First Day in Lucknow

6/14/11

0500 – wake up call. Yes, a very early morning. We are down in the lobby by 530 and are ready to leave the hotel by 0600 to catch a flight that leaves at 0805. Well, the bus drops the 20 of us off at the domestic terminal when our flight was actually at the international terminal (even though we really were only traveling domestically). That was a super big oops because the international terminal is on the other side of the airport approximately 15-20 min away. So yea, we get to the terminal at approximately 0725. Yes, cutting it close. And then, the gate agents really don’t feel like helping us after they help half of the group. So I’m the last one to get my ticket along with the program director and we sprint to security. I am totally confused when I get there because their security is waaay different compared to ours. You don’t take off your shoes, belt, etc. Just pull out your laptop. I did this and walk through the metal detector and then begin to get wanded/ patted down. It’s very neat, but almost every big store/hotel has a metal detector and x-ray machine. So he is wanding me down and then discovers my cell phone. Another oops, but I’m now sprinting to the gate again. I get there at like 0757. Phew. To my awesome surprise though, I somehow have a first class seat on Air India. Haha. I was the only one in the group to get a first class seat too!! I don’t think it was my official passport but I seriously don’t know why that happened. Not like I was complaining though. I got my Mango Juice from the nice flight attendant and began reading my Hindu Times. It was great because on our short 1 hour flight we were given a meal. So I got my non-veg meal which consisted of a potatoes, meat omelet, fried something, tea, and fruit. We finally make it to Lucknow and as we are coming down through the haze, I am like a little kid GLUED to the window. It was so awesome to finally see my new home. From the first glances, I was like, “I’m really going to enjoy this. It’s like a big kid’s playground.” The airport was on the outskirts of the city so we were able to see all the rural areas surrounding the city with little towns here and there.

So we made it to our hotel, the Comfort Inn of all places,  and begin to settle down again. We arrived around 11 and lunch isn’t till 1 so myself, Kevin, and Rohit decide to go exploring. We learn that there is a mall just walking distance from the hotel and begin on our merry way. Well,  the trip the mall was definitely my first “real” taste of India. We walked down a dirt road, avoided getting hit by speeding motorcycles and auto rickshaws, and delt with little kid beggars there and back. The two little girls that were begging were unreal. They will not leave your side no matter what you say!! We just kept walking and they followed us. And they wouldn’t stop poking me saying they wanted stuff. Even when we told them to go away, they just didn’t. Anyway, we finally got to the mall and walked around. I love how everyone stares and Kevin and myself since we clearly are out of place. After making a lap around the small mall, we made the trek back to the hotel and on the way picked up three “Thumbs Up” their Pepsi equivalent which was only Rs 30. So Awesome. I guess since I’m referencing money I should give some background on the money system. One dollar is approximately Rs. 45 (Rupees). So yea, three sodas for like 75 cents, what a great deal. It’s lunch time now and after that it’s time to meet my host family!!! Woohooo. I can’t wait.