We're not in Kansas anymore...

It’s been a long, difficult trip but after about 20 hours in the air and many more in airports and lineups, we’ve made it. It’s day two and we are slowly but surely settling in and beginning to accept it here as our new home for the next couple weeks.

The journey began in Toronto Pearson International Airport where the twelve of us met, unable to contain our excitement. After saying goodbye to our families and checking in it finally hit many of us that we were on our way to India. A few hours later, we boarded our first flight of many and settled into the cramped cabin of a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. After many walks up and down the aisles in attempts to stretch our legs, we landed in Germany and prepared for the next leg of the trip.

Three hours later, the second flight took off and headed towards Chennai, India. For us, it was a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep and we found ourselves quickly landing nine hours later in India. Upon arrival, we realized that it was no longer winter where we were and at one in the morning it was upwards of thirty degrees. After collecting our twenty four, massive duffle bags we exited the airport and entered a whole new world of sights, smells and traffic.

Our first impressions of the country were that of amazement, wonder and excitement…even at two in the morning. The city was bustling and alive and there were no signs of it slowing down any time soon. There were horns honking and people screaming. We couldn’t have been happier. After causing minor gridlock in the parking lot thanks to all of our luggage, we separated into taxis and made way to the Trident Hilton hotel. During the drive there we received a brief lesson on Indian life and culture. The drivers honk at nothing, drive on both sides of the road and maintain good humour and a friendly face at all times.

The hotel was spectacular. The staff were friendly the food was fantastic. We all had very comfortable sleeps and awoke to a beautiful morning of swimming, Frisbee and tanning. We knew it would be our last few hours of luxuries so we took full advantage. Our last leg of the trip to FFC began at 10am with a one hour flight to Coimbatore. This was the most comfortable flight so far being on Jet Airways. We all had our own personal TVs and the meal of Indian chicken or vegetables was the best plane food any of us had ever tasted.

We landed in Coimbatore and piled into a van that didn’t have enough seats (Max Levitt graciously sat on the hard wood floor) and ended the journey as we rolled into York House, our final destination…at least for the next nine days. We received a tour of the orphanage which was split into four sections (older and younger, girls and boys) spread out within walking distance across the small town. We were surprised at the living conditions and amazed at the self sustaining abilities of FFC and how happy the children and staff all manage to be. We have so far had two meals here, both consisting of delicious authentic Indian food (as well as some peanut butter).

Our first night at York House was interesting. The accommodations we have are small and we are supplied with little more than basic necessities. We have so far found it to be very livable however and look forward to spending the next little while there. We were all extremely tired and landed fast asleep onto our cots before 10:00. Later we found ourselves awake later on that night between 3am and 5am eating pomegranate seeds and taking in the Indian sunrise. Hopefully tonight we’ll be able to stay up a bit later and get onto a more normal schedule.

Today we were expecting to receive the remainder of our luggage (we so far have been living out of carry ons) as well as the 600lbs worth of donations. We learnt, to our despair that the bus transporting the bags from Chennai had in fact broken down about 150km away from us but the specific location was unknown. This to say the least had us slightly frightened and frustrated. Minutes ago however we learnt that the bus has been fixed and, knock wood, our bags are on their way and we will receive tonight.

More details on our experiences to come,
Matt, Josh, Harry