Sometimes while I was on the other side of the planet I wished I could click my heels together and fly far, far away, come retro twister or the wave of a magic wand. Instead I took a two hour flight to Mumbai, a 9 hour flight to Brussels, an 8 hour flight to Newark and then a 3 hour car ride back to my home town of Simsbury, Ct. I have been home for week now, and it has been, on the whole, incredible. But surprisingly enough, it has been extremely overwhelming. Everyone is asking how the transition, from living in a developing country to coming back to ideal suburbia, has been. One friend equated it to coming back from war. While I was fortunate enough to not have to deal with extremes in that sense, I understand what he meant. The first night I was home, I got changed into pj pants and a sweatshirt, because I had gone from 99 degree weather, to 7 degree weather in a little over 24 hrs. After I brushed my teeth before going to bed, I was in the bathroom and slowly turned my head to the right. "I can take a hot shower. Right now, if I want to," I thought to myself. To me, at this moment, to was like a gift from God. In India, I never knew if we were going to have water at all, let along power to heat it up. So I took a shower. An honest to God, standing up, hot steaming, full streaming, shower. And ya know what? I took another one in the morning, just because I knew I could.
The first time I drank water from the fridge, I hestitated. I almost asked my mother if it had been filtered. Then I realized that it was once again safe to drink it right from the tap. I only did that once in India, and once was enough. I was sick for three days. Blech. On Saturday morning, I saw the first on many friends. We stopped at a Dunken Donuts on the way to our destination. Not only was I already excited that I got to wear a seat belt in the car, but I smiled to myself when I didn't hear anything outside the car. It was blissfully quiet. Not one single honk from another vehicle all day long. But the real kicker came when I went inside Dunken Donuts to order food. It was the first time in 6 months, that I knew what would happen for sure. I would pay with American dollars, recieve mundane American service, and eat my bagel and cream cheese like it was nobody's business. Directly after I ordered, I stepped to the side to wait for my things, and I glanced down to see a napkin dispenser. I had never been so excited in all of my life to see such an ordinary object. I literally got tears in my eyes. My friends immediatedly saw my face and asked me what was wrong. I told them nothing, that this ordinary napkin dispenser had made me so happy because it was not common in India. If I went to a restaurant, I wasn't even allowed to place my own napkin in my lap. And if I went to a local hole in the wall, they didn't gave you napkins. Now, here I was, in a Dunken Donuts, eating a dairy product that didn't make me nervous and touching whatever I damn well pleased without thinking about immediately applying hand sanitizer. Being home felt so freeing.
A week later, I am still taking things slowly. I have now driven for the first time, eaten meat for the first time, and am sleeping on a pretty normal schedule. I miss Brandon very much. I know he'll be home in a few weeks, but being apart is not something I plan on doing ever again. I look forward to appreciating everything we are so lucky to have. I make a conscious effort to be thankful for all the little things we take for granted. I learned more than I could have ever imagined in India. And I know that I will take those experiences with me, wherever I may go next.
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