Where in the world are Jason and Ellen?

If you guessed London, sadly you would be wrong. We are, in fact, still in India. Let me explain, no it is too much, let me sum up (Princess Bride). Well, actually I'll just tell the whole story.

So we got back from our trip on Thursday night but had left way too much to do on Friday. In trying to get it all done, we were not able to get any sleep before it was time to go to the airport for our 4:30 am flight. So we got to the airport a little later than we wanted and were being rushed through the check in process. After weighing our bags, they told us we were over weight and would have to pay for the extra. We said fine and Jason went to do that. Before too long he came back and said it would cost more than twice the price of our tickets!!! We tried to leave our crib but that didn't do enough. Now this is where the sleepiness comes in, we weren't thinking really fast but had to because they were boarding the plane. So we thought we would just bite the bullet and pay the money. While Jason went back over to do that (the paying place was not where the check in place was) the desk lady got me and Anna through immigration and security and on the little tram to take me to the plane all the while telling me not to worry, Jason was coming. I was watching anxiously for Jason when the lady got me off the tram and back through security.

When Jason and I got back together, he said that when he tried to run our card to pay for the charges, it wouldn't go through. He said they tried running smaller amounts and they wouldn't work either. Since we couldn't pay for the extra weight, we couldn't fly. So the plane took off without us and we, in a daze, sat down on the chairs to decide what to do next.

The airport staff were great at this point. They got Jason and talked to him about re-booking our flight. They said we didn't have to do it right away but told us how much it would cost (not much at all) and gave him a number to call. They took our passports back to immigration to get the stamps canceled. And they helped us figure out how to get back home (a bit of a challenge since our driver just dropped us off (you can't go in the airport without a ticket) and we had a LOT of luggage including a very large boxed up crib). What we ended up doing was changing money (we had gotten rid of all of our rupees) and getting a pre-paid taxi. The car that they had that was big enough was a 50's era car with a roof rack. So our suitcases fit in the trunk, our trunks went on the roof and the crib went on top of the trunks and was tied down. Everytime we took a hard turn or went over a rough patch in the road, the driver's friend (there were two guys, I don't know why) would poke his head out the window and make sure it was still there.

Fortunately, through all of this, Anna was great. The airport staff loved her, she was awake and happy and content to play with the straps of her diaper bag.

Once we got home, we hit another snag, we had no key. We had given it to the driver and had no way to get back in. Fortunately, Jason's boss has another key and he lives in another tower of the same complex. So Jason went up to his place, woke people up (it was about 5:30 at this time) and got us a key. We got in, put the crib back together and Anna and I crashed. I had been awake since 8 am the previous day and was so tired I slept through a parade that went down the street. Jason stayed up to talk to Jeremy who was leaving for the airport around 8 am about using his kitchen things (our kitchen was stripped, including the microwave and gas for the stove, when we went out of town). Anna woke up and wanted me around 8 so Jason and I swapped places and he went to sleep.

With my two hour nap, I was doing ok until Jason woke up and Grace came over. In her loving way, she started scolding about why we didn't cancel the tickets while we were at the airport. We said we were going to re-book but she didn't seem to think we could unless we had something signed from the airline. Well, you know how I feel about being "in trouble" so I said I was ready to sleep and went into the bedroom and broke down. The whole thing came out and I sobbed for what felt like forever. Once I finally calmed myself down, I still had a hard time turning my mind off to go to sleep. Anna had woken up and Jason was trying to call the airline to re-book (now that he was rested and could think clearly) so I stayed up a little longer to watch her so he could do that. While he was talking to them, he clarified our baggage requirements and got everything figured out.

So now we have tickets to leave on Monday morning at the same time. It's not exactly the same flight, this time we only have a 2 hour layover in Dubai instead of 10. So we won't be able to leave the airport but we will get into London in the middle of the day. We also had an extra day to rethink our packing. We took things that we weren't going to need and put them in one of our trunks to mail to my parents in Californina. Then we chose out the things we weren't going to need right away and put them in the other trunk to be sent to us in London and packed the rest into our suitcases. Although we don't know for sure (we don't have a bathroom scale) we think we are going to be ok with the weight, if not it won't be nearly as bad. With the extra day we even had time to go shopping and buy some pants and 3/4 and long sleeved shirts and get some sleep before getting up to do the whole thing again. Hopefully, next time you hear from me, we will be in London for reals this time.