First night in Delhi

A couple of you have asked ... after my Glimpses post ... what it was like the first few days here in Delhi.

I'll try my best to recreate, remember and recount, but I truly was in a fog that first week. If I'm honest, I still may very well be in one to this day!

We arrived at 10:00 pm on a Friday night in Delhi. The INSTANT the forward cabin doors were opened, I remember feeling a swoosh of heat. Hot, sticky, oppressive heat. It didn't matter though, because we were quite tired of the stale air, that had been forced and recirculated through the vents in the airplane for the past 12 hours.

We gathered up our things, said goodbye to the wonderful flight attendants and set on our way to find Todd.

We followed the crowd to where we assumed we needed to go. Down the escalators ... this tired and ragged bunch of travelers ... to the first checkpoint. Health screening. Due to H1N1, we were all required to state our originating airport, answer whether we'd been sick, and then "pass" the heat sensors that were scanning our bodies for high temperatures.

Next stop to be formally admitted into the country. We made our way - rather quickly - to the line for foreigners. Because of our seating class on the airplane, we beat most of the traffic to this point in our journey and I was excited to be at the front of the line.

Our visas were checked. Our passports looked over. Our visas were checked. Our passports looked over. Our passports looked over. Our visas were checked.


[No, I am not stuttering ... it felt like T-H-E longest passport check in history (and I've done a few). Here, I had 3 owly kids who just wanted to see their dad, and a mom who was plain tuckered out ... and the passport agent (is that what he's called?) kept flipping the pages of our passports ... back and forth // forth and back ... as if magically a golden coin or a Willy Wonka Chocolate Bar was going to leap from those pages.]

When he finally deemed us approved to cross over that yellow line, I felt relief. We'd done it. We'd arrived. That was all I'd set out to do when we first boarded the plane over 24 hours prior, was simply get from Point A to Point B .. and we succeeded.

No more than 5 steps away was Todd. We were both overcome with a myriad of emotions, neither one of us are too sure which were the most prevalant, only that the sigh we both let out most likely echoed in the Delhi airport that night. Tony ran into his dad's arms and Mia cried, probably from sheer exhaustion. Terran just shook his dad's hand and they awkwardly did "the man pat."

Because he knew we were tired, Todd showed us (along with the help of a man from his office) to the baggage claim. There we played catch up and I sent messages of "we've arrived" on my new 'mobile' to friends/family back home.

Once our baggage arrived (a long and painful process, but I don't want to bore you with the details of waiting for our 8 huge suitcases), we walked through customs (an easy process) and outside to our first glimpse of Delhi.

The smell of India hit me SQUARE in the face. I can't describe it, and I so wish that I could. It is something that seems to have permanently engrained itself in both nostrils and I wish that I could have bottled the outside air that I'm used to for those days that I just need a bit of what I was formerly accustomed to.

The smell of India (as I affectionally call it) is a strange combination of heat, diesel, cardammom, heat, sweat, trash, more heat, humidity, incense and what else, I'm not quite sure. The smell of India collides almost violently with the sound of India. The horns, the sound of diesel vehicles which is not the quiet pur of an engine you might be used to back in the States, the yelling, the horns and more horns.

The kids and I just stood there with wide eyes, as we were ushered to the waiting cars and drivers.

Wide eyes, but open hearts.

We spent the next hour in the car, as we made our way from the airport to our new home. When we pulled up to our street, we saw the guards leap to attend to our bags, Rosy our cook, came to the door straight away and welcomed us. Todd had filled the house with flowers for me, and two people were ready to give us all massages. There were "Welcome to India" cakes and wine. Yes, there was wine.

My first night in Delhi is one that marked the end of one chapter in my life and the beginning of the next.

[The next week or so proved a battle of beating the jetlag monster, but once that was over, we hit the ground running!]

TERRAN IN KENYA :: cycling, hiking, snorkeling

Part two in my mama's recounting of her 33 days with Terran ::

Terran: adventures of cycling, hiking, camping, and snorkeling

One of the goals I had during Terran's 33 days with me was to share some adventures! We had three memorable cycling experiences, two challenging hiking outings, a night of camping, and a great hour of snorkeling. I hope these few photos will suffice to somewhat represent our many fun adventures.

The two photos above are from a 3-hour cycling tour we did with Cycle Kenya at Mtwapa (on the north coast). Two guides went with us on the grueling, exhilarating, and challenging tour.

We spent two days at Hell's Gate National Park. We cycled for several hours exploring the beautiful terrain. We were able to cycle right up close to the many wild animals - zebra, giraffe, Thompson gazelle, Hart's gazelle, warthogs, guinea fowl, and buffalo. We also did a strenuous three-hour hike in the gorge and camped overnight... with about eight zebra grazing right outside our tent!

Mt. Elgon National Park was another site for a hiking adventure. It took three hours of ...

Read the rest HERE.

AND ... SHE'S OUT !

 "And ..... ..........  ............... She's out."

This is the phrase I hear nearly every day that I'm in the car with my littles.

(or "they're out" or "he's out" ... you get the drift)

Dare to take a gander at what they're talking about?

They are referring to whether or not the pedestrians make it across a busy street.

I wrote about traffic in Delhi once before, but it was more about vehicular traffic. 

In addition to crazy vehicular traffic, there is also a real issue of pedestrian traffic and I'm still not "over" it ... two years later.

