Paris & India

I left Logan at 5:45 pm and got into Charles de Gaulle at about 5:00 in the morning. It was a surreal experience getting into Paris - we all left the plane and stumbled into a dark, red interior with flight screens and narrow, labyrinthine corridors. Large windows revealed the early morning sky, and the only glimpse of Paris I would see that day. After I got my bearings and walked a bit, I ended up on a shuttle for about 10 or so minutes travelling to the airport terminals. Very enjoyable, being on a bus early in the morning with people from all over the world. I ended up being able to brush up on my Francais a bit at Charles de Gaulle, but quickly had to go back to speaking English when someone said something I didn't understand. While waiting in the long security line, I struck up a conversation with a guy from Beijing for a few minutes and after getting through the checkpoint, headed into a large, open mall-like corridor where the terminals were. There I found a nice cafe and charge stations where I was able to charge my phone. With four hours of layover those New Yorkers came in handy.

The flight to India was surprisingly quick, as I fell asleep for part of it. The food was great and it was overall a smooth flight. Although I didn't get to see much of Paris, the airport and the flight definitely made an impression and make me want to go back at one point and see more of it.

When I got into India, I ended up waiting a while for my bags - there was a little window outside the baggage claim where I could get a pick at the vehicles pulling up with giant steel "Air France" boxes. After a few rounds of unloading (and several mental calculations of what would happen if these things got lost!) my luggage finally emerged and I headed off to get the currency exchange. After getting my rupees, I passed through customs without a scratch and came into this half-oval shaped area that was bounded by throngs of people holding up signs. I looked around and finally saw a big one with the name "Mr. Nevin." It was two people from the Orchid, who had been charged with the mission of bringing me back to the hotel. "Welcome to India!" they said, as they shook my hands.

We stepped into the hazy nighttime air (it was close to midnight at the time) and I immediately noticed the hot weather - and the concentration of people "It is very crowded in India," they mentioned. The two gentleman who picked me up were tremendously gracious, and offered me a (sealed) bottle of water as I entered the car.

On the way back, I noticed the huge numbers on the license plates and the apparent lack of blinkers on the cars! *Gasp* They asked me about my mission and I told them that I was there to work with teachers on getting some information on the technology needs of schools. We started talking about literacy in India and they gave me some information about the literacy statistics, mentioning Bihar as one of the areas that was really struggling. Noticing the plethora of billboards in English, I asked them about how many knew the Language in Delhi - their answer was about 40%. Upon entering the hotel, I signed the guestbook and presented my passport, and was shown to my room. The accomodations are superb and the people have been great so far. Right down to needing help with international calls they have been very gracious. ("I will transfer you sir. Kindly hold on.") Later today, I look forward to seeing a bit of Delhi and travelling to Bhopal in the early evening.