As we approach 6 months home with our baby girl, I wanted to finally get down on paper our time in India. Over the next several posts, I'll share our trip. So here goes!
Part 1: Getting There
We flew out of Jackson, MS on the afternoon of April 8, 2015. Our flight arrived in Atlanta early. So we had enough time to grab a quick bite at TGIFridays before boarding our flight to Amsterdam. While we were eating, Jason and I were simply overwhelmed with the fact that we were actually on our way. That after 2 1/2 years we were really going to see our daughter! I pulled out the photo album of her pictures that I carried everywhere and we just stared at her. A woman at another table noticed J's adoption t-shirt and as we were leaving, told us how much she loved it. We told her why we were at the airport and through tears, this stranger hugged us and wished us luck on our journey. The hugs and support were just what we needed as we headed onto the first of two really long flights.
We arrived at the Amsterdam airport just after lunch time the next day, April 9. It was really hard to keep track of what day it was as we were traveling. The Amsterdam Airport was interesting. Long winding hallways with much of the building under construction. We found the terminal where our connecting flight would be and discovered that our airport security is small potatoes! We passed a young, lady security guard (about my height....short) carrying a HUGE automatic weapon. I think that was one of the first things that really made it sink in that we were actually traveling across the world! We found our gate, got some snacks, and I tried to get a quick nap before we boarded our flight to New Delhi. Another interesting thing about the airport in Amsterdam is that you don't go through the security check until you are getting ready to board your flight at the gate. I was glad we had a fairly long layover because they started that process pretty early and we were able to get close to the front of the line. We settled in for another pretty long flight.
In the wee hours of April 10 we arrived in India! We got off the plane to an almost empty airport (It was 1 am!). We breezed through customs and found our luggage. We didn't see our agency contact inside so we decided to check outside. The sliding doors opened and BAM! Noise, heat, music, smells, people everywhere! It was both incredible and overwhelming. We found our agency contact and went to buy our tickets that would take us to Bangalore in just a couple of days. (We were down to days!) After we bought two roundtrip tickets and 1 one-way ticket (!!) we finally made it to our hotel at about 3 am. We crashed for a few hours.
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