BootsnAll Travel Network



June 30th, 2008 – Last Official Day in India, Delhi to Mumabi to Abu Dhabi, UAE

Sarah’s flight was at 5am, mine at 1155am, but since I am such a mench I said I would go with her to the airport and just wait for my flight.  When we got to the airport at around 4am, we had emotional goodbyes.  We definitely had this connection throughout the trip.  Even though there are some forces pulling us apart, you never know.  I couldn’t bare to see her go.  She is everything I want in a woman.  Better yet, she is exactly the opposite from all my past girlfriends, which makes it even more unbelievable that I met someone in India, on a Law School Summer Abroad Program like that.  Deep down, I had this scary feeling before I left in May that something like this would happen.  I mean it was bound to happen.  When you travel as much as I have since 2004, I think the odds are in your favor to meet someone perfect, but you know the circumstance will not be.  Sarah is from California for starters, so that puts us at opposite ends of the country, and even more challenging is that we need to take separate Bar exams to be licensed in our respective states.  Even more unbelieveable is that we both have to take arguably the two hardest bar exams in the country and having to take both and pass both would be a miracle of biblical proportions, meaning I don’t see it happening on the first or second try.  Maybe I could pass one of them, most likely NY, but passing the California State Bar would be so hard.

 

Anyway, it is just ironic that I met someone on my travels, when back home I couldn’t find someone who even came close to Sarah.  After she left and walked through the security gate, I went outside and sat on the ground for a while.  I couldn’t get up, I was too sad to see her go.  I actually went back in to the airport to try and catch a glimpse of her one more time.  Even though I didn’t think this would be the last time I would ever see Sarah, you never know.  The last time I had been this upset and emotional was probably when grandma estelle passed away when I was in 7th grade.  She was like a mother to me, and when she passed away a part of me went with her.  At that point in my life, I had seen way too many close relatives pass away, more than people experience  in 50 years, I had seen in my short 12 years on this planet.

 

I tried to settle down, but I couldn’t, but I didn’t want to sit at this terminal any longer.  As it turned out I had to go to the other domestic terminal, which meant I had to bargain with an autorickshaw driver at this great moment of weakness.  I still bargained and got a decent price, still got ripped off and even got help from the airport security guard to get me a decent fare which he did.  I arrived at Indira Gandi International Airport, which houses both of the domestic terminals, which are completely separate from the international terminals and the domestic terminals, and waited from 5am till 1155am till my flight to Mumbai left.  I called Sarah on her American cell phone to leave her a message and hear her voice, it calmed me down and then I called Jenny to talk to her.  She could clearly her the sadness in my voice, but I swallowed the tears and she really helped calm me down (Mom make sure Jenny reads this post, if she reads one the entire summer).

 

So I finally got on the place on time and arrived at Mumbai domestic airport at 2pm give or take.  I was at the wrong airport.  I had to get to the international terminal for my flight to Abu Dhabi, UAE which left at 1100pm.  My original plan was to leave the airport, visit Rahul my friend who I stayed with my first week in Mumbai, but the weather did not agree.  It was pouring, monsoon type rain and Rahul and I both agreed that leaving the airport was taking a major risk of getting stuck in the shithole that is Mumbai.  Anyway, before we get to that, to get from one airport to the other I wanted to take the free shuttle, since my cash flow was low in rupees and I really did not want to take out more cash.  So I proceeded to the free shuttle and this lady guard asked me for my ticket.  I said I had an eticket and she said I needed to show her proof of my ticket.  Now before I left I very neatly organized and printed out everything I would possibly need on my trip, but when I left Shimla I think I threw out the papers along with junk I didn’t need so I had nothing with me.  No flights, hotel and hostel bookings, absolutely nothing.  She said there was a place I could check the internet and print out my ticket.  I took all my crap in the trolley and ran around looking for it.  I eventually find it and say I need to use the internet and print.  I print two pages my entire etihad ebooking and go to the lady.  When I get to the lady, I realized that the first page had my flight today on it and it had not printed correctly!  So I had to go back to the people, print 2 pages again, repay the amount (what assholes, they could have let that go and just hooked a brother from another mother up, but no they made me pay), fixed government rate my ass.

