Day 00 & 1

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Travel day.

Got up late and packed our bags. The UK has bled us dry. Used up all the pounds I had converted and looking at the Mastercard we got bloodied. Bought 2 tickets on the tube and the ticket master gave me grief for giving him all my change. Oh well don't want to schlep it across the sub continent. Took our time going through Heathrow Terminal 5. It is actually 3 terminals A B and C. To get to the jet way you need to go down a flight of stairs either via the stairs or an escalator. The escalator was inop and they had about 30 folks that were either on crutches or wheelchairs, So they used the lift, which only holds 1 unit at a time and must be hydraulic rather than cable/electric – can we say slow. Our flight was delayed by an hour due to getting the passengers on board.

We arrived and karma-darma were having fun with us. I chose the only line that did not move. We finally queued up to a line and were just about the last ones out of the passport line. Great, our bags should be waiting. Walked over to the conga line and nope no bags in fact no-one had bags. Humm so much for waiting. Met a retied Bobby who was waiting for his bags. He had been to the states a few times for police exchange programs. Said it was the time of his life. We went through customs and came out the other side with our escort waiting for us. We have been using the Jetlag diet (see the other blog) but we were not faithful on this part and so around 10 am we took a “short nap” The telephone woke us both out of a sound sleep at 1430.

Getting to Agra was a short 4 hour ride. RN looked out on her side, I looked out mine, boom, spotted both a cow and a dog before she did. Then the challenge came for a Elephant. I could not deliver but I spotted a camel! The road from Delhi to Agra is miles upon miles of farm land and of course suburbs on the way out. As Usa (oou-sa) says, one of RN's colleagues, “oouh da traffic ooouh da traffic”. It flows like water, hustle and bustle. motorbikes, Pedestrians, cows, horses, three wheelers and monkeys and bicycles all share the road and in 4 hours we saw only 2 accidents and were involved in none. The three wheeled motorized bikes are of Piaggio origin while the motorcycles du jour /most popular appear to be the Honda Hero. The most I have seen has been a family of 4 on one of the 100 cc or so Hero's the women sit side saddle and everyone weaves in and out of traffic like a tapestry. The travel would not be so bad if the roads were a bit wider. they go from a two lane down to a 1 lane in about 30 meters and then just a quickly open up to 4 lanes only to revert back to and 1½. Ebb and flow.

Due the drought in the region there is a large amount of dust that gets kicked up. Heating for the roadside stands is from either dung or wood. There is a high particulate amassed in the air from this fuel source. I am told that when the monsoon come there is too much water and flooding. Feast or famine.

We dropped our bags off at the door to the hotel took a shower and after our short nap went to The Red Fort built in the early 1600's by one of the Moguls of the time, Mughal Emperor Akbar constructed of red sandstone in 1565. We walked around for an hour or two in the hot afternoon sun. Today was a holy day for Shiva so the post office was closed and the shrines were in celebration.

No pictures of our dinner as our fine host had us over for a Typical Indian meal. I think they spared the spices as the meal was extremely mild - I should have brought my Tabasco bottle. RN was invited to spend an afternoon in the kitchen so hopefully we will get some curry coming off of the stove.

I am not sure if I mentioned in the other blog but originally I was planning on flying into Delhi and then travel on down to the state where our daughter is located. The agency and a couple of other families commented on how enjoyable their trip was to spend time at the home town of their host/escort. Furthermore, culturally there is the way business is conducted. What works for the US is a dismal failure elsewhere. Business ventures first start out as a relationship. One finds a common ground built on friendship and understanding before you start a business venture. This is really in line with our adoption agency. RN talked to our agency close to 3 months building up a relationship before we signed up with them. This mix of relationship and business is what seals a lifelong compact.

There is a small contingent of deaf community from London here at the hotel. Rn is quick to pick up languages and I have encouraged her to go to school for foreign languages. She is in the middle of earning her credentials in Sign Language and when we spotted a small group talking I told her to go say Hi. Ends up they are on holiday from London for a few days. As is typical with the spoken language we both speak English but the Americans can't understand the British and visa versa. After all a boot to us something you put your foot into and a boot to the Brit is where you put your groceries (the back end of a car or as we say the trunk). It is the same for Sign language. The deaf community in the USA have embraced what is called ASL- American Sign Language. It is spoke with one hand and when a word is not known it is spelled out (abc) The UK uses, I don't know the term, however they use two hands and there is no finger spelling! Separated by a common language. It gets better, While at the Red Fort we spotted deaf Indian but RN said she couldn't understand the signs which makes sense as each culture has developed their own language.

Tomorrow agenda, recover some more from Jetlag, last day of tourist traps – The Big Mausoleum followed by a day of shopping for the girls. The Taj Mahal is readily visible from he Red Fort. We were told that if it was not a high holy day we could have gone into one of the mosques in the fort. There is a small mosaic or such in one of the walls and one of the crystals magnifies the Taj. Not sure if this bauble was purposefully placed or not.

Temperature is moderate in the low 80's.

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