At any point during a routine trip to the market, we encounter rickshaws

cows

carts being pulled by bicycles

families on motorycles

and the pedestrians.

I will probably NEVER understand that concept of pedestrians crossing an incredibly busy street.  

I'm talking about cars whizzing by at speeds of 95 km/hour (60 mph) and at a rate of about 170 vehicles passing any one stationary post per minute.

BUSY STREETS.

They step out off of a high curb and hold out an extended arm and hand.

Requesting the oncoming boxes of steel to miraculously stop because ...  lo and behold THEY want to cross the street.

Two years later, I still suck in my breath and squinch my eyes shut and subconsciously feel my shoulders tense and raise up ... my head ducks a bit ... hoping that all continues as it has been - in chaos and at top volume. 

Then one of the littles says .... "She's out!"

TERRAN IN KENYA :: EDUCATION

Is it cheating to copy/paste what my mama is writing about Terran's time in Kenya?  I won't cheat 100% ... I'll just copy half of her post, and then you can read the remainder of the post over at her blog (linked later in the post).

(I didn't ask her if I could do this, but I figure it's not a violation of copyright or anything when it's your own flesh and blood, right?)

Terran: exposure to education

Terran is currently 16 and will be a junior next year. This is the age when many start considering which particular field of study or future career they might want to focus on. One of the aims of his stay with me was to expose him to some of the struggles of getting an education in Kenya as well as a few ways to challenge his own thoughts.

We visited Turning Point, an NGO in Kibera (one of Nairobi's large slums). Many children living is such slums are unable to attend school for a variety of reasons. One of the primary goals of Turning Point is to prepare children for primary or secondary school. During our three visits, Terran interacted with the kids and did a bit of volunteering.

Tony is my friend, Agnes', oldest son. Even though he's 18, due to many circumstances outside of his control, he's only reached eighth grade. Undeterred by being one of the oldest students in his class, he is very determined to reach secondary school! Terran offered to pay for ...

Read the rest of this story HERE.

ON THE NH 24 FROM DELHI TO CORBETT

Some random shots on a recent trip to Corbett National Park on a recent weekend.

On nearly every roadside in India, you will see little makeshift shops set up.  The roadside vendors sell anything from blowup pools to soccer balls, to hair barrettes.  This guy (who appears rather bored) is selling motorcycle helmets.

I think what gets to me the most is that these little shops are NOT safe.  They are literally on the side of the road in bustling traffic, with crazy lane changes, speeding cars, no regard for what you might consider common traffic rules.  If someone zooms past and sees something they like, they will literally stop dead in their tracks to make a purchase.

This is quite the load!  I'm not sure a bicyclist could even fit on this bike, the way it's bogged down!

Do you think this is their family tractor?  Or just a welcome place to sit for a spell?

This woman was precious.  Just watching the day go by.

Aw ... a welcome sight on a LONG driving trip!  Everything except the hamburgers!  Truth be told, the nuggets and french fries are WAY better than in the United States!

India clinched the World Cup Title in cricket on Saturday ... GO INDIA!!!  This shot was taken about halfway through the match and they were PUMPED up!

A forest of Eucalyptus trees.

If you look closely, you'll see a buffalo near the back of the shot.  Everyone was taking advantage of the rushing water to cool off a bit.

I'll share some more photos this week .... it's been awhile!

PANJI LA MINICOURSE 2011

Last year during mini course Terran got to go to the Hills of Garhwal and it was amazing (for more info on what a mini course is, read the Hills of Garhwal post that I've linked).

This year, he went to on the Panji La Trek, which is located in the Leh, Ladakh region.  Seen here ::

View Larger Map

HOW COOL IS THAT?

I'll let the pictures do the talking ::

As we did last year, we missed him terribly and since there was no communication during his time away, we hoped he was enjoying himself. 

He did more trekking that week than he had done in ... well, ever!  He was quite sore and exhausted, but thoroughly enjoyed his trip.

I was tickled to see the photo that he took above of the red flowers ... and am thankful someone took the photo of him (and am hoping it becomes a tradition for his next two mini courses as well) and am again humbled that my firstborn son had the opportunity to experience this, with some of his closest friends this year.

Words cannot express how much I feel the pressing weight of the reality that in two short years, I will be preparing for his graduation from high school.  Every day, it seems, he walks farther and farther out on the branch.  Farther out towards the end of the branch, where he will then jump ... and then soar.  On his own, without much assistance or guidance from the Husb and I.

I will again share his photos from Mini Course 2012 and Mini Course 2013 ... and the time between now and then will fly by quicker than I'd like to admit!

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

We watched this movie in our hotel room in Wichita ... and it was ironic to be watching it ... in Kansas.

Taken on the road to Nebraska for Thanksgiving with Grandma.

Our goobers ... during the road trip.

The following photos are very reminiscent of what I call "home" during my childhood.  Railroad tracks, cows, haystacks, windmills, power generators and sun dogs (I LOVE sun dogs!).

Bad photo, but I would love to see this in Delhi!  It looked like this bridge was put in place SIMPLY to transfer cattle from one side of the interstate to the other.  There was an exit off of the interstate, but it was an exit to nowhere.  Folks just drive their cattle off the exit ... and then drop them off?

We followed the yellow brick road. 

We clicked our red shoes three times.  

Watch out Delhi, we're home.

Tin Woodsman: What have you learned, Dorothy?

Dorothy: Well, I - I think that it - it wasn't enough to just want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em - and it's that - if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with!