Tonight we finally arrived to our Marriot Hotel in Chennai, India! Brittany and I have been traveling for almost two days now and it feels good to be here despite the many struggles we faced on the way.We left Salt Lake City at 4:30 on Friday and flew to Chicago. From Chicago we were flew to London. There was a problem with our plane that delayed us by over two hours. Unfortunately we missed our flight from London to Chennai; however, the airline crew was notified in advance. When we got off of the tarmac the employees had already rebooked us on different flights and had our boarding passes printed and 
everything. (Being an organized person I really appreciated this.) There were some drawbacks- we had to wait at the London Heathrow Airport for over 6 hours and we had an extra stop added to our Itinerary. During those six hours we found computers to help us contact our families to update them. WE also needed to schedule a hotel room and my mom graciously and efficiently took care of that for us. Thanks mom! We also did some laps around the terminal checking out the shops, restaurants, and products. American Airlines gave us a 10 pound meal voucher to use in London. We decided to eat at Starbucks and made our first friend there. His name was Kahn. He worked for Starbucks but conveniently took his break after we ordered and sat by us. We talked a bit and he was a nice fun guy about our age. He was studying business in London but is originally from Dubai. After dinner we headed to our gate and Saturday night at 8:45 we left London for New Delhi.
everything. (Being an organized person I really appreciated this.) There were some drawbacks- we had to wait at the London Heathrow Airport for over 6 hours and we had an extra stop added to our Itinerary. During those six hours we found computers to help us contact our families to update them. WE also needed to schedule a hotel room and my mom graciously and efficiently took care of that for us. Thanks mom! We also did some laps around the terminal checking out the shops, restaurants, and products. American Airlines gave us a 10 pound meal voucher to use in London. We decided to eat at Starbucks and made our first friend there. His name was Kahn. He worked for Starbucks but conveniently took his break after we ordered and sat by us. We talked a bit and he was a nice fun guy about our age. He was studying business in London but is originally from Dubai. After dinner we headed to our gate and Saturday night at 8:45 we left London for New Delhi.When we arrived in New Delhi they had us go all around the airport in different areas, go through the visa checking station and all that jazz. Once we made it through there we had no clue where departures were so we asked a worker and she directed us to go through customs and then on up an escalator around the corner. Little did we know we were supposed to pick up our checked baggage and take it through customs with us. (yikes!) Even after we made it through the Delhi madness to our departure gate we had to wait there for about 6 hours for our flight to Chennai.
While we were waiting for our flight we were laying on these nice chairs that were almost like the chairs you’d la
y on at the pool. There were 3 and Brittany was in the middle and this is where we met our 2nd friend of our journey. A young man about our age came up and sat down next to Britt. They began talking about very random things (mostly he talked and Brittany pretended like she knew what he was saying) By the end he was giving her his number in case we ever need help while we are here. He had to leave before we did, but he made sure to buy us a snack before he left. (He also asked if we could share the snack with him J)
y on at the pool. There were 3 and Brittany was in the middle and this is where we met our 2nd friend of our journey. A young man about our age came up and sat down next to Britt. They began talking about very random things (mostly he talked and Brittany pretended like she knew what he was saying) By the end he was giving her his number in case we ever need help while we are here. He had to leave before we did, but he made sure to buy us a snack before he left. (He also asked if we could share the snack with him J) Our flight from Delhi to Chennai was only two and a half hours but I pretty much slept the whole way. It ended up being good because when we FINALLY landed in Chennai our luggage was literally lost- we had no idea where it was or how to find it. The workers were telling us if it was in customs still we needed to get a lawyer and a notary and all kinds of stuff, meanwhile we are 2 hours late for our driver so I’m trying to track down his phone number to make sure he is still here waiting for us- thankfully he was! We left the airport with no clue when, where, how, or if we would get our bags but there wasn’t anything we could do about it then so we pressed on.
At the Marriott all the employees were extremely kind and welcoming and helped us through our luggage problem a little bit. We ultimately went to our room with stressed out bodies and minds. I was able to call my friend Kim who is a coordinator this summer and she helped ease my worry by saying there are workers here who could help us locate our luggage.
I was also able to talk to my mom, dad, and sister tates on the phone for awhile so that was great.
I took advantage of the shower and stayed in there for quite some time. Now I’m heading to bed-we get picked up by Rising Star Tomorrow woo woo!
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