Almost There…

we didn’t sleep very long last night… maybe about six hours or so. but even though we slept a little less than we would have liked, my dad and i felt quite rested.

this was the view of the sunrise from our hotel window. it is 6:40a and already there was traffic. oh yippee. we were supposed to leave for the airport at 7:00a, but since a buffet breakfast was included we had to get some of that action. the hotel cafe opens at 7:00a but they said that they would wait for us.

lobby atrium

on the way to the elevator i quickly took pictures of the lobby atrium. i think that’s what they call it. i’m not sure. anyways, it looked better in the day since its naturally lit from the top. you can see the cafe on the lower left portion of the picture where we had breakfast.

indian food for breakfast

papaya

i wished i knew the names of the various Indian foods. i wished i had simply taken the pictures of the labels that had names of the food them. but since we were pressed for time we ate until the concierge told us that our shuttle was ready.

when we got to Chennai’s domestic terminal we immediately noticed how much “nicer” it was than the international terminal. you would think that a city would want a nicer international terminal to make a good impression to its international travelers. if there’s a reason, i’m not seeing it.

we were fortunate to be one of the first people in line when the counter opened. but when we it was our turn at the counter they said that our luggage wasn’t ready to be checked in because it hadn’t been x-rayed and machine-strapped. oh… i’m sorry, if only there were clear signs and directions telling us to do so. so we got out of line and waited in the luggage security line to have it x-rayed and machine-strapped. then we had to get back in line, which was now longer, to check our bags.

it was 8:50a when i took this picture. our flight was scheduled at 10:00a so we would have been boarding soon. but 9:30a came and there was no boarding call. you can’t see Holly to my left but as it turns out my dad and i sat right next to another Maranatha volunteer going on the same project. i thought that there might be some volunteers on this flight, so i peeked at the book she was reading for some sort of clue but didn’t recognize it. so i thought if she is a volunteer she might recognize a book a little more obvious so i pulled out my Acts of the Apostles and started reading. though my dad didn’t know what i was doing, he pulled out his Sabbath School lesson quarterly and moments later Holly inquired whether we were on the Maranatha project. how wonderful it is that God places people together. out of all the seats that were available in the waiting area that we sat next to each other.

well, 10:00a came and left. so did 11:00a. my dad went to investigate the matter and returned telling us that it was because of the fog that our flight was delayed. it was nearing lunch time and still our flight time was undetermined so my dad started to go to find some food. it was about 11:45a that i got inspired to pray about the situation so Holly and i had a prayer session about the fog and about five minutes later my dad came back. he received an impression that if the plane arrived while he was eating lunch, he would have forfeited the flight for food like Esau forfeited his birthright. it was shortly after he returned that it was announced on the PA system as well as on the flight status board that our plane had landed and our flight will resume at 12:30p.

the plane! the plane! it had finally arrived thank God! now we were able to continue on our journey with an hour flight to Visahkapatnam or Vizag (VTZ).

one hour later we arrive at Vizag which was about 2:00p or so. after getting our luggage and meeting up with Tom Lloyd, our Maranatha project coordinator, we learned that we were the first group to arrive at the airport. all the other flights that the other volunteers were on were also delayed. crazy fog!

one hour later we are now altogether and loading up the SUVs to head to Jeypore. the guy in the center of the photo wanted to “help” but Tom discouraged him because it will only lead to more and more people wanting to “help” and we just didn’t have expense for that.

5.75 hours later after traveling on a mountain road that wound back and forth we arrived in Jeypore at the Immanuel English School of Seventh-day Adventists. some of the girls waited for us to arrive and then came out to welcome us with flowers. i would have said leis but i don’t think they call them leis in India. though it was about 8:45p, we were very carsick which made us very tired. so we looked forward to a bath and bedtime since we will be starting bright and early tomorrow morning.