as I begin this post, we’ve been traveling for 11hrs 25min and we haven’t yet set foot on the first of two 8+hour flights.

the Delhi airport is huge. and smoggy. that’s right. the air here is so polluted that it’s smoggy INSIDE the terminal building. otherwise, it’s like most other large, international airports: same chocolates and perfumes. same selection of whiskey and over-priced designer handbags. but at this airport, there is no Big Mac. there’s a Maharaja Mac (chicken or veggie). pass.

we opted for some sit-down place where ken could become one with a kingfisher (or two)(not the bird). given a wide variety of dishes, including beef (!) and Indian specialties, it was Stephanie who got closest to ordering Indian food.

she had pasta.

“how is that close to Indian food?”. well, India and Italy both begin with “i.”

Click “read more” to see the entire post.

in reality, we avoided Indian food for a very god reason: Tripti (our cook on the hospital campus in Mungeli) didn’t cook it. and after 8 days of incredible Indian home cooking, why even consider spoiling it? although Wednesday night “date/bbq night” in our house may morph into “chicken curry night” this week.

as we sit at “dinner,” in the Delhi airport, the calendar flips. it is Tuesday morning, Republic Day in India (apparently quite the holiday, making Delhi busier than usual. that’s hard to imagine. perhaps 3am is a good time to get outta town.)

mary Linda is dozing. sandy, writing. hannah and ken, reading. Stephanie is trying to stay awake long enough to get on the plane. I’m thumbing a phone screen.

fast forward now to 13hrs of travel time and we’re late. in the plane, on the tarmac but 4 massive jet engines have yet to spin to life.

fast forward now to 20hrs total travel time and we are just over an hour and 36000 feet from Amsterdam. it is Tuesday morning.

again.

3hrs of tulips and windmills before we load ken off to Atlanta and the rest of us saddle up for Minneapolis. and after that, one more flight home.

check back. there’s more to come.

until then, we’ll be sure our seat belts are fastened, our seats and tray tables are in the upright and locked position….

God bless.

ejb