Safely in Chennai!

We just wanted to update that we made it safely to Chennai. First of all, this morning we (half of our group, Lisa, Susan, Bryan, and Dianna) got to the airport late because our travel itinerary changed. Secondly, we were told to wait in all the wrong lines by the airport staff, so when we found the right one, it was closed. The other half of our group had a taxi break down, but managed to find the right line to wait in. They thought we were inside and on the plane already. Finally those of us not checked in went to the information counter and asked them to call the gate, and finally Jet Airways sent a manager to specially escort us through the airport with our checked baggage right up to the plane to ensure it was put onto the plane. I think our success of finally making it was aided by Lisa's wonderful hormonal caused tears ;)...Anyway, we got on the plane 5 minutes before takeoff...I don't know what it is with this group and airports, but hopefully from here on out we will be able to arrive on time with our flights and be able to relax in airports rather than sprint.

Anyway, now we arrived at the airport in Chennai, and we called ICSA to see if they were coming to pick us up. Well, they thought we were arriving at 10PM tonight and we were here at 10 AM...so we had to figure out the taxi service, luckily, some guy with a cell phone came up to us to call ICSA for us, then he helped us arrange a prepaid taxi so as not to be charged too much. Finally, he even offered us a ride, although we had too many people for him to bring with. The ride to ICSA was the scariest thing ever. Our taxi driver did not speak English, and somehow he managed to attempt to drop us off three times in places nowhere near ICSA. Luckily, we refused to put up with it and talked to many people about finding the right location. He was finally through with us and just dropped us off on the side of the street while demanding fifty more rupees, and to our convenience, we met up with a reverend who was studying at ICSA right there. Since we had not exchanged money yet, we could not pay him, so the reverend paid him. He then walked us the three blocks to the place we were staying. I'm not sure what we would have done without his help. Luckily, the other taxi made it safely about twenty minutes earlier. Oh language barriers :)

The food thus far at ICSA has been outstanding. Dinner was chicken curry with chapati bread, we get hard-boiled eggs at every meal, and this morning we had poori and chapati bread. Life at ICSA has been very nice thus far. They treat us like we are VIPs of India. The accomodations are superb, and they refill the water jugs in our room daily, so there is plenty of pure water to drink. I don't think it will be quite this nice all the way through, but who knows? Anyway, it is almost time for a delicious lunch, then class this afternoon. Hope everything is superb back in the United States!