The End

Since exactly one month ago I landed in Seattle and took my first steps into America I figure it is time to conclude this blog.  As most of you know we had a fairly traumatic exit from India.  I’ve never yearned for home like I did during that experience.  But now that I’ve been home, that exit is just one small memory.  I find myself thinking about and missing our neighbors Chandu and Ramana, and Vara, Prem, and precious little Nancy.  Life is continuing in India, I’m just not there any more.  And now it is time to begin another chapter in America. Here is something I wrote while packing up in India to come home but never posted.

"We have officially begun to pack.   Our apartment of 7 months is beginning to look empty and bare like when we first arrived in October, jet-lagged and unsure of what to expect.  However my feelings right now couldn’t be farther from when we first got here.  Life in India has become normal.  We’ve learned, adapted, and loved. As I look all the way back to our arrival date it almost seems unreal to think about all the things we have seen, experienced, and felt. Frustrating experiences that I thought would never end are just memories now.  We talk about them and laugh.  They made me into a more patient person. Lets just say India teaches you patience whether you want it to or not.

During out last trip to Cuddupah, we did some serious at a sports store.  Some friends of Brooke’s grandparents donated some money for us for the school.  You would surprised how much further money goes over here, and we found ourselves walking out of the store with cricket bats, balls, and wickets, volleyballs, soccer balls, badminton sets, rings, jump ropes, and ball pumps.  While the kids won’t get to play with the equipment while we’re here very much since school is almost over, they’ll have no lack of equipment for the next school year.  Brooke also directed getting the swing set fixed, so instead of one swing and three sets of broken chains, there are now four new swings.

Soon we’ll be reunited with our family and friends in America and instead of missing home we’ll be missing that place on the other side of the world.  India gets in your blood, and as I hate to admit that I have idea when I’ll ever be able to come back here, India and its people will always be a part of me."

Never have 7 months had such an impact on my life.  While I am now fully adjusted to carpet beneath my feet, warm showers, and paying half a month’s salary in India for a pair of jeans, I haven’t adjusted to missing those people.  I would never take back my experience in India. The world has so much to teach us, we just have to let it.  Thanx to all of you for reading and for the support you gave us.

-T