the Indian stem cell journey continues....

Hello all...

I'm finally here!

After a few months/weeks/days of insane difficulties getting my Visa, a near-encounter with a somewhat unpleasant anti-malaria medication, and nearly 24 hours of flying through Europe, Russia, and the Middle East, I have finally made it to Delhi, India.

If you're not aware, I am here to support and accompany my best friend Ryan while she receives stem-cell treatment here in India this summer.

I had certainly intended to blog about all of the difficulty I had getting my Visa (two full days spent at the India Visa Application Centre in Paris, and I didn't get it until less than 12 hours before my flight - the one I had to buy a few days ago because I was told my original free ticket didn't give me enough time) BUT I think it's probably for the best that I leave that all behind me and concentrate on the fact that I finally made it!

After a three hour delay in Helsinki - which I loved, mostly because I was mistaken for Finnish the whole day - and a somewhat harrowing 6-hour plane ride through thunderstorms, I arrived last night in Delhi at around 3:00 am.

I had emailed Ryan earlier from the Helsinki airport to tell her that my flight was going to be late, but I unfortunately had run out of internet time and she had to figure out when I was arriving on her own.

I was concerned that no one would be there to meet me at the airport, but resigned myself to the idea of camping out for a few hours until the government-sanctioned pre-paid taxi station opened and then get myself to the clinic.

But, luckily for me, Ryan was there, with the security guard from the hospital - and they'd been waiting like 2 hours! The ride from the airport seemed short, but it was probably because Ryan and I had lots to talk about.

We got to the clinic and I needed to shower before going to bed - I felt disgusting after traveling all day, and there were many people on the plane to Delhi with major BO, and as I was in the aisle seat next to a rather large and somewhat pushy woman, I got bumped quite a bit and I fear that the BO rubbed off.

Anyway... I'd like to post another blog about our room, and post some photos of the hospital and my "bed" - but that's another story.

Erin also got here - she arrived just a few hours after me and came to the hospital later this morning.

Everything is great... I'll write soon about my first day here.

Please keep up with Ryan's blog as well - we'll be trying to update that daily with the treatment progress and other interesting things. You can find it here: www.ryanmcleanfund.blogspot.com.

Love you all... wish us luck!