Where will she go next?: Pune

We are in Pune (pooh-knee), most of the group met up at the airport in Delhi early this morning and most made it on the flt (one person’s itinerary was cancelled and they were booked on the next flight. So there were some hiccups, one notable one was when I was checked in as a different person on the trip (I had to hand over my id and all that), went through security, where they look at you and your ticket, and then while we were waiting to board and checking seat numbers it becomes apparent that I did not have the boarding pass for Jaclyn Cockburn - yikes (for so many reasons - how was it even possible that two boarding passes for the same person were printer, how is it that no one noticed/ checked the names closely??). Anyway, it got sorted, got on the plane - they told us a couple of seats - different from the double boarding cards, but whatever it would be fine, plane landed a couple hours later in Pune, got off the plane, I didn’t have any luggage to collect, so I was just waiting for the group, which is when I realized, I didn’t have my phone! Gah - gut-wrenching, face-palming, sinking feeling (I probably shouldn’t even have a passport and be allowed out of the country). I tracked down an airline agent and they said they would look into it... without a specific timeframe mentioned this was a bit concerning. Tracked down some other people, it was decided that there was a phone found, we just need to prove/verify that it is mine. What brand? Okay got that, what seat, yep 17a, no problem, can we see your boarding card, ohh so that’s a problem... there was this strange moment (like a 5-10 minute moment) where four of us were standing around a counter - with my phone on the counter, a handwritten note of me declaring I received my phone, and then this weird stalemate about the boarding pass... anyway, clearly I got my phone back, but honestly this is why I can’t have nice things.

We are about to head to the University of Pune, to meet with some experts and learn more about the region. I am trying my hardest to not fall asleep (tricky with the full tummy and poor sleep last night). In a possible miracle turn of events, my bag has been located - we are now working toward reunification - could be tonight (probably means I need to go back to the airport...), could be tomorrow (more tricky as we are heading ~150 km south of here (no airports along the way) and will be there for two nights), before moving again - even further from Pune. I am hopeful that I will see my bag before I leave India. And for the sake of my fellow-field trippers, I hope it is sooner than later - they are all really nice people and I am quickly becoming ‘that’ kid on the trip, which is totally counter to the packing strategy I came up with last week - don’t draw attention to yourself - no one notices the tail on a dancing donkey etc., and therefore no one will know you are wearing the shirt from yesterday...