BUREAUCRACY: Two years ago, after we had recently arrived in Israel, it was time for the Diplomat, Son and I to visit the family in India. Procuring tickets from Tel Aviv to Chennai for less than one million dollars was a mammoth task, and the Diplomat came up with the brilliant scheme of flying on the cheap to Abu Dhabi, then grabbing a cab to Dubai, and flying from there on the cheap to Chennai. One elusive element of travel to India is the fact that I need a visa to go there - an annoying formality to this pretentious American traveler. In the past, India, in a sudden progressive fit, had allowed for a visa on arrival in addition to applying and getting a visa online in advance. Well, apparently the sudden progressive fit was over, so e-visa it was. With the promise of getting the visa within 72 hours on the ministry’s website, I gleefully applied 96 hours because I am a CAREFUL PLANNER! As you can probably guess by now, I still had no visa on the morning of our flights. Emails and calls to the facility providing the visas were 110% futile because (a) no one ever picks up (which I can understand comes as a shock to many), (b) email responses take about 24 hours. Undaunted, I got on the plane to Abu Dhabi with the grumpy Diplomat (who thought I should have applied, like, last year), and a nonchalant Son (who did not care one way or another). I was CONVINCED that my visa would come through during the day. We made it to Abu Dhabi and took a $100 taxi to Dubai, managing to see downtown Dubai and the Burj Khalifa in the process (it is skinny and impressive). In a stunning turn of events (not), my visa did not come. At Dubai airport, the very compassionate and utterly unimpressed IndigoAir clerk firmly (but with a huge smile) refused to get me on that plane to India without the darn visa. After hanging around the airport forlornly for about 2 hours, I called it a day, bought myself a ticket back to Tel Aviv, and went home while the Diplomat and Son flew to Chennai without me for a week. I received an email with my visa the next day. Naturally.
WAR: Accordingly, last year, we decided to try the trip again. Never an easy feat given the lack of convenient flights from the places we have been living in the past several years, in 2021 we proudly managed to book a set of practically direct flights on Air India. I had a visa, we told everyone we were going, this trip was HAPPENING! And then, on October 7th, some really bad things happened in Israel (unless you have been asleep under a rock for the previous 6 months, I will not explain what that was). Which, naturally, meant that our flights were summarily canceled. Given that the airline was Air India, it also meant that we were not getting our money back without a massive fight, public shaming on social media, and an irrationally irate email exchange, in which I explained in minute detail to Air India exactly what I thought of them. We got our money back.
NATURE: Fast forward to April and we thought it was a very good time to try again. Airlines were coming back to Israel, Son had a long spring break, I still had a visa, it all made sense on paper. So, two months ago, I bought a ticket on Air India (I never learn) for a direct flight from Tel Aviv to Delhi. For reasons too long to explain, but mostly having to do with the fact that he was procrastinating, the Diplomat had to buy his and Son’s tickets on FlyDubai instead with a layover in Dubai (this is all very relevant, I promise!). The week before the trip, Iran decided to send some rockets in the direction of Israel. As you can guess by now, Air India promptly canceled its flights from Tel Aviv (we are officially done, I will never fly that blasted airline again). I frantically rebooked myself on FlyDubai, and we were still on track. Until we got a notice that all of our flights were canceled because of apocalyptic flooding in Dubai. But I was more determined than ever! Despite a carefully planned trip around India, where we were booked to gallivant through Delhi for a few days for Son to see the sights, then see tigers in the Ranthambore reserve, and then go practice some yoga in Rishikesh before ending the trip with family in Chennai, we rebooked the tickets for several days later, hoping to save at least SOME of the itinerary. And yes, as you can guess how much all of this was costing us.
I have never checked the weather forecast with such trepidation, monitoring the rain and humidity predictions. Believe it or not, the weather cleared, the epic flooding subsided, and we actually made it to India in the end. You can’t say that I am not tenacious!
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