Home at Last

7/17/11

I’ve been back now for 4 days. I fell back into the groove of U.S. life pretty easily. The plane rides weren’t that bad but felt soooo long. It took 34 hours door to door! I became very nervous when I got to the airport and found out that my Kingfisher airlines flight from Bangalore to Dubai was delayed by 45 minutes, meaning I wouldn’t have much time to make the flight in Dubai to Atlanta. Luckily they rebooked me on an Emirates flight that left 45 minutes earlier! Emirates is a glamorous airline…very cool to be able to enjoy a little of the luxury. I had a couple free glasses of shiraz and chatted with a lady next to me for most of the 4 hours. The flight from Dubai to Atlanta was 15.25 hours!!! It felt like 3 days long. Every time I looked at the clock I couldn’t believe there was more time than a full work-day left. I could hardly sleep and watched 3 movies: the Hall Pass (stupid), the Notebook (for the 52^nd time), and Dear John (so cute!). When I got to Atlanta I couldn’t believe I still had ANOTHER flight. I had to go through customs and immigration then get my suitcase, then re-check it again. The flight to Tampa was only an hour, thank God. I managed to stay away the entire day and crashed around 9:30pm—and slept until 8:30am the next day (11 hours!). After that the jetlag was pretty much over, although I’m still waking up kind of early on my own each morning.

It’s really good to be back, but I definitely miss India. I know I have to go back some day. It’s just such a different life there and I feel strange knowing that hardly anyone here knows what it’s like. It feels like I have a secret that even if I told someone, they wouldn’t understand. It’s hard when people say “how was your trip?!” How the heck am I supposed to explain 2 of the most incredible months of my life in a few-sentence response? I just tell people to read my blog to get a little glimpse of some of my experiences. No one could ever understand what I did, saw and felt…but I hope they at least might get somewhat of an idea.

It’s back to the real-world now…finishing my special project and graduation requirements, bills, trying to find a job, and dealing with my new roommate—Trooper the cat! I sincerely hope you all have enjoyed reading my blog. I know I’ve really enjoyed writing it and chronicling my experiences for myself and everyone reading has been fun and rewarding. I hope if you get an opportunity to do some out-of-the-box traveling one day, you pick India!