Day One 10/27/15

Food Market in New Delhi

Jet lag is a funny thing.  Your body thinks it wants to eat, sleep or walk or all three at once.  I tried to write on the flight coming out like I have done historically in the past  four years but I couldn’t string a single sentence together.  Now, it is 11:00 pm in New Delhi and after having slept for two hours I can’t resume my sleep.  The joys of traveling half way around the world.  So I dragged out my laptop and proceeded to pull together a much needed update on the blog.  

Every trip to India has been different and this one is certainly no exception.  Perhaps by far this is the most difficult and will be critical in setting the stage for the coming HAP projects.  There are so many unknown factors and in the months prior to this trip even though I had planned and written out in detail the beginnings of this HAP project, it became quite clear that we were running on presumptions.  We still didn’t know if the community at large would welcome an acupuncture clinic.  Where would we set up and who would be interested in taking on this large commitment to learn a whole new life skill and healing art?  All these things need to be explored and discussed with the locals before commencing with any solid base for development plans. 

Some of you have asked me how I came to decide on Sikkim, and I can simply say it was at the request of a HAP board member, Ming Liu.  Over a year ago, John Kokko, another HAP board member, introduced me to Ming via Facebook and suggested that we communicate since we seemed to have the same goals regarding enabling and training local people in destitute areas to do acupuncture.  While I was still very much involved with the Barefoot Acupuncturists in Mumbai, I was intrigued by Ming’s request to go to Bhutan.  I followed up with a visit to California and it was then that Ming and I solidified our decision to work together to produce Ming’s dream.  We labored for months and planned trips that kept getting pushed back.  Finally, we were realizing that Bhutan would be difficult to proceed without some solid connections with the Bhutanese government and their Ministry of Health.  So, Ming said to me one day, what would you think of going to Sikkim? And I said, yes. Hence my trip to Sikkim.  

It is with a heavy heart that Ming passed away last May.  We were supposed to do this trip together and I would like to think that he is with me in spirit.  It is certainly, in his honor and memory that we are proceeding with our plans as he wouldn’t want it any other way.  I am deeply grateful to Ming for having trusted me with his visions and for giving me the inspiration to take HAP in this new direction.  

For those of you who have been following my blog for the past years will remember that my previous trips have been with Barefoot Acupuncturists in Mumbai.  I am indebted to Walter Fischer and the Barefoot family for giving me the whole hearted conviction that this work can be done.  I have seen it in action with this team and their love and generosity towards me has given me the foundation that I will always carry with me with every step I take.  This new direction could not have been done without them.  My only sorrow is that I won’t see them as frequently as I have been. 

This trip was the first time that I flew straight from Chicago to New Delhi.  Fifteen hours.  I have two things to say about that, it’s a long damn flight and why the hell don’t they make the seats with low back support?  Other than that, I liked not having to go through customs twice in Amsterdam at what seems like the middle of the night.  

I ended up getting a hotel room in New Delhi since my last flight doesn’t leave until tomorrow.  A word of advice, if you are going to be needing a hotel for a layover, do your homework beforehand.  Know what hotel to ask for and what the going rate is.  I paid the equivalent of $65 for taxi to and from the hotel and one night. While at the time I thought that was reasonable, the hotel the driver took me to was posted online for $20 per night.  So, they obviously made $30 to $40 off of me as taxi fare is dirt cheap here.  In the end, it doesn’t matter, I have wasted that money on worse things.  In the future though, I’m going to stake out the hotels ahead of time.   

Now it’s midnight. I have a long day of traveling tomorrow. Another flight to Bagdogra and then four hours of driving to Gangtok.  I should’ve brought the melatonin.  More tomorrow.  Good night. Or good day. Sigh.