Entering A Whole New World

After buying my plane ticket in October & preparing for my trip to Nepal, the climatic moment arrived; the moment everyone had been waiting for. My International Siblings pondered what would transpire at the airport. Would my first meeting with N.P. be one straight out of a movie in which, in slow motion, 2 people run towards one another, grab one another & begin to kiss passionately? Would we simply shake hands? One of my brothers mentioned his desire to implant a video camera into my luggage that could capture everything. Fortunately, by the time he got to the airport to bid me farewell, I was already through security & had no knowledge of his even being there. Thus, my journey began...

All flights went well until I arrived in New Delhi. Like everyone else, I stood in the extremely long line to go through security & just as I was prepared to put my belongings in the milk carton crate (yes, instead of the plastic bins you are all familiar with at our airports here in the U.S., India uses what appears to be milk carton crates) for screening, I handed the officer my passport & boarding pass & was told, "I need to see your boarding pass." I said, "This is my boarding pass." The officer said, "No, this is not a boarding pass." I said, "Sir, it says boarding pass right here at the top." Though the paper had my flight number, seat number & so forth, since I was changing airlines, I needed to see India Air for another boarding pass. The pass in my possession from American Airlines was not sufficient. I was told I needed to go to the India Air Service Counter. Panicked, I rushed to their counter & as they searched their computers, my eyes were glued to my watch; fearful that I would miss my flight due to having to go stand in that long line again to get through security. The representative at the ticket counter needed my first boarding pass in order to locate my pass for the flight from Delhi to Kathmandu. Alas, my boarding pass was printed & I was instructed to basically push my way through the crowds in order to bypass the long line that I had already been standing in. Not one to usually be bold enough to do so, time was of the essence & I knew that I HAD to get on that flight or who knew when I would make it to Nepal. So, push my way through I did. I had what seemed like 10 miles to travel to reach the necessary gate. I was well prepared to improve my appearance while awaiting my flight. I had make-up, a comb, hair-brush, body spray, etc. Unfortunately, I was so rushed & so little time remained that I was only able to change my clothes. Which, believe me, that was a positive. Still, I was disappointed that my first meeting with the man I was going to marry was going to be one in which I looked disastrous. Then again, if he could accept me looking like so & having quite a stench, he would surely love me forever. Minutes before boarding began for the flight to Nepal, I realized something. My baggage claim ticket was attached to my first boarding pass - the boarding pass I had given to the representative at the India Air counter 10 miles away. I had failed to get that back from the man. Again, I began to worry. Would I get my bag? Certainly, there was no time to make my way back to that counter to retrieve it. I just had to let it be & pray that all would work out OK.I was now on the plane seated by a young Nepali man & his father; surrounded by many, many men (there may have been 3 or 4 other women on the plane) & feeling somewhat uncomfortable. I felt even more uneasy & eager to get off the plane when beer was served complimentary on the plane & almost everyone around me popped open a can & started guzzling down the booze. I am not a fan of the smell of beer at all so having to smell that all around was not ideal. Thankfully, the flight was not long. Touched down in Nepal & the fun continued....

I walked down the steps to get off the plane & walked across to board a shuttle that took all passengers to the correct terminal. I was aware that I would need to pay for my visa upon my arrival. I was set to do so. I acquired the correct forms, filled them out, presented them & had my $25 ready when the gentleman said, "Your picture?" I said, "Pardon me?" He said, "Where is your picture?" I said, "Sir, I am sorry, I do not have a picture." He informed me I HAD to have a picture. I was thinking to myself, "I have no picture, I am thousands of miles away, I have no phone with me & don't know what to do!!" Why did N.P. not inform me I was going to have to have a passport size photograph to submit to obtain the visa into his country?! Fortunately, there was a small booth behind me that I went to & had a man take my photograph. The photographer told me it would be 1 Rupee. I told him I did not have any Nepali Currency. He pointed across the way to the money exchange counter. I presented them with a $10 bill & their response was, "$50 minimum". No problem. I then handed them a $50 bill. They gave me a bunch of funny money back & I had no idea about any of it (I might add that as I relayed this story to N.P. & shared how unfriendly & unhelpful the people were, he then looked at the money I had been given & said they shorted me about $15 U.S. Dollars). I then walked back over to have my picture taken. I pulled out one of the funny bills that said "10" & the guy gave me change along with 2 photos of myself. Back through the line, visa obtained, on my way to baggage claim. Many airports here in the U.S. allow outsiders to come within to pick up persons. Here in St. Louis, you can go in to pick people up & then go with them to get their bags at the baggage claim. As I got to the baggage claim area, I found my bag immediately & then began looking around for N.P. I was not seeing him though. I kept thinking, "I hope he didn't leave", "I hope he didn't think that I was not showing up". As I continued searching, I noticed that no one was within greeting those around me. Surely he must be awaiting me elsewhere. Now, the moment I was concerned about had come...no baggage claim ticket to match the tag on my bag. 3 times the officer informed me he had to have my baggage claim ticket & 3 times I explained I did not have it. I offered my passport, my flight itinerary, my other boarding passes, etc. etc. etc. Finally, the man said, "Let's see your passport." He matched the name on my tag to the name on my passport & allowed me to go through. I was thrilled when they did not even ask to search my bags or seek to scan it. They simply motioned for me to exit the area. I was on my way out headed to I had no idea where - I was just hoping to N.P.!

And then, behind a wall of glass, I spotted N.P. & his friend Gambhir. A huge smile came upon N.P. & he was waving his arms like crazy. As I kept moving their direction, they disappeared from the glass & I knew they were coming to greet me. Now, here's the moment you've all been waiting for....what happened? Exactly what I thought would happen. We quickly hugged & that was it. Not what you were hoping for? Sorry to disappoint you all. No, there was no kiss at the airport. No long embrace. Public displays of affection are not shown much between men & women in Nepal. I have been very familiar with that aspect of their culture so I was not expecting for that to be different for the two of us. Gambhir greeted me briefly & then parted ways with us as N.P. & I got into a taxi that would take us to the hotel. We had not even been in the car for 5 minutes when his mom called. He was so excited to tell her I was in the car & she simply longed to hear my voice. Unable to speak more than a few words in Nepali, I just said, "Namaste (hello) mom". I could hear the enthusiasm in her voice. As I rode in the car, I could not take my eyes off N.P. & he could not wipe the smile off of his face. Finally. Our moment had come. Thus the beginning of an unforgettable 2 weeks. More to come...

**My apologies, I have no pictures of the two of us together on that first day. He took a few pictures of me when we went for dinner that evening but we never took one of us together. I now wish I would have had Gambhir take one at the airport but that was far from my mind at that point.**