After two long flights Evan, Caroline and I have arrived safely! Our first flight was eight and a half hours from Detroit to Frankfurt. As we boarded the plane Caroline and I noticed one of our professors from MSU in the airport with his family. We said a friendly hello and went about our business. Then as I approached my seat on the plane, I see my professor and his family in the very same row as me! I sat next to his wife on the way to Frankfurt. This turned out to be a good thing because she had prepared snacks for her kids and shared with me. She gave me a nutella sandwich and a cheese quiche. They were both very good compared to the plane food. I was quite restless on the second half of the plane so I was happy to be able to walk in the Frankfurt Airport.
We had just over an hour between our flights so just enough time to get through security and find our new gate. The second flight Caroline and I got to sit next to each other so that was nice. I fell asleep before we even left the ground and slept about half the flight. We landed in India around 12:20 in the middle of night so as we flew into the city of Chennai all we could see were the lights of the city. As soon as we exited the plane we could feel the humidity and heat. Once we were through customs, security and found our bags we ventured out of the airport to find the graduate students who were picking us up. At this point we realized how many people there actually are here. It was almost 2 am at this point and there was a large crowd outside the airport and cars everywhere. The airport is new so there is still some construction which added to the chaos. Luckily we found our graduate students within a few minutes. We walked over to the car that was to drive us to our hotel. All of the drivers here use their horns way more than we do at home. There was always a horn going off it seemed. This was also my first time driving in a car where the driver was on the right side of the car and we drove on the left side of the road. It was not that weird because we drove on roads that were divided highways so oncoming traffic was not too close to us. It was still a very different ride from the airport compared to my ride to the airport in a minivan with my parents.
We were dropped off at our hotel which is a hotel on one floor of an office building. Even though it was dark out the ride to the hotel was eye-opening. It was the middle of the night but the streets seemed alive. People were sweeping the road with brooms that looked like the brooms that Quidditch players from Harry Potter rode on. There were a variety of odors from the garbage trucks that we passed. We went by the main entrance to the university but our hotel is on the back side so we did not use the main entrance. We went through what seemed like a back alley of East Lansing but was full of people at stands and market stands that were covered up. Groups of people were just hanging out and talking in the road.
We slept as much as we could but ended up waking up around 7am. Today we are going to go the research lab where we will be working and will meet the professor we will be working with. We are to call the graduate student around 10:30 am and he will send a car to pick us up. I am excited to see the city in the daylight and see the lab where we will be working. Both the graduate students that picked us up seemed very nice and willing to help us with whatever we needed so that was comforting.
Below is the view from out hotel room on the 11th floor. This is toward campus. It looks a little different than MSU does. I am eager to explore campus today and ready to be sweating 24/7. I think that my hair will be in a braid a lot these next six weeks.
We had just over an hour between our flights so just enough time to get through security and find our new gate. The second flight Caroline and I got to sit next to each other so that was nice. I fell asleep before we even left the ground and slept about half the flight. We landed in India around 12:20 in the middle of night so as we flew into the city of Chennai all we could see were the lights of the city. As soon as we exited the plane we could feel the humidity and heat. Once we were through customs, security and found our bags we ventured out of the airport to find the graduate students who were picking us up. At this point we realized how many people there actually are here. It was almost 2 am at this point and there was a large crowd outside the airport and cars everywhere. The airport is new so there is still some construction which added to the chaos. Luckily we found our graduate students within a few minutes. We walked over to the car that was to drive us to our hotel. All of the drivers here use their horns way more than we do at home. There was always a horn going off it seemed. This was also my first time driving in a car where the driver was on the right side of the car and we drove on the left side of the road. It was not that weird because we drove on roads that were divided highways so oncoming traffic was not too close to us. It was still a very different ride from the airport compared to my ride to the airport in a minivan with my parents.
We were dropped off at our hotel which is a hotel on one floor of an office building. Even though it was dark out the ride to the hotel was eye-opening. It was the middle of the night but the streets seemed alive. People were sweeping the road with brooms that looked like the brooms that Quidditch players from Harry Potter rode on. There were a variety of odors from the garbage trucks that we passed. We went by the main entrance to the university but our hotel is on the back side so we did not use the main entrance. We went through what seemed like a back alley of East Lansing but was full of people at stands and market stands that were covered up. Groups of people were just hanging out and talking in the road.
We slept as much as we could but ended up waking up around 7am. Today we are going to go the research lab where we will be working and will meet the professor we will be working with. We are to call the graduate student around 10:30 am and he will send a car to pick us up. I am excited to see the city in the daylight and see the lab where we will be working. Both the graduate students that picked us up seemed very nice and willing to help us with whatever we needed so that was comforting.
Below is the view from out hotel room on the 11th floor. This is toward campus. It looks a little different than MSU does. I am eager to explore campus today and ready to be sweating 24/7. I think that my hair will be in a braid a lot these next six weeks.
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