Journey begins...

When I was told how long the flight was I had no idea what I was really in for. I think we can all agree that it would be completely out of the ordinary to have everything go smoothly from SLC to Chennai. I am traveling with my cousin Matthew and his friend Aubrey which made this experience much more enjoyable because we were able to laugh at the cards we had been delt. The anticipation getting off the plane was too much to handle. I took NyQuil and slept like a gem. I woke up and noticed that my ankles had transformed into kankles from sitting so long! Gosh dang. We arrived in Amsterdam for a 2 hours layover and Aubrey and I enjoyed our last Big Mac, mmm Good! Things were looking good until security check and Aubrey’s passports and mine beeped red, no go! After we resolved that the security lady informs me to stand still and she began to pat me down all over, even a boob grace. Way more up close and personal than I had wanted but quite funny! Danke! Finally we landed in Mumbai to be told our bags had not made it onto the flight from Amsterdam. They informed us that our bags would get to the village in Chennai in 2 days. Laughing/Furious at our luck I called our hotel to get us a taxi and they told me that our reservation was for 11 am not 11 pm. Holy cow, could it get any better?!? We walked outside of the airport to see guards standing there with guns; I did not want to move. At this point it was midnight and we were homeless with nowhere to go and no clothes to change into. This lovely Indian man helped get us to another hotel close to the airport since we only had 5 hours until our next flight to Chennai. The people here are surprisingly very nice but Aubrey tells me its only because they want our money! I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt. The drive to this hotel was one I will never forget. There were dirt roads full of people lying around in garbage and stray dogs everywhere. The conditions were like nothing I had ever imagined. Families huddled together in piles of filth made me realize how blessed I am. This was the biggest culture shock and something I had only seen in movies. Our hotel was a hole in the wall consisting of cockroaches and a bed as hard as wood. My eyes have been opened to how different others lives truly are. It amazes me how awful the living conditions are here; I am so grateful for this experience. We will see what tomorrow brings...