The time I rode jump seat to India

I started my journey to India at LAX at 6:45am Friday Oct 14. My plan was to fly Emirates to. Dubai and then on to Bangalore. Since I was flying with a standby ticket I was told to wait until called for my boarding pass. An hour before the flight I was informed that the payload for the flight was at the limit so even though half of the seats on the plane were unoccupied, I could not get on that flight and the next and last flight of the day was oversold. After panic, some tears and a few rather expensive pay phone calls to John I hoped my plan B would work.

Plan B was standby on Lufthansa. I knew the flights were supposed to be crowded so I had little hope. I was able to get on LH at 2:55pm with a connecting flight to Bangalore in Frankfurt. I was given a bulkhead seat, score! Lots of leg room! The people sitting next to me were tweens of two flight attendants, the kids only spoke German and slept most of the way.

After landing in Frankfurt, where we got off the plane on the Tarmac and took shuttles to the terminal, I had to make quick time to the gate for my next flight as there was less than 30 minutes before take off after I made my way through the very thorough German version of TSA. I felt a bit molested after my crotch pat down. I ran to the gate and was told the flight was full and 4 other standby people ahead of me but since I was a family member of an airline employee maybe I could ride jump seat, the Captain would need to approve. I agreed to jump seat but had little hope that permission would be granted. I sat down trying to figure my next step. A few minutes before the flight was to close I was told to come aboard! I was seated next to a flight attendant in the galley for takeoff and then moved to the crew lounge for 3 hours where I took an awesome nap in a BED! Who knew there were beds for crew in a secret compartment behind the lavatories? It was awesome! When it was break time for the crew I was moved back to the galley for a meal served on china and a small box of Lindt chocolates for dessert! I was moved around to different jump seats to make sure I wasn't in the way of crew service. I didn't care where they moved me, I was just so grateful to be on the plane!



We touched down in Bangalore India airport at midnight but my ride had been arranged based on my Emirates flight info so I had a few hours to kill at the airport. The first thing I did was order an iced tea. Took three sips and realized I can't drink iced drinks in India or I will get explosive diarrhea. So for the next twelve hours I waited for the horror to begin. It never did, thank god.

The cab ride to Mysore is about 3 hours to go about 160 kilometers. That was the scariest three hours of my life. There are no rules in India. Red light seems to mean keep going while blowing your horn all the way through. The only thing that stopped the driver were speed bumps. The road was treacherous and I think my driver was very stoned or hadn't slept in days. He stopped for chai twice during the drive. Along the way I saw cows hanging out in alleys and on streets in the slums, many dogs roaming around, busses drove by with women riding on top, carts pulled by oxen on the side of the road. It was one amazing sight after another and all this was happening in the hours before dawn.

I arrived at my apartment at 6:30 Sunday morning and met my flatmate for the next month as he had just finished his first day at the shala. We had chatted via email over the past few months so he wasn't a stranger.

The apartment is large and clean.











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