 

So I run back to the guard again, but now I have missed the bus to the international terminal, so I wait, and wait and wait some more and finally the bus arrives again.  This time I get on the bus and wave my ticket in front her face for literally two seconds and that was it.  What crap that was.  The bus ride took about 30 minutes give or take.  I got to the international terminal at around 330pm which gave me about 7.5 hours to wait for this flight.  My total wait time in airports on June 30th, 2008 would be about 14-15 hours!  What a great way to spend my last day in India, frustrated.  So now when I got to the international terminal, I schelpped my stuff down to arrivals and stored my luggage until the perceived notion I would leave the airport and hang out with Rahul or someone for a few hours.  Then we decided the weather was too bad so I had paid to store my luggage and really didn’t need to do so.

 

Then I needed money for food at the airport and to pay the luggage people.  So I had to argue my way in to arrivals.  Normally only people getting off the planes can use the services, but the guard looked at my passport and said I could go.  He first tried to tell me that my visa had expired, and kept asking for my passport but in the end he wanted a bribe to let me go and change money.  When I changed money, I asked him if there was an internet cafe or something.  I figured I would pass the time online, he said there was in another part of the airport and then asked me for my passport yet again.  This time I laughed and said “you just asked me for it,” and he responded “why don’t you put some rupees in the passport, for me, for helping you change money.”  I said “nehe” which is no in Hindi, he didn’t give me any trouble and let me go.  My first attempted bribe of a government official during my time traveling.  Wow. Leave it to my last day in India for that to happen, it’s alright.

After I change my money, I tried to get a recharge for my phone.  That was unsuccessful as they initially told me they could not do so, I don’t think they understood me properly.  From there I went upstairs to the departure check in and met these three kids from Reno, Nevada and we started playing cards.  They were here basically on a christian mission teaching english and stuff in southern India.  After about two hours I decided to get some food from the only restaurant suitable for eating in the airport, coffee cafe day.  I initially got a muffin and a tuna sandwich.  When I got back to my seat and took the tinest bite of the tuna I immediately threw it out as it tasted horrible and I certainly did not want to get sick.

After finishing my muffin I went back and got a chicken tikka sandwich, it tasted good, but my stomach was destroyed the next day, oh well.  At around 730pm I walked all the way back to the luggage storage place and picked up my luggage.  8pm rolled around and it was finally time to check in after getting in to Delhi at 230pm.  I had to get my bags screened first, and then checked in.  Instead of going through immigration I started talking to this girl who I had passed many times walking back and forth.  Her name was Nisha, she was 18 and doing a 2 month internship working in the airport.  She found the job quite boring, but we had interesting conversation in both Hindi and English.  She got yelled at for talking to me so her bossed moved her to an area with less traffic, as a punishment.  Here she would really have nothing to do.  When I walked with her to her new location I met another kid working there called Mahesh.  He claimed that if I stayed with him in Mumbai he would teach me hindi within a week, I said look at for my phone call as one day I might take you up on that.

After chatting with Nisha and Mahesh, I said goodbye and went through immigration.  Now I had about an hour and a half till my flight.  I made several phone calls back home wasting my minutes.  This is because I had finally got a recharge from airtel so I had something to do before my flight.  The flight would only be about 2.5 hours, so nothing substantial and it was later at night.  Oh a funny side story.  So one of my first times walking back and forth an armed guard asked me what I was doing.  I told him “I love walking around,” he laughed and I responded by saying “I have 8 hours here, and nothing to do, you will see me doing this a lot.”  I found this to be funny because later on the armed guard with the huge machine gun asked me “so how many times have you walked back and forth I see you every 5 minutes.”  I laughed and responded with “a lot of times, but it’s almost time to check in.”

Anyway I boarded the plane at 1025pm and found my seat.  I was next to this taller gentlemen who was dominating the armrest and it was quite annoying.



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