Final Day in Pune

Our taxi arrived at the hotel Shantai at 6:30 pm (GMT+5.5), a half hour late, but well within the two hour buffer we allotted for the trend of tardiness that seemed to define everything we attempted to do on this trip. As the monsoon rain poured upon us we began the 3 hour mountain drive from Pune to the Mumbai International Airport. Weaving between the tractor trailors that linger precariously in between lanes guarding forward progress like hockey goalies protecting the net, we reached speeds over 165 km/hr. The clinched white knuckles in the back seat pleaded that I ask our driver to slow down, but the loud Indian dance music pulsing through the speakers and the thrill of sliding into each turn like an indy car in the final lap persuaded me to allow our driver the freedom to express his heavy footed elation over the new six lane expressway recently built by the Indian government and get his full 50 Rupees toll worth out of each of those six lanes. I began to think that tunnels terrified him because each time we entered one he took his cue to accelerate rapidly and launch out of the tunnel into the blind corners and obstacles that inevitably followed. After near misses and a few brushes with death we arrived at the airport at 11:00 pm and began the process of security screening and baggage check-in, which in the light of the bombings the week before were especially strict. I had all of my bags searched, I was selected at the gate for additional screening, and my jungle juice bug spray was confiscated. At that point I would have given my whole bathroom bag just to get through. Terrified from the taxi and annoyed from security we began our 26 hour flight itinerary from Mumbai to London, London to New York, and New York to Raleigh. After over 38 hours of combined travel, including two 3 hour drives, we arrived home last night to a reception of loved ones and friends. The team is tired and spent, but we are now resting and preparing for the next phase of the Hope Takes Flight project.
Due to the unavailability of internet in India we were unable to update you in the ways we had hoped, but now that we are back we will be updating the Hope Takes Flight page in the days to come with journal entries, thoughts, uploaded media, and eye witness reports from the days we spent in India. This can be certain, our lives have been changed by what we have seen and experienced and each of us have our own story to tell. We hope that you will continue to take part in this journey with us, we have many stories to tell and much work still to do. Thank you for your prayers and words of encouragement while we were in India and it is good to be home.