The airport is a pretty large structure but reasonably devoid of shops. I got here way too early because the drive only took about an hour and a half instead of the usual 3. They check tickets at the entrance to the airport and visitors can put 50 rupees to walk inside. It's an odd system. The huge airport was mostly empty of people and has only 6 gates. I had about 4 hours to kill so I read, wrote and walked back and forth. The airport slowly filled with people and I gave in and bought a gross rice vegetable thing that I ordered at random from the menu.
I woke up around 6 today and got up to enjoy the early morning coolness. It's been getting almost comfortable for an hour or so each morning and night.
After a quiet breakfast, I made sure I had everything ready to leave and went for a last walk in the village. I ran into Lipu on the way down stairs and he said to wait for him so I went to sit under the sacred tree. Lipu and I went over to the big school and I sat down with a bunch of the teachers. We talked about the weather and they were amazed at the way we heat our homes and the fact that we have to heat them at all. I walked by the classrooms and distracted some of the students before walking over to the smaller school. I sat down in the temple and before long, Nila (one of the to get students) came up to sit with me. He knows a few English words but mostly he just kept me company as I thought about my travels so far. While I sat, Depak and Indian James Dean came up and when I told them I was leaving that day, they insisted I come with them to their feast. I didn't really have time for it, but this is India so I went anyway. There were a bunch of our friends gathered behind one of the huts. The meal was a super sweet clumpy milk over dried, ground, rice powder that was a lot like sawdust. It was everything I don't want in a meal. After a while, I made it back to the hospital and ate another lunch that had been made for us and we left. Govinda was sorry he couldn't come to the airport because his back was hurting but Connor, Bikas, and one other man came to see me off (and pick up the MRI results).
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Sitting in my seat as the flight attendant tries to figure out why there is water dripping on my shoulder. There are way too many people in the isle for me to stand up. Good thing my shirt dries fast.
The pilot is from Michigan and speaks perfect English. He and I had a conversation for a couple minutes while people were finding their seats. He's flying for indigo because they pay better
The airport in Hyderabad was much bigger than Bhubaneswar and I had about two hours after getting through security. I wandered the terminal for a while and then tried to nap by the gate. The flight was pretty empty and I moved to an empty row for a few hours sleep. The two people behind me were travelers I had met in the airport. One is from Portugal and has been traveling since January. She met her travel companion and boyfriend in India. He's from South Carolina. Hearing a southern accent was strange.
I'm at the hostel now and don't remember/ want to write about what happened next. I found Gretchen at the airport.
-AB
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