Chicago O'Hare Airport is the Devil

This post will be the first chronicalling my adventures in India for 6 weeks. Hopefully it'll make for an interesting read. So, on May 31st, a group of 5 vet students, 1 veterinarian and 1 vet student-to-be set out to Chennai, India.

Our guides, Dr. Mohankumar and Dr. Grooms

From left: Jeremy, Kayla, Chrissy, Jackie and Tasha

The plan was to go from Detroit to Chicago to Brussels and finally to Chennai in one fell swoop and 18 hours of plane riding. On the way to Chicago, I regaled the group with some horror stories about Chicago O'Hare and how it always screws up in some way or another, without fail. Doesn't matter where the flight is to, how long it is...they always find a way for a delay.

Unfortunately, my streak of bad luck with Chicago continued, and we got screwed in the most epic way possible.

Detroit to Chicago was no problem. The only setback was that we were prevented from exiting the plane when we landed in Chitown due to a spontaneous thunderstorm that ripped across the tarmac. Then, the flight to Brussels was pushed back by about an hour (probably as a result of the thunderstorm). Finally, once we got on the plane, the baggage handlers ended up taking an extra long time loading, and our flight plan "timed out." As a result, we arrived in Brussels 3 hours later than we were supposed to, which resulted in us missing the flight to India.

In a series of unfortunate events, our group was split in two with half of us going from Brussels to Milan to Dehli to Chennai and the other half traveling Brussels to London to Mumbai to Chennai. The added flights and lay overs would equal a whole 'nother entire day of travel. The only thing at this point which kept me from spontaneously combusting on the spot was the prospect of getting to spend some time in England. I'd have a pint, see the underground, maybe take a taxi into the city and take a peep at the Queen's land.

On a side note, let me just say how amazed I was at the way that Europeans dress. It simply blew me away!! Maybe an airport full of business travelers isn't the best representation of the entire European population, but I just couldn't help but notice how everyone looked so perfectly put together. Many of the ladies wore layered clothes with fashionable matching scarves, heels or cute flats. The men wore button downs and suits with either a sharp pair of black leather shoes or tennis shoes. My Michigan State t-shirt, black capris and Tevas sandals paled in comparison. At least I don't weigh 400 lbs...then the European mental picture of an American would be complete.

The flight from Brussels to London was short, and we passed over a number of extravagant looking buildings as we flew over the great city. Unfortunately, we were soon to find out that our plan to visit downtown London was a bit out of reach due to the distance of Heathrow airport from downtown and the fact that the pound is worth a bit more than the dollar. To take a one way express train to downtown from Heathrow would cost about $60 a person, and even more if we were to take a cab. After attempting to wander about outside for a bit, we settled on getting a pint in the airport and chatting up some locals. I also invested in an assortment of sweets including Mars chocolates (drool) and these Chewies candies which are a lot like Starburst. Had to resist asking if they had any Bernie Botts Every Flavour Beans or Chocolate Frogs. Our group of three, which we nicknamed the Infinity Wolfpack (the three best friends that anyone could have...we were delirious, don't ask), met an older couple while eating. We shared some chips and drank Kingfisher beers and chatted to them about when to tip servers, how the Euro sucks and how Pippa became so famous after the royal wedding.

"Mind the gap"

Although our original plan to find our way around London didn't quite pan out the way we had hoped, it still turned out to be a pretty worthwhile stop. I got my fill of the sexiness that is the British accent, saw some of the underground, bought delicious candy and wasn't completely bored out of my mind.

Next, the overnight flight from London to Mumbai was (thankfully) uneventful and the plane was much more comfortable than the one we took from Chicago to Brussels. I'm just going to blame everything on O'Hare from now on. O'Hare made the plane uncomfortable. We knew we were finally close to arriving in India when the complimentary meals were all Indian food and the movies included Bollywood hits. In the most American fashion, I ordered "The Mechanic" and enjoyed watching Jason Statham swashbuckle around. Most of the Indians on the plane spoke English, and were pretty polite besides being particularly pushy when standing in line.

Mumbai was exactly how I remembered it from seeing the movie Slumdog Millionaire. Lots of large buildings with no windows that look half under construction, and districts that are entirely made up of little stone or wooden houses with blue tarps as roofs. The airport was nice and was entirely air conditioned, which was surprising since there were such big windows it nearly resembled a green house. We took a small puddle hopper to Chennai, and FINALLY ARRIVED in our final destination.

My streak of luck, however, was determined to continue. THANKS O'HARE. For some reason or another, all of my companions' luggage arrived safely but mine was left in Mumbai. As I type to you, sitting commando style in my capris from yesterday, I hope that it gets here soon. Otherwise I might become very familiar very quickly with the clothing brands in India.

Our second professor, Dr. MohanKumar, greeted us outside the air port with a big government issued van to take us to our hostel in the center of Chennai. We zipped out immediately to the street to the sound of a million motors, honking motor bikes, street rikshahs (open taxis with no windows or doors) and people walking. It is organized chaos. Sure, there are lanes, but NO ONE uses them. Everyone just swerves around each other at a maximum of 20mph and amazingly, there are no fender benders. Drivers honk every 5 seconds to tell someone that they are speedily approaching through a non-lane on their left, and it's not uncommon for drivers to swerve onto the wrong side of the road to pass someone. I've never seen anything like it. I would die if I drove in India.

Besides the mass of people and vehicles, the streets are lined with lights, little shops selling mangos and a variety of stuff, stray dogs and pedestrians.

We drive for a good while (not sure how long...I continued to pass out spontaneously...that's what 2 days worth of planesleep will get ya) before arriving at our hostel. It is a big college inside gated doors that were adorned with many strings of lights. The veterinary college is having a celebration of its founding. The van takes us to the girls' dormitory and drops us all off, and Dr. MohanKumar thanks the driver in the native language. Everyone hops out and zombie lurches to the dorms where we unload and prepare for a light dinner of rice, vegetables, cucumber onion sauce, lentil soup and bread. Afterwards, Dr. MohanKumar escorts us down the street to get me a toothbrush, and then we all go to bed.




So that concludes the first 3 days in which I time warped to India. I had to purchase a watch to help me keep track of what time it is here and what time it is at home. Currently, it's 7:00am and I'm happily enjoying some of the best coffee I've ever had. I'm not sure I'll ever leave India.