Airport Blues

Alright, so leaving this time around was definitely different, at least from what I'm used to. I'm not particularly sure what made this set of goodbyes so hard - the fact that it's so far away, the fact that I'm going to be completely out of my comfort zone, or the fact that I can't exactly wrap my head around the fact that I'm going to be 50,000 feet above the surface of the earth for a good 15 hours of my life before all of this happens. It's not like I haven't done this sort of thing before, but I suppose going to school in New York was sort of a stepping stone to a trip like this. Seriously though, I hate flying, and while the fear's gotten milder in the past six months or so, this is still a pretty daunting prospect. I also have a feeling that my experiences in India are going to be a lot like flying, and while I can't exactly crash and burn in the same way I could on an actual plane, it's going to take a lot to get me off the ground and steady in the air.

It was an early morning, and I did sleep a fair amount on the plane to Newark, the spot where I'll be sitting around for the next five hours, but airplane sleep is rarely satisfying. Plus, there were a lot of people on our tiny, cramped jet who were REALLY EXCITED about going to Dublin, and expressed this excitement via random whoops of joy from across the aisle. They were really nice though, and I can't exactly begrudge them their excitement. Traveling is exciting, or it is when you're not so nervous about the unknown future that you're shaking.

All this stress is making me more tired than I perhaps could be, but at least I can sleep on the plane to Delhi. I'm not really sure how I should arrange my sleep schedule, though. The plane leaves at 8:30, and I lose an entire day in transit. (+9.5 hour difference + ~14 hours in flight = 24 hours.) I get in around 8:15p on Sunday; enough time to vaguely settle my things, e-mail to say I made it in safe, get to bed, and wake up in time for orientation. But as this plan involves sleeping before I wake up for orientation, I need to think about somehow waking myself on the plane so I can get to sleep in Delhi. Probably won't have to worry about it, though. Traveling and the bad sleep that comes with it is tiring, or so I hear. The jet lag on this trip is certainly going to be fun.

Guess that's it for now. Oh, and remind me to avoid Newark-Liberty International next time. With a layover under an hour, I'd have probably missed my flight. This place is that huge.