Had breakfast at the hotel as usual and returned to the room to don my Kurta as I had not wanted to risk spilling any of my breakfast on it. Ravindra, Narender, Anshul, and Ganesh all commented on it favorably which was cool. Learned in the morning that my flight from JFK to RDU was cancelled. Uh-oh. Not entirely unexpected as home had received some sleet and freezing rain but worrisome to say the least. The forecast for New York was still a manageable 6 inches to a foot but was trending worse.
I know I’ve shown this view before, but I loved the light
Cool trees near the Westin
Anshul and I knocked out another customer fix in the morning then headed to Barbecue Nation in Amanora for lunch. Really great place, they bring out a metal container with charcoal and ridges for holding kebab skewers and then keep bringing out meat (chicken, shrimp, fish, and lamb). It just kept coming and I kept eating — so good. They also served chicken legs which were great as well as this amazing crispy corn that managed to be sweet but also had onions in it. We had seconds of that.
Anshul at Barbecue Nation
Amazingly good corn at Barbecue Nation
Turns out that those were just the starters! Went up to the buffet for the main course and had some biryani as well as some garlic chapati dipped in chicken curry. Yum! For dessert I had some vanilla ice cream with strawberry covering and tried an interesting ice cream-like Indian treat with various toppings. Hopefully Anshul will read this and clarify further, but it was good.
Kebabs at Barbecue Nation
Stuffed, we went to a shop where I got a couple more gifts then headed back to the office. At 4p my co-workers had a going away party with a traditional Punjabi veggie pastry and a wonderful chocolate cake. Took some pictures with the team and said my goodbyes. Anshul walked me out to the front after turning in my badge to security (I had turned in my Blackberry the day before) and we said goodbye and I headed back to the hotel.
Farewell cake, yummy!
Pune co-workers at my farewell gathering
Ravindra, myself (in a kurta), and Narender
Shivaji decal on the back of a car
Once there I showered, packed, and had a pizza at Seasonal Tastes. I know Nikola and Lynneth will sigh when they read this as I was supposed to go to Prego but I was tired and very worried about the trip home so wasn’t in a more celebratory mood. Though Prego’s pizza was much better!
View of the Mula Mutha from my hotel room with the moon overhead
Richard from my company’s travel department was incredibly helpful as we scrambled to figure out what to do about my cancelled flight. We decided that I should go as far as I could and then we’d figure it out. Resolved, I checked out of the hotel at 12:30a and headed to the airport. Stood in line and chatted with a nice gentleman heading to London to work for a year. He helped guide me through the process. Presented my itinerary to the soldier at the entrance (I had trimmed it down to one page to expedite the process). Luckily I had the original and he let me through. Scanned my luggage and the soldier there jotted down that I was there and going to Abu Dhabi. Stood in line for an hour to get my luggage scanned (yes, again!) by Jet Airways. After that got to the ticket counter and… was told that going through to JFK from Abu Dhabi wasn’t happening. He sent me to ticketing — outside the airport, undoing all the work thus far.
I won’t lie, I was a bit worried. Nearly 3a and I’m standing back outside Pune airport having already checked out of the Westin. Luckily the agent at the ticketing office for Jet Airways was absolutely amazing and spoke very good English and helped me out. Turns out that Abu Dhabi to JFK was cancelled and the airlines was requesting all origin airports that transit visas (normally a formality for US travelers, at least) weren’t being offered as the airport was filling up with people unable to travel on to the United States. Indian immigration wouldn’t let me fly on the chance that I’d land in Abu Dhabi and be deported. I used her phone to call the Westin and they came and picked me up, letting me stay the rest of the night in my room (which makes sense, it was paid for after all). They even had it freshened up with new towels, etc. which was awesome.
Chatted some with Richard, informing him of what happened. He put together an alternative of going to Mumbai then to London Heathrow and Raleigh rather than the original Pune to Abu Dhabi to JFK to Raleigh as there was no telling how long JFK would be closed. I groaned as I had heard transfers in Mumbai weren’t great but it was the best plan. Exhausted I went to bed at 4:45a.