Arriving in Delhi

My first meeting with India was through the illuminator of the airplane landing at Delhi International Airport. It was a long journey of 3 hours flight from Yerevan to Dubai, 8 hours wait at Dubai airport and almost 4 hours flight from Dubai to New Delhi. However I could feel neither tired nor sleepy but excitement to see the land which had been calling me for more than two and half years. 
Delhi was still sleeping and only street lights were welcoming us in the dusk.  The monitors in the plane went on and we could see the road on which our plane was landing. I don't remember how I went off the plane, how I passed the immigration desk, how I received my baggage I just wanted to get out of the airport as soon as possible to see my sweetheart one month after his departure. Finally the doors opened and there he was, my fiance, my sweetheart, my future husband for whom I am here...

 

Since the moment my feet touched the Indian land one thing was in my mind. I had been told and read a lot about specific smell one can feel right after getting off the airport. Despite of my efforts to smell something strange or unpleasant I could feel nothing but happiness for meeting people I hadn't seen for long time and those whom I new quite long but hadn't met yet. Even when I was asked if it was hot I said "no, it's quite normal" :) The only thing which looked strange to me was seeing so many people. Unlike the early morning hour when the sun was only starting to rise the airport was crowded with different different looking people and some of them were lying or sitting on the ground itself.
After warm hugs and introductions, bouquets of flowers and a cup of hot coffee it was the time to leave the airport for the Hotel we were supposed to stay.

Then only we realized that there was no one to meet us and take to the hotel. Before leaving for Delhi I made sure that I would be transferred to the hotel by a driver who would be waiting for us at the Gate with a banner announcing the name of Institution from which we got the scholarship. Simply he was not there even though our flight was delayed for about one and half hours. I tried to contact with one of the moderators to find out what was the problem. Finally one of them answered my call and ensured me that the driver was at the airport. After I asked him several times to check with the driver it appeared that "he is on way", then "he is looking for space for parking". In the end the driver (a nice man of around 50-60 who later became our driver taking us from the hotel to classes and back every day) arrived in the airport informing us that he even wasn't aware that he had to meet us... Anyway it happens sometimes but I wonder what two young girls are supposed to do appearing in a country for the first time, at 4 am without a mobile and without anyone to meet them. What if one of them didn't have a fiance ready to take them to the hotel. How would they contact the moderators? However I was insisting on following the rules and ethics of the scholarship instead of braking the rules from the very beginning and for that we had to wait for 2 hours.

View from my balcony

We reached the hotel and were welcomed by another nice Indian man  whom we later used to call Uncle. Lucky we were to arrive one of the first and to have a chance to choose the room we liked. This room had become my shelter for the next two months. In this hotel I met my dear friends. Here I had nice breakfasts and here I had reunion parties which I will never forget in my life.

My room at the Hotel

But then it was just a room with a big bed where I wanted to rest a bit before starting my journey to the new world called India...