If you need a dose of patience, try travelling within a developing country. It seems to do the trick.
I just returned from the remote border town of Bhairahawa just 5km from India in southern Nepal. I met with another group of ACCESS students, which went well. My best presentation yet! I have written about that experience on my Learning Log. It was worth it, really it was.
In theory, Bhairahawa is a 35-minute flight from Kathmandu. That is, of course, assuming the flight leaves on time, which rarely happens.
The interesting thing an airport full of people waiting for a flight that is indefinitely delayed is that no one seems at all concerned. Business as usual. Flights are delayed for any number of reasons, in this case rain. We Americans get so worked up about time and tardiness and schedules. Inwardly I am irritated by the delay but outwardly I read my Steve Jobs' biography on my iPad Kindle app (fitting) and listen to my rumbling tummy wondering when it will be filled. Maybe I'll file a note in this (empty) box:
Last night I had a very spicy dahl baht thali. Needing ice cream for dessert (to calm my sizzling belly down) and noticing the selection on the menu, I ordered some. When they brought me the already open, unfrozen, mess of vanilla in a tiny cup, I couldn't eat it. Due to a festival, a common occurence in Nepal, there was extremely loud, earth-shattering-loud, music through the night. Between that and a very hard mattress, I tossed and turned and was woken up at 5:30 by chaos in the hall. Screaming, yelling, doors slamming, more screaming, people in and out. In my semi-conciousness I thought maybe the building was on fire but, no, it was a group of young adults getting ready to depart. Maddening. I lay in bed and listened to a session of conference, since it is the Sabbath and I will not make it back in time for church. The restaurant is not open for breakfast this morning at the early hour of 8:00 a.m. so I relied on my Luna Bar for energy. It took 4 attendants to check me out at the front desk and fill out necessary paperwork for my one night stay and small meal. I then asked for a taxi to the airport. A taxi? Yes, a taxi. To the airport? Yes, to the airport. One of them ended up driving me in his own car. Am I the first person to ever depart? Baffling. I know there are taxis, unlike Gorkha, because I took one to get there from the airport (because I wasn't willing to carry my two suitcases full of $2,000 of technology equipment on the back of a motorbike). When I arrived at the airport it was dark and looked like it wasnt even open yet. So much for arriving an hour early...especially since our flight was 4 hours late.
So, here I sit, waiting for the Kathmandu airport to open so that our flight can leave from there and come here and get us. All of the luggage for this flight is piled up near me on the floor. Don't you love small airports? Back in Kathmandu they drove us on the bus through a traffic jam of luggage carts, people walking, trucks, oh -- and planes passing by. Watch out for the wings! They dropped us off at this baggage claim, with our luggage trailing the bus.
It's all rather a funny scene, really. Or would be if I wasn't hungry. And tired.
Now, back to my Kindle.
Horse, you seriously need to contact Apple and see what kind of a deal you can work out as you blog about their products and your experiences. What you are doing is incredible and they may provide for some of the communities and the ACCESS program! Never hurts to ask! :)
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