to be a Gold Marriott Rewards member (in all fairness, I thought he was). The facilities are beautiful and deceiving. Self-described as on the pristine Arabian Sea, but NOT. Well, they are on the Arabian Sea, but it is far from pristine. More treats and goodies revealed. Also, enjoyed our first spa treatment.
First Adventure (Sunday): Taxi to hostel (45 minutes). Oh. My. God. Try as I might, “my brake” in the taxi didn’t work (the same one I liked to use when the girls were learning to drive). And no seatbelts. Oh. My. God. Arrive at the hostel with two bags of the loot. First Impression of dorm: Oh. My. God. Her pictures make it look better than it actually is. I don’t know anyone who lives that way, other than Leah now. Dirty. Small. Dark. Smelly. Then we picked up Carey and headed to the train station (Victoria Terminus) with the hopes of buying the train tickets for the girl’s trip during Diwali. Another taxi ride (45 minutes). These girls are very brave with their exploring. The train station didn’t pan out (Leah: Apparently we can’t order tickets until the day before our trip leaves, at which point there are only “4 Foreign Visa Spots” reserved… and there are 4 of us traveling, sounds like a bad start to a trip). So Leah and I hopped a taxi to head back to the Marriott. Taxi ride (hour and a half). The Taxi driver didn’t even know where the Marriott was, but luckily Leah’s a good navigator, and managed to get us there.
The taxis were not air conditioned, so the windows are down. The fumes and the smells are gagging and nauseating. Everything just comes at you so fast, Leah tried to point things out to me, but I couldn’t even grasp them. There was too much to take in. And then traffic was slow for a while at the.. what was that place (Leah: The Haji Ali) and there must have been 10,000 people in line (or more than a stadium’s worth). Hopefully they all get out to the mosque and back before the tide comes in and covers the walkway.
Daily recap: Spent 3 hours in a taxi, and accomplished nothing. (Leah: Welcome to India Mom).
That evening we went to the dinner buffet and planned our Monday outing.
Second Adventure (Monday): After our morning ritual at the Executive Lounge, we met our driver, Saldanha, and headed first to the hostel to deliver a suitcase (which wouldn’t fit in the trunk of the little car) and swap it out for a suitcase Leah is sending home. At least this car was air conditioned. This is a much more civilized way to travel (except for the accident we were in and the chase that pursued. License plate MH 02 3974 if you see him!). Brief stop at the hostel and we were off to the Gateway of India and the Taj Hotel (Leah: No relation to the Taj Mahal, that’s in Agra, India). We had to buy a disposable camera, because Leah forget hers (Leah: I carry my camera everywhere! But I took it out of my purse to take a picture of our completed dolphin puzzle we had been assembling). We stayed at the Gateway long enough to take a picture and leave because we seemed to be a bigger attraction than the Gateway. Leah misunderstood, thinking someone wanted us to take a picture of them. Little did she know, they wanted to take a picture with her! Then we headed (Leah: in Mom’s case “tripped her way.” Mom bruised her foot and was hobbling around the rest of the day) to one of Leah’s favorite merchants (Leah: Rajesh).
After making a haul at Rajesh’s stall, we mentioned we were interested in sari fabric. One of his trusty assistants lead us down an alley and up many flights of steps to the “other side” where I hope Leah never ventures by herself. Reminiscent of the upstairs hidden rooms behind mirror walls found in Dubai when shopping for purses. We were instructed to remove our shoes and sit on the cushioned area as bolts and bolts of saris were unfolded before us. Much more elaborate than our budget would allow. But we did buy outfits for the Ebb Tide Christmas Open House. Pictures from the disposable camera (Leah: I know, I know!) will follow.
We limped our way back to the driver to proceed to our next stop, the Haji Ali. The traffic was bad (again) and there was no place for us to stop and take a picture. We then headed to the Dhobi Ghats (Leah: laundry colony), where the driver illegally parked so we could hop out and take a picture. We were exhausted and frustrated and just told the driver to take us back to the hotel.
Daily recap: We hired a driver for 7.25 hours (which only cost $25 total) but we spent 5.25 hours driving (Leah: sitting in traffic), with only 2 hours actually spent walking around.
We had dinner at the Italian Restaurant, again, Mezzo Mezzo, if only food would stay with Leah.
Tuesday:
Plan: Get up, get dressed, carry more food to dorm, attend Finance class, attend Hindi, and shop in Matunga.
Actual: My foot swollen and throbbing and Leah in intestinal distress. Got dressed, but never made it out of the hotel. Instead, went back to bed and caught up on much needed sleep.
Spent most of the delightful day by the pool, with a nice breeze blowing (keeps the foul smell away). Was a good decision to have another Marriott (Leah: Mom had enough of India exposure).
2 comments:
Mommy Barteld sure had an interesting Indian experience Love her blog!
Just for clarity's sake on the back seat brake that you used while "the girls were learning to drive." That statement is a bit misleading. You use that brake whenever you are in a car but don't happen to be behind the wheel. Regardless of the driver or their experience. :-)
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