I survived India! (I should get a bumper sticker and put that on my car). Yes, I survived India with a 2 year old and also without getting horribly sick. I can't speak for Jas though because he is still not right since his double dose of cold coffee (which gave him a double dose of Delhi belly!). However, I am truly blessed and thankful to have had the experiences that I have had on this trip. I must admit, India is not for your average traveller, you definitely need an open mind and a strong stomach. I have seen so many things in this country that I don't think you can see anywhere else in the world. Lots of them I have not really talked about too much cause I don't want to give the country a bad rap, but its a real eye opener at times. Many people asked me if I liked India and if I would ever come back. My answer to both questions is yes, but with a asterisk....I won't do it again with a 2 year old! I actually enjoyed the craziness of Delhi, the beauty of the hill stations and seeing random cows in the street. But I won't miss the dust, massive pollution or seeing piles of garbage laying around outside an empty dumpster. The thing I will miss the most is Jas's family whom I have bonded with over the past few weeks. Thankfully the goodbyes tonight were quick and not a typical drawn out Indian 20 minute goodbye.
It was actually a pretty easy going day, last minute breakfast with family and one stop for a quick visit to an old friends house. Then we headed back to the house to finish up our packing. But what what would my last day be like if I didn't get stuck in a traffic jam! The street light was out at a very busy intersection and it was literally a grid lock of cars from all directions. We must have sat there for 10 minutes without even moving an inch. Finally, a few rickshaw driver got off their bikes and started directing traffic. We took whatever turn available just to get out of the madness.
Once we reached home, we had to pack our final things and weigh the suitcases, which is never an easy task. My suitcase weighed in 20lbs over, but that is only because Mia and I were now sharing a suitcase. (Jas's mom needed one of ours for some stuff she bought). So the suitcase shuffle began. My wardrobe is now scattered amongst our many suitcases and jammed into a small compartment in the car seat bag. So after weighing and reshuffling a million times, we ended up with 6 suitcases, 6 carry on's, a car seat bag and a stroller bag! Everything was brought downstairs like a suitcase parade and packed into two cars. But we still had one thing to do, exit India in style and blow off our fireworks. Everyone gathered in front of the house while Jas and his cousin Ravi light one after the next. And these were no sissy fireworks, some shot high into the sky and others zipped around leaving trails of sparks. The funny thing about this whole situation is that the ones that shot up into the sky were hitting phone and power lines... but nobody seemed to care! Mia got a kick out of the show and wanted more but it was time to head to the airport.
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 2:30 am, so we left the house around 10:30. We passed several weddings on the way, so I asked his cousin how many he attends during wedding season and he said about 2 a week! That's insane and I am glad I don't live in India cause I would go broke just attending weddings! We arrived at the airport, filled up 3 of those carts and we were off. Inside you would think it would be dead, however it was extremely busy and crowded. It was a complete miracle that all of our luggage weighed in with no issues! The agent gave us a customs form to fill out before security check, so we went over to the side to do this. All was well and I was just about to fill out Mia's form when she grabbed her passport out of my hand and wouldn't give it back. I still needed some info from hers, so I had to grab it back from her. This was tantrum number 1. Similar to yesterday's fiasco, she kicked and screamed and stopped everyone in their tracks. But I put her under my one arm and carried her through. Once inside the security corral, an officer saw us struggling and sent us right to the special needs line which was way shorter then the regular line. This is the one good thing about kids throwing tantrums, lots of people want to help. She finally calmed down and just in time to have our passports and tickets checked at immigration. We got through the first rounds of checks and then we had to go through the actual security, men and women had seperate lines. The women's line was longer because we were being sent into a private search area, so Mia and I got in line while Jas breezed through with all of our stuff. This is when tantrum number 2 started. Mia wanted to hold our plane tickets, but as you know she has been going through a phase of shedding things. And there was no way that I waa gonna let her get a hold of them, so she started wailing and pulling my shirt. By the time it was our turn, she was laying on the floor kicking and screaming and Jas couldn't do anything to help me. We entered the private search tent and the woman patted me down and ran the wand over me. I was shocked when she also did the same to Mia, and I think Mia was surprised as well and she took a swing at the lady! I think the lady had enough of us so she sent us on our way. Jas met us on the other side and we were about to go to our gate when we did a bag count and realized that in all the madness, one bag disappeared. It ended up that Jas left it by the security check and we grabbed it and walked to our gate. Once there, we settled in and had a coffee and realized that something was still missing! Jas had bought some posters and we had them at security but forgot to grab those as well. So ten minutes before boarding, Jas had to run back to security and claim his posters.
So we made it! As of right now we are on the plane on our way to Vienna and we keep hitting patches of rough air. And those of you who know me real well know that I get panic attacks when that happens, so its been a fun 7 hours! I am just looking forward to having my feet on the ground, a long hot shower and to wash Mia's puppy who once was pink but is now a funky shade of grey.
I think this will be my last blog entry since we will be home soon. Hopefully those of you who followed us enjoyed the adventures as much as we did!
Here we come Chicago!
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