As I mentioned earlier, I am back in the states safe and sound :) Poo on me for not posting sooner, but I had some difficulties getting some and have been relaxing, enjoying my family and my home.
So, the days leading up to my departure were quite stressful, with all of the final papers I had to write and such. I finished my last one at 3am Friday morning, got 4 hours of sleep and started my day with a re-entry session at the IES center. Basically we all just talked about how we feel about leaving and going back, and learned about reverse culture shock, and how people would be reacting to us once we returned. I definitely think it was useful.
Then we had our own version of bonding and went out to eat at my favorite restaurant in Delhi, Yeti. It's a Tibetan restaurant with some of the best food I have ever had. I ordered sun-dried spinach with tingmo (traditional Tibetan bread) and chicken momos (dumplings). The spinach is crispy and literally melt in your mouth delicate- it is difficult to pick up without it disintegrating between your fingers. YUM. As nice as this was, it was the last time we would all see each other because I was leaving that night. Everyone else had the next day together, and as I heard them making plans for tomorrow I had to fight back tears. I have grown to love these people and the idea of not seeing them for a very long time was really getting to me. We all had a lovely lunch in spite of that, and we all said our (rather embarrassingly tearful on my part) goodbyes outside the restaurant. I have made some wonderful friends in India and it was really hard to see them go.
I didn't have much time left in the day and I still had to go to the market to buy last-minute presents and get henna!! So I power-walked through my favorite market in Delhi, Laj Pat, and went on a shopping spree, and got henna at the last minute.
When I arrived home it was time for a 'family dinner'- the last dinner we would all be together. Wahhh!! Talk about trying to keep it together, geeze. Sadly I had to excuse myself early because I had to start packing (eeek!!). Luckily I had bought extra luggage at the market on a whim. Yeah... without that huge duffel I do not know what I would have done.
Apparently Auntie had not forgotten that I told her I sang once upon a time, so it was requested that I sing for the group! Yikes. So I pulled Pie Jesu out of my hat and barely made it through because I had a huge lump in my throat. It was all for Auntie, and the first performance I had given in years. It was really special for me, and I'll never forget that moment.
All too soon the taxi came and we all said our tearful goodbyes. One girl pulled me aside and said some of the sweetest, most genuine things to me that I never want to forget. I left very special people in India.
Long story short, I went to the airport and was sitting at the gate and my flight was canceled. Gah. Also, no one was speaking English which was frustrating. So I grabbed my bags and squished on a bus to a hotel, unsure of when I would get back to the states because the pilots were on strike. After many false alarms, I was told to be ready by 8pm the next day because we would be taking the same 145am flight, just 24 hours later. During my time at the hotel I showered and slept, pretty much. As you read earlier, I had gