day one.

Or, why sometimes laziness pays, or, how I met Prasad, or, why a sassy airport guy didn’t get the best of me…

However this day will be referred to, it has been eventful, and luckily in a good way. I have arrived in London to find it dreary and grey…..Shocker, right? Actually it was for me because the last time I was here London was sunny and beautiful. Granted it was a completely different season, but I still believe that everything freezes in time when I’m not around (I’m working on that). So my plans for whisking away from Heathrow on the Underground and spending the day at the Tate Modern gazing at Rothko’s and the like was torn asunder as I realized in packing for India I was not prepared for London’s cold, and let’s be honest the idea of whisking anywhere with this frickin’ backpack dragging me down did not endear me to the Tate’s charms, Rothko’s and all. So instead I have made up my mind to spend the ENTIRE DAY inside Heathrow Airport. Unfortunately I came to this conclusion after leaving customs so I have to wait until 3 hours before my flight before I can go to where the comfy seats and good food (well by London airport standards) lay in wait for me to concur them with my aching tush and grumbling belly. Can you tell that I am writing this at hour 20 of a 24 hour wait? But what about all those good eventful things that happened you’re wondering, right? Well let’s rewind to about hour 10. After leaving customs (yay, another stamp for the passport!!) I find the terminal for my flight to Delhi and decide this will be as good a spot as any to wait for my next flight. I check in so I can secure a window seat (mission accomplished f.y.i.). After receiving some assistance with a faulty passport checker, nice airport guy bade me to the terminal before realizing my flight didn’t leave for another day, oh well. He asked if I was checking any bags while casting a skeptical glance at my backpack (which from this point forward will be referred to as Janet) and I responded no! He expressed his concern on whether or not I’ll be able to get through….only time will tell. So I pass a few good hours reading Jane Eyre (totally forgot how amazing this story is b.t.w. like, seriously, AMAZING). Then I decide I’m over this Cafe Nero and I’m going to test Janet out on the security guards. That’s when I met Mr. Sassy Pants. After insulting the passenger ahead of me for not understanding how to scan his boarding pass correctly I was determined to be the exemplary passenger and learn from my companion’s folly. Imagine my surprise when upon scanning my boarding pass I’m met with a huge X! Making sure I was holding it the right way (I was) I tried about 4 more times before His Sassiness deigned to look at my ticket and tell me that it’s the wrong day. When I asked him what he meant by that he looked at me like I was growing horns and explained to me that today is March 2nd and my flight does not leave until March 3rd. OK readers I have to admit I have never before tried to enter the gate the day before a flight and I can see how this might be problematic to airport staff, BUT how about assuming that the passenger didn’t show up to the airport on the wrong day, instead she just decided she was to lazy to whisk into London for the day!!!! Seriously!! So back to Cafe Nero, Janet in tow, do I return.

While whiling away the hours I decide now is as good a time as any to try my hand at learning Hindi (yeah, I know a better time would have been 4 months ago when I started planning this trip), and luckily this sparks the interest of my neighbor who just happens to be returning to India after studying in Scotland for 2 1/2 years! Prasad is his name, and it was like the travel gods smiled down on me and sent a Guardian Angel. As the time for me to leave for India has gotten closer I have become A LOT more dubious about the, errrrrrr, logic of this trip of mine. If someone had said to me 3 months ago here’s a ticket and some money but you have to leave for India now, I would be outta there in a flash, but now I feel like the craziest person in the world. That is until I met Prasad who taught me some really helpful Hindi phrases, helped me find my hotel on a map, and made me feel a lot better about this journey I’m taking. Just what I needed. So that was awesome, unfortunately the past 10 hours have been me riding around on the free shuttle from one Terminal to the next to keep my circulation going. But I did finish Jane Eyre (cried 3 times, ugh…) and I now know how to not get scammed at the train station (I hope) and how to find veggie samosas….Delhi, get ready for me…..