Monday morning I left my hotel for the airport to catch a flight from Abu Dhabi to New Delhi.  I learned a very important lesson on the way to the airport – know which terminal your flight leaves from.  The international airport in Abu Dhabi has three terminals.  Unfortunately my taxi driver did not appear to have a good command of English.  On the way to the airport he asked me which terminal I was heading to and I responded that I didn’t know but my flight was an Etihad flight to New Delhi.  “Where is your ticket?  In my bag in the trunk but the ticket does not specify the terminal”.  The taxi driver calls a friend or his company and is told Terminal 1.  As we arrive at the airport we pass Terminal 3 and it looks very familiar so I told him he could drop me but instead he continues to drive to Terminal 1.  When I arrive at Terminal 1, I ask an Etihad staff member if my flight left from Terminal 1 and he informed me that the flight left from Terminal 3.  I flagged down the same taxi, reloaded my luggage and then we circled back around the perimeter of the airport to Terminal 3.  The taxi driver reset his meter and the second fare I had to pay was almost half of my initial fare from the hotel to the airport.  So it pays to know before you go!

The flight from Abu Dhabi was packed with passengers because many people leave places like Abu Dhabi and Kuwait during the summer due to the heat.  However New Delhi was no cooler than Abu Dhabi!  I arrived at the hotel after 9:00 PM and after a delicious dinner I enjoyed a good night’s sleep in an air-conditioned room.

Tuesday morning I departed New Delhi on a four hour drive to Moradabad.  As we snaked through the New Delhi traffic my driver pointed out the location where 35,000 had gathered the previous day for International Yogi Day.  The traffic from New Delhi to Moradabad was the usual menagerie of cars, buses, trucks(lorries), motorcycles, trishaws, bullock carts, etc.  It is normal to see scenes of various wrecks consisting of severely damaged vehicles with their goods scattered across the highway and this trip was no exception.  We crossed the Ganges and the river was flowing full.  The monsoon rains had reached the mountains and people were enjoying the abundant water as they tried to escape the heat. 

In the afternoon I arrived in Moradabad, checked into my hotel and then visited with Eugene Kumar and his family.  Eugene’s family lives in a Muslim community so the streets were much less crowded than normal due to the Ramadan fast.  But even with few pedestrians and carts, winding through the narrow lanes was quite slow.  We shared a Bible study together as well as lots of fellowship which was capped off by a very delicious feast of Indian food.  The temperature and the humidity were quite high but thankfully Eugene’s family had a fan and air cooler.  The only complication was the intermittent electrical supply.  At first the public electricity was available but after a short time the power was cut and a generator had to be started.  Then the power would come back on and the generator was turned off.  This cycle repeated itself several times during the visit.  Sadly this is normal for much of India.  Power cuts can be frequent and unannounced so those who can afford to do so have a backup system in place.  Spending time with Eugene and his family is always a wonderful experience.  Please continue to pray for them.  Communal unrest is always a big concern for them.