Chennai, India - 15 October

We arrived in Chennai this morning around 7:30. I had lovely visions about sleeping in this morning but my brain wouldn’t cooperate. As soon as I floated into semi-awareness, my brain starting working and thinking and wouldn’t shut off. Very frustrating! So I got up and took a shower and got dressed in my Indian clothes (tunic style top, loose pants and scarf) and went to breakfast. I got a lot of stares as I strolled through the halls to the dining room. I brought these clothes along for the trip because they are so cool and comfortable and I need all the help I can get in India with that. The unfortunate side effect is that they also make me stand out as an oddity to both the Americans and Indians. I’m going to get stared at a lot during my stay here so I might as well get used to it.

My predictions from yesterday about the customs process were completely off. It was one of the more efficient immigration processes that we’ve had. We had our passports in hand by 11:30 which was well before any of the organized trips were to leave. My tour was split into two groups due to airline reservations. The first group had 50 people in it and they were leaving at 1:30 for the airport. Those poor people had the raw end of the deal today – especially Jessica, the bus leader and fellow staff member. She was responsible for getting 50 people herded into the airport for a flight to Bangalore with a three-hour layover and then had to make sure everyone was on the flight to Delhi. They were to arrive at 11:15 pm. My group, however, consisted of 15 people, left at 3:30 and had a direct flight to Delhi arriving at 9:30 pm. Not the least bit equitable to say the least. To make matters worse, Jessica is only supposed to be the bus leader not the trip leader (that would be moi) which means less responsibility because she doesn’t get as much of a discount as me. I get a 50% discount on the price of a field trip and she gets 40%.

The drive through Chennai to the airport was an eye-opener for everyone. We drove through areas where the poverty was overwhelming and all the sights and sounds assaulted the senses. First impressions of India are always a slap in the face. We arrived at the airport and, after a brief wait, boarded the plane. It was a 2 ½ hour flight and everybody napped or surfed the television channels on our personal sets. We soon landed in Delhi, collected our luggage and stragglers and managed to locate our tour guide – Davinda. As he led us out to the bus, I was so grateful that I only had 15 people in my group. I’m feeling a great deal of guilt about Jessica leading 50 people.

It took us about 40 minutes to get to the hotel. It would have been faster if it hadn’t been rush hour at 10:00 pm. Davinda explained that Delhi has over 200 call centers for credit card, insurance and computer companies that primarily serve the U.S. So Delhi goes to work at night when the U.S. has their daytime.

Towards the end of the bus ride we drove through some very posh areas that Davinda explained were the locations of the embassies and the “old” money of Delhi. The average cost of a home in this area is $20 million US Dollars. Wowsers. I was sorry it was dark and couldn’t gawk at them.

We pulled up to the hotel and were greeted by two doormen dressed in elegant Indian garb. We walked into the lobby and had garlands of marigolds draped around our necks and were immediately served cold beverages. I love this hotel! They also had a sign in flowers welcoming the Semester at Sea group. A very nice touch.

The hotel staff had our room keys ready (unlike China) and soon everyone was heading in different directions and I was free to find my room. After many wrong turns and hikes down very long corridors (this place is huge!), I found my room in the hinter lands and walked into a very elegant room. Have I mentioned that I love this hotel?

I hung out in the room for a couple of hours and then went downstairs to the lobby to wait for Jessica’s group. They finally arrive at 12:30 and we got them their room keys as quickly as possible – especially since we are facing a 4:30 wake-up call. We have to meet the bus at 5:00 so that we can catch a 6:00 m train to Agra. What a waste of a gorgeous hotel. We get to spend three hours sleeping in it tonight and then leave. I am not looking forward to greeting the day at 4 freaking am. I hope I get at least a little bit of sleep tonight. Three hours if I’m lucky. Whoopee.