heading west

i began my journey homeward bound this morning.

i got extremely impatient while getting to mumbai. indians are great when they are managing their sort of organized chaos, but when they try to do something that requires true organization, it becomes a nightmare. if there is a queue set up, ppl come and cut it anyway, and i have to shout across at the person behind the counter, like a 5 year old and say, "excuse me miss, i was next- not this man, thank you!" then, no one tells you that you need to get your bags scanned before waiting in the long line to check them. so you get out of the line to go scan the bags. the scanner ppl need your ticket. you dont have your ticket because you had to get your bags scanned first! arhghghgh! then you pick up your bags from your domestic flight and need a transfer to the international terminal. the signs are literally pointed in the opposite direction of where the transfer is located. the security guard there doesn't speak english. yet, you can't get on the bus because he needs a print out of your itinerary (in english) to check it. he doesn't speak english. what is he looking at then? to print out the ticket, you can't take the free shuttle bus to the terminal. you have to take a 150 rupee cab to the ticket counter.

after that ridiculous suggestion was thrown at me, the service reps took me to their manager's office located in the airport's back of house area. as a project manager in construction, i've seen my fair share of back of house areas. this one wins them all. puddles of moldy water in the stair wells. broken tiles. broken walls. broken sheetrock. 5' high ceilings. and then you crawl through a 5' door... i can't believe it's an office.

then you finally get to the ticket counter and they don't open for another 2 hours. and you have to sit and wait in an area with no lighting, uncomfortable chairs, freshly mopped floors with eau de toilette- literally smelling like a bathroom.

if you have a question, or you voice a concern, you just get blank stares. or you ask something like, "where is the atm?" "it is right around the corner miss." then you come back, "it is locked up." "oh miss, that is because it ran out of money." and you look at them like, are you for real? is there something missing in your head? well why didn't you just say that before making me walk there!?!?!?

traveling in india requires a very unique kind of patience and street savvy and a twisted way of thinking. in order to survive, you have to join the system and not counter it. so just being here is an experience in itself. now multiply that times 3 weeks, 5 cities, 6 modes of transportation and 1 billion people vs. 1 american girl.

i don't know if i would actually ever come back. it is beautiful, it is oozing with history and culture, but it is really dirty and really stressful. a lot of what you see and experience takes away from the beauty of the land and its treasures. the spitting alone could keep me away forever. so honestly, i really don't know if i'd come back. but if i did, i would avoid the cities as much as possible, but who knows.

that all said, i am so excited to be heading to london!! i cannot wait to see my friends!!!<3