The Adventure Begins

We made it. We're in India.

Actually, we made it over 2 weeks ago, but let's just say that Wi-Fi doesn't exist in the widespread form here like it does in America. But this morning, we all applauded as Romveer, our phone/internet man, brought a router to our apartment and outfitted us with Wi-Fi. We love Romveer. We now have Wi-Fi at home!

Oh, by the way, we have a home. Let's back up and start at the beginning.

We left the KCI airport on Tuesday, July 9. We had our family, and two of our team members (Christina & Rick) with us. Our flight was supposed to leave at 2:15, but got delayed till 3:15. So we sat in the terminal and distracted the kids for awhile. Then we boarded the plane and found out we were delayed for another hour. So then we sat on the plane for an extra hour before our 3 our flight to Newark. Awesome. Thankfully, Landon had the iPad and Layla somehow managed to not go insane. 

Thanks to our delays, we literally came within seconds of missing our international flight to Mumbai. I'm not even kidding; it was like the movie scene where we're running through the airport terminal and arrive at the gate just as they're closing the boarding doors just in time to reopen them for us to board. No joke. That happened. Four adults pushing two small children in strollers, wheeling 3 carry on bags, sprinting through the Newark airport. Check that off the bucket list.

But, we made it! Then we flew for 14 hours to Mumbai, had a quick layover in the middle of the night, and boarded a plane at 2:15 India time for Kolkata, where we arrived at 5:30. Kyle was kind enough to call United the day before we left and get my seat switched on the long international flight to one in the front row that has the infant bassinet. It meant I was by myself with Layla instead of sitting in the row with Kyle, Landon, Christina & Rick, but at least I wouldn't have to hold Layla the whole time.

Except that despite the fact that United has about 6 seats for infant bassinets, they only actually carry two of the bassinets on board, and they were in use by tiny infants. 

Awesome.

So Layla sat on my lap for the entire 14 hours (minus a 2 hour respite that Kyle gave me so I could actually sleep back by Landon). Surprisingly, she did really well for not being our cuddle bug, and slept on me for a good chunk of the flight. We had lots of snacks, got up and walked around a bit, and somehow survived. 

Is that explanation enough for why I have zero pictures documenting any of the flights?

Scott and another guy named Ryan who came with Scott for a few days picked us up from the airport, we got in taxis and drove to a temporary, fully furnished apartment Scott had rented until we found permanent ones. Scott came several days early to start scouting out apartments (they call them flats here). The day after we arrived Kyle and I went with Scott to look at the #1 option for our flat, and we liked it, so the next day we got to pick out paint colors, negotiated a bunch of electrical and other touch up construction work to be one, and got to move in a week and a day after we landed in Kolkata!

Thanks to Kyle's shopping, the day we moved in we had mattresses to sleep on, a fridge, convection oven, gas range stovetop, microwave, TV, DVD player, a washer and dryer, and window AC units in the bedrooms. The AC in the living room didn't get hooked up for a few days, and it was several days before we had a couch or table or propane tank to actually cook anything, but we survived! Christina is living with us while till the other girls arrive, and Scott and Rick are still on the hunt for flats for the single guys, but we're making it! We're really here!

Landon and Layla have been adjusting well. It took several days for them to adjust from jet lag, but they're finally on normal sleeping patterns again, minus the fact that they wake up around 6-6:30 everyday (for awhile it was 5 a.m.).  Could be due to the fact that the sun rises here at 5:00 in the morning. 5 A.M.!!!!!  We have curtains for the rooms but we need to get some dark fabric sewn onto the back to block out more light.

Landon's highlights so far are: riding in taxis (multiple times a day he asks to ride in a yellow car), watching the cars drive by out the window and naming what they are (car, motorcycle, bike, yellow car, truck, etc.), zooming his cars across the marble floors, watching movies, and hanging out with Rick.

Layla's highlights so far: eating (the girl is suddenly a vacuum), reading books, walking outside in the rain, and eating.

My highlights so far: getting our flat! Getting a propane tank to start cooking and stop eating take out all the time; going to the market that's less than a 10 minute walk from our flat that is a cornucopia  of fresh, cheap produce; hanging out with Christina, especially drinking Barista Pitchers together (delicious cold coffee); and settling into our new home with my favorite man.

That was way too much information for just one post, but that's what happens when you move to a new country and don't have internet for 2 weeks! Sorry for the lack of pictures; I'm having trouble getting my new phone to connect with Blogger. Hopefully I'll get that figured out soon.

More to come...SOON!!

Just to tide you over, here's a picture of Landon and Layla.

Landon coloring at the temporary apartment

Layla eating a banana muffin in our flat!