Well, I'm home.
Delhi wasn't so bad after all, and thanks to the very kind, very helpful people running AMA Guest House in Majnu ka Tilla, I got to the airport with time to spare. Indian airport security is, in my opinion, quite a bit more lax than American. I'm not complaining; let's just say I'm not a fan of the TSA. Maybe it's statements like this that get me singled out all the time at the airport? Regardless, Indian security is, in my opinion, sufficient without being invasive.
I got to my gate early and decided to take a walk to the end of the terminal since I'd be sitting for quite a while in the near future. When I came back, there were a couple members of airport personnel setting up a queue in front of the gate for additional security screening, and a western woman who had just finished speaking with them was making her way toward seats out in the terminal. I followed her and sat down in the same area; she complimented the chupa I was wearing and we got to talking. As it turns out, she's a fiber artist! She lives in Texas and, over the course of the next hour and a half or so, we had a nice little talk about our adventures in India and in fabric artistry back home. She even has a friend named Magda, so she had no trouble pronouncing (or remembering) my name.
It got closer to boarding time and we made our way through the second security screen of the evening. I guess it was supposed to be stricter because we were headed into the US, but they didn't give either of us any trouble.
Long story short, I had a 15-hour flight from Delhi to Newark. On it I sat by the window; seated next to me was a very friendly Canadian couple who were impressed at my choice of first destination outside the States.
I slept for much of it, just as I'd done the last time I traveled between countries. Just as I'd done before, I woke up as we were flying over Greenland. Since the plane left around midnight and we were flying west, the entire trip was made in darkness. I lifted the shade on the window hoping there might be some moonlight on the ice or something, because the sight of Greenland had been so striking the first time I saw it. Instead I was greeted by a cloudless sky and, incredibly, by stars. Orion floated just outside my window, crisp and clear. It was as though I could reach out and touch him. I've flown more than a few times in my life, but never before have I seen anything like I saw the other night up there. I sat and stared at my celestial companion and let myself get lost in the feeling of oneness with the sky.
I alternated between napping, chatting with the Canadians, and watching a few episodes of
Twin Peaks on my laptop (I haven't finished it yet! Don't tell me what happens!!). Eventually we touched down in Newark.
Now, I was not aware that I was going to have to go through customs between my connecting flights. I thought I'd have to do that at O'Hare, when my trip ended. Nope. I had to sit and wait at baggage for my suitcase, recheck it so it would follow me to Chicago, make my way through customs, go through security
again, figure out which gate my plane was at, and then race there (it's kind of a big airport) all in an hour.
I just missed it; they had just closed the door. The lady told me "the flight is closed" or some such nonsense and even though I pleaded with her, saying that I'd just gotten off my other flight and got there as fast as I possibly could, she was unsympathetic and directed me toward the customer service desk 3 gates down.
At this point I'd been basically traveling for two days straight. I was sweaty from rushing around and I was
so close to being able to just chill at home, and now I was stuck.
I was also, however, in the US and so I could text message from my phone again. I got in touch with my parents and also started mentally making a contingency plan if I had to stay in the general area for more than a couple of hours.
The line was long and so tortuously slow it was like I was being made to watch a Will Ferrell movie or something -- I thought it would never end. Eventually I did get to the front and I did my best to be polite even though I just wanted to kick and whine and slap somebody. I was sure my bag was on its way to Chicago and, with my luck, it'd be lost or buried in a closet or something by the time I got there.
To my surprise, the lady handed me a boarding pass and told me I'd better hurry, because my new flight was leaving in fifteen minutes and it was a few gates down. Stunned, I stared at it a moment before uttering a thank you and racing off back down the hall.
So basically, everything turned out alright. My dad even told me later that his alarm hadn't woken him up on time so it was really no problem at all that I arrived an hour later than I originally should have. I thought for sure for a while there that I was going to be stranded "so close and yet so far" for at least a day.
I got home, though, and spent the day with family. Today some friends who may as well be family came to visit, I hung out with my dad, and I plotted and planned all the things I'm going to do now that I'm back here. I should be getting my sewing machine back from being tuned up (thanks, Mom!) any day now, so I can start sewing again.
My Etsy store is open again, and I plan on adding quite a bit to it in the coming weeks. If you are in need of any kind of vinyl decals or wall art, let me know! I did go to art school, you know, and custom orders are always fun. Plus, as I was reminded as soon as I stepped off the plane in the States... Xmas is on its way. Support your local independent artists!
