India Trip Review (Part 1)

M&D Hunt dropped us off at the Calgary International Airport on the afternoon of Friday, May 25 and we left Calgary at 6:40 pm via Air Canada, landing at London’s (England) Heathrow Airport on Saturday morning at 10:30 am. Although there were some last minute questions as to whether Air Canada (AC) would actually let Steve fly, my cardiologist/specialist was finally able to convince the dear folk at AC medical desk that I was safe to fly. The service on the flight was excellent (My letter to AC expressing my concern at the way they treat physically challenged people is still forthcoming but my lack-of-impressed-ness will be very clear!)

Within two hours of arriving in London – and that’s just standard for landing in Heathrow right now it appears – we were met by Sharon McGowan, one of Sarah’s close friends from their time together at Hebron International School. We spent three wonderful days with Sharon, using a very nice bed & breakfast which Sharon had arranged for us in the town of Henley, as our home.
On Sunday (May 27) we toured downtown London including Trafalgar Square, saw Big Ben (the clock), the London Eye, drove past Buckingham Palace, and had a cup of tea with the queen (just kidding!). We then went to Hyde Park, where the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain is located, and met some more friends from Hebron. Actually, we ended up meeting with most of these friends in the not-so-wet confines of the home of Roman & Catherine Dembek, as it rained in London most of the three days we were there. It was great to meet these people and show them our wedding pictures.

SIDEBAR: Perhaps as a Canadian you've had the experience of dear American friend asking, "Oh, I know someone from Canada. Do you Bob who lives in Toronto?" Realizing that Roman was from Poland, I was tempted to ask "Oh, do you know my friend Mirek who lives in Poland?" and then I realized how annoying I've found it when that happens to me. So I did NOT ask the question but asked about his connections to the church in Poland and who some of his encouragers and mentors were and sure enough, one of his church leaders is a fellow I graduated from Prairie Graduate School. He knew the one person I knew in Poland!

On Monday May 28, we went to Oxford. Along with seeing some nice old sites as we drove around before and after, it was pretty cool just to be at Oxford... and see a handful of the 37 colleges that make up Oxford. Fortunately, Sharon explained Oxford to me before I asked the dumb questions that most North Americans (apparently) ask, like "well, which one is the main campus?" After sitting down in coffee shop on the second floor of the Blackwell bookstore, a young lady looked over at Sarah and said, "Don't I know you?" to which Sarah replied, "Kathi?" Sitting at the table having a coffee right next to us was a young lady Sarah had taught at Hebron! Later that day we went to the Cottswalds and had a nice English cream tea and again took more tourist photos!

On Tuesday, May 29, Sharon continued her excellent tour guide and chauffeur service as we went to visit Windsor Castle. Although we didn't get to see the official changing of the guard, we did get to see the guard we getting his 15-minute afternoon coffee break (at least that's what we guessed it was). Later that day we also got to see Mark & Alex Ronalds and family - more former Hebron staff!

Bright and early Wednesday morning (May 30) we got to London Heathrow airport to fly to Mumbai (Bombay). Our flight departed at 8:40 am so we had to be there officially three hours early... lots of waiting. However, we did discover why Emerates Airlines is ranked one of the best in the world - their service is incredible, both for getting me as a wheelchair passenger to and thru the gates and for their in-flight service and entertainment options. Our flight to Mumbai had a brief stopover in Dubai and their "special services" area was impressive too! Oh yeah, and free email stations in the airport too... though the email we tried to send at that point since we had not yet connected to our parents had a problem so we had to wait until we got to Mumbai to actually let the families know we were safe and sound!

We arrived in Mumbai (Bombay) at 3:35 am in the morning on Thursday May 31 and got thru the luggage and security and picked up by our hotel taxi and to the hotel before 5:30am. Needless to say we slept a good bit of that day! When we did got out to get some bottled water, and orange juice at the local store, I had my first India "experience." Initially, we saw an elephant across the road and so Sarah took a picture of me with the elephant in the background. The look on my face is priceless... and I didn't realize how humorous a look it was until we got back to Three Hills and started showing the pictures to our parents! I have this "deer in the headlights" or "what on earth am I doing in India?" look of shock on my face! Anyway, after we got our couple of purchases, the same elephant came up and nuzzled me right on the arm with his trunk. Some of you will know that I am NOT a fan of pets (at all!) so I kinda shrugged away a bit when I first felt the nuzzle. Then the owner of the elephants, riding atop him, smiled down and said, "He likes money too!" As you can guess, he did not get any rupees from me!

My second India experience came later that evening as we had supper at the hotel restaurant. After one waiter moved some extra cups, plates and cutlery away, another waiter came and put our respective plates more in the center of the table. Then a third waiter came and took our order for drinks. Then another waiter came and asked our order for food. Somewhere in between there waiter #1 or #2 returned to put some condiments on the table. Then waiter #3 or #4 came back with the first part of our meal and began to serve it to us. I was thinking, "I know I'm a tourist but I do know how to dish up my own meal." Some more of the meal came a few minutes later and another waiter offered to serve but this time we indicated we'd dish up our own. Whenever we finished with one type of food, one of the waiters would step forward, ready to serve us some more. And the majority of the time we are eating, most of the 4-5 waiters are just hovering around and watching us eat. I was trying not to be too culturally inappropriate but I finally asked me dear wife - who knows the culture much better - "Are they just gonna stand there and watch us eat the whole time?" to which she nodded and replied with a "yes." So that was a bit unnerving. But my brother-in-law Jon felt the same way a couple years ago when the family was over visiting Sarah so I was comforted by that similar frustration and it was good that he was able to identify with that experience as I shared it with him upon our return to Three Hills. As he not-so-tactfully put it: India has one billion people and about 10 million jobs so you seem to have five people doing every one job!

Our second day in Mumbai (Friday June 1) we did a bit of shopping at FabIndia - okay, my wife did the shopping and I did the watching and waiting - and then got an ice cream at the McDonalds (yes, that's the only time the whole trip I ate at McDonalds!). From there our taxi took us to another part of the city so that we could have supper with some friends that Sarah had met during her time with Hebron. Two of these ladies (Jeanie & Mindy) work with an organization called Destiny Education that provides educational services and consulting to schools in Mumbai and area, esp focusing on teaching English. Another lady, Ruby, has also been working with them but has just taken on a new position outside of Mumbai in the city of Pune. We had a great evening of food and fellowship with them and it was great to meet Andy too (having another guy there was nice!) who works with street children and tries to get them into vocational education.

NEXT PART OF THE TRIP WILL BE UPDATED TOMORROW (LORD WILLING!)
STAY TUNED...