Sorry for the spotty posting; I am still in New Delhi and have not had enough bandwidth to get photos up. I will add photos and some matching text to the first post, and to this one when I get to Dehradun, hopefully before tomorrow.
Three of us are still in New Delhi - our local surgeon Kush, our translator Nisha, and myself as a representative of the team doctors (and the most redundant) - working our tails off to get the medical equipment from detention in New Delhi. There was a glich in preparation of transport of such items into the country, and they want to check it over on several excruciating bureaucratic levels before they will release it. Nisha and I spent all day at the airport in customs with the boxes while everyone was called (it was a weekend day, so difficult to do), and no one would give permission to override any of the rules for entry. Kush was orbiting in the background outside, thinking that the boxes would be released at any moment. We are calling ourselves "The Three Boxkateers."
Finally Nisha and I left for a hotel when we realized the boxes weren't going anywhere, and after a long ceremony of tying each box with string and sealing with a wax seal (melted and placed as we watched), we signed off on our collection and went to a local hotel. We treated ourselves to room service and crashed at about 7:30 pm.
Jet lag and sleep disorders being what they are, I woke at about 1:30 a.m. and read, checked email, and passed the time until I could fall asleep for another short nap before getting up. I knew Monday was going to be another long day, so had to brace myself for what daylight might bring to us...
What unfolded was another day of waiting. It was Monday, and all the awaited officials had arrived, and no one would budge on this issue. It wasn't a matter of bribing; our group did not prepare the box entry correctly and to do it from within the country is always a long bureaucratic ordeal.
We got names of several people we had to see, from Customs agents on up to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry is in the middle of making the 2013 budget, so we were warned they were busy. Everyone was very kind and helpful, but not so far as to clear our equipment.
Our last stay at the Ministry ended late in the evening, so we made another return to the hotel and had room service. It didn't take long for sleep to wash over us and take us hostage.
Three of us are still in New Delhi - our local surgeon Kush, our translator Nisha, and myself as a representative of the team doctors (and the most redundant) - working our tails off to get the medical equipment from detention in New Delhi. There was a glich in preparation of transport of such items into the country, and they want to check it over on several excruciating bureaucratic levels before they will release it. Nisha and I spent all day at the airport in customs with the boxes while everyone was called (it was a weekend day, so difficult to do), and no one would give permission to override any of the rules for entry. Kush was orbiting in the background outside, thinking that the boxes would be released at any moment. We are calling ourselves "The Three Boxkateers."
Finally Nisha and I left for a hotel when we realized the boxes weren't going anywhere, and after a long ceremony of tying each box with string and sealing with a wax seal (melted and placed as we watched), we signed off on our collection and went to a local hotel. We treated ourselves to room service and crashed at about 7:30 pm.
Jet lag and sleep disorders being what they are, I woke at about 1:30 a.m. and read, checked email, and passed the time until I could fall asleep for another short nap before getting up. I knew Monday was going to be another long day, so had to brace myself for what daylight might bring to us...
What unfolded was another day of waiting. It was Monday, and all the awaited officials had arrived, and no one would budge on this issue. It wasn't a matter of bribing; our group did not prepare the box entry correctly and to do it from within the country is always a long bureaucratic ordeal.
We got names of several people we had to see, from Customs agents on up to the Ministry of Finance. The Ministry is in the middle of making the 2013 budget, so we were warned they were busy. Everyone was very kind and helpful, but not so far as to clear our equipment.
Our last stay at the Ministry ended late in the evening, so we made another return to the hotel and had room service. It didn't take long for sleep to wash over us and take us hostage.
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