I Made It!
30 Sep 2011 3 Comments
Where do I start with updating you on things? I’m afraid I may miss something! I suppose I will start where my last entry left off.
When I got up the next day, we were informed that our flight would leave at 4:30pm and that we needed to be at the airport by noon. Kristine (my new Danish friend) and I were quite bothered by this because we figured it meant sitting at a gate for a very long time. Well, we didn’t. Instead, we got to stand in line to check in for a gruesome two and a half hours. It was awful! I thought we’d never make it to the front of the line. We finally did though, and were soon through security, at the gate, then on the plane.
It was seven hours to Brussels, Belgium. Everyone deplaned and those of use who were going on to Mumbai had to wait for forty minutes until the plane was ready. Once we got back on the plane, it was eight and a half hours to Mumbai, India.
On this flight, some emotions started to plague me. I found myself regretting the entire decision. I wanted to just go home and snuggle up in my nice warm bed and forget all about this crazy idea of mine. I couldn’t help thinking, “what the heck did I get myself into?”. But, then, we neared Mumbai and the plane started to descend. Once I saw the streets of India, it was like love at first sight. All of my regrets and worries melted away and soon, I just couldn’t wait to be able to live here.
The plane soon touched ground and I had to go through some complicated stuff at the airport of Mumbai. First, we got our visas checked, then got our bags, then got our bags through customs, then I had to scan my bag again, then I got checked in, then I was shuttled to the domestic airport, then, at the last stage of my journey in the Mumbai airport, I had to go through security. It was 10:00pm and, after saying “what?” many times, I figured out that I wasn’t allowed at the gate until midnight since my flight didn’t board till 1:55am. So, they sent me back. I was a bit scared, since I had no idea what to do with two hours of my time, but then I found a bathroom and awkwardly chilled in there for the two hours.
I boarded the plane at about 1:30am, but we didn’t take off until about three. By this time, all I wanted to do was to be off a plane. I didn’t want anymore plane rides! Fortuneately, it was only about an hour and a half to Bangalore and I just slept the whole time.
Once we touched ground, I immediately started begging God to have Lilo and Ron right there waiting for me. I was so worried that the email I had Brandon send didn’t make it or that Lilo got confused. I made it to the exit and couldn’t find her or Ron anywhere. I did find a telephone booth though and spent an insane, expensive 10 rupees ($0.20 
) (it was supposed to be only 5 rupees but the man didn’t have any change) on calling Lilo’s cell phone. She soon answered and said she was on her way and she’d be there in 10 minutes. I was so relieved!
It was Lilo who found me. She ran up and gave me a HUGE hug! It was amazing. SHE is amazing! We took a cab to her house in Bangalore and just talked the whole way. It felt like I’d known her for years! I felt so comfortable around her. she’s such an amazing person.
India is so exciting! The driving here is insane! Turn signals are rarley used, but the use of horns makes up for it 
. Everyone weaves in and out however they desire.
After about a half hour or so, we made it to Lilo’s house. She spent 534 rupees ($10) on the cab. The house is so cool! I will have to run around and take random pictures and post them for everyone 
. I’m sure Ron and Lilo would get a lot of entertainment out of that.
Lilo made me some yummy tea and showed me around a bit, then she showed me to the computer and I was able to talk to my mom and Brandon and get on Facebook. It was very nice . I tried going to sleep after that, but I couldn’t so I decided to take a quick shower. Then…the power went out. So, I took a quick COLD shower .
After a long time of just laying in bed, I fell asleep. I woke up at about noon and found Lilo. She then introduced me to Ron and we all sat down to a delicious lunch. Ron is also very amazing. He likes to talk a lot and I find everything he says very interesting. He told me he is going to go through orientation for KGH while I’m here. I’ll be heading to KGH on Sunday night or Monday morning. I am soooo excited to see my room and unpack!
We had some yummy ice cream and Ron continued to tell me all these different things about India and KGH. He told me about the religions and about what to watch out for. Lilo breifly mentioned the idea of me and another volunteer going on holiday for two weeks. Doesn’t that sound amazing?! We’ll get to travel India and do whatever we want.
Then, I got amazing news. There is wifi here and at KGH! I am so happy! Ron also gave me an adapter and showed me a cool power strip I could use for my laptop. So, I guess that is everything that you’ve missed .
Click here to view pictures of the house from this post.
Click here to view pictures of the walk around Bangalore from this post.
Praise God!
28 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Alright, so I got to the airport just fine, exchanged my currency, got checked in, ate some Subway, said a sad goodbye to Brandon and my parents, got through security (it was actually a BREEZE), only waited about a half hour for my flight, got on my flight, waited another half hour to take off and soon I was an hour towards my destination: India.
Then came a DING and a “This is your captain speaking, we are having some technical difficulties and we must fly back to Newark.” I figured: “Oh! This is no biggie, we’ll get back, get everything checked on and then head back into the air”. NOT SO. Once we got back to the airport, we were “deplaned” and soon found out that the flight was not going to take place until the next day. I WAS SCARED OUT OF MY MIND! I thought for sure I was going to end up completely trapped with no money, no place to stay and no hope. When I called my parents, it was so so hard not to just start bawling right there.
But, God is good! The person I was sitting next to explained that the airport was taking care of everything: a hotel, a ride to the hotel, all rescheduling of flights, and a ride back to the hotel. Things got even better when I got in line to give them my name for the hotel and met a girl from Denmark who was just as scared out of her mind as me. We clicked instantly and decided to stick together and help each other out as much as possible. I AM SO THANKFUL! Everything is going to be just fine!
Church
26 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Well, this morning I went to the last church service at North Waverly Chapel for five months! It was simply amazing! During the service, my pastor called me up along with my dad and the church elders. Then they all put their hands on me and prayed over me. It was incredible. I felt so supported.
The sermon was about the Great Commission and my name was mentioned a few times and yet again, it was great. Then I went to the back of the sanctuary and shook people’s hands and hugged people. So many of them told me they will pray for me and that they were proud of me that I’m following’s God’s will for me. I feel empowered to know that so many people are thinking of me and keeping me in their prayers.
I am leaving the day after tomorrow. It’s so crazy! My sister told me today that I don’t seem nervous at all, but that’s because I’ve been doing my best not to think about the things I am most afraid of. I just need to trust and I will be fine.
Shopping!
16 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Well, the day before yesterday, I was bored so I did what I always do: walk to Walmart and since I really didn’t feel like walking back, I decided to wait for my mom to get out of work. My timing was way off though, so I got there way too early and had a lot of time to do what I wanted in Walmart, so guess what I did! India Shopping!!
Running all over Walmart and trying to remember what exactly I need was quite an adventure! Most of the stuff I gave up on finding though and just had my mom help me once she got out of work. I got all the medicine stuff I’ll need to make sure I don’t…well…die .
Once I spent a good chunk of money and got home, I looked at the list I had made and realized that I forgot a bunch of stuff, SO I went back to Walmart yesterday, only this time I drove 
. Which made me sad
Any way, I bought all the rest of things I needed and didn’t spend as much this time, haha. So shopping is DONE! Yay!
Which means: It’s all a waiting game! I’m set to go! I just need to pack and get on a plane! WOW! Wow… WOW!!
Visa and Plane Ticket!
14 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Well, I got my passport back so now I have a cool, official-looking visa in one of the visa pages for six months to INDIA! Yay .
My visa, obviously, came back WAY earlier than I had expected, but at least it’s all set and ready and good.
Now, for the super exciting news, I just booked my plane ticket! I will be leaving on September 27th. Wow, that seems so soon yet so far away. To be honest, my brain is kind of a jumbled mess right now. Despite the fact that everything is coming together so smoothly, I just don’t know what to do now. There’s so much I need to get done, I just don’t know where to start. Plus, all the official-looking plane information has me kind of confused. Flying internationally looks a lot more complicated than just flying to, say, Florida. I know that I need to just take it one thing at a time and stop worrying about the other things I need to get done.
I guess I may as well give you an update on finances . It seems appropriate for this time. Well, I had originally expected the flight to be $1,500, then when I started to look at them, they were around $1,000, which I was excited about because it would mean being able to have the $1,000 I had planned for spending money. However, after trying to book many flights just to find them sold out, I ended up spending about $1,400. So, that leaves about $1,000 in my bank account. But, there’s still the drive to Newark, New Jersey that needs paying for and all the stuff I need to buy. In general though, I think I’m going to be just fine as far as spending money in India is concerned. I’m not that big of a spender anyway .
I guess that’s all for now! I’m so excited, but am getting more and more nervous the closer the date for leaving comes. Eeeee, I’m going to India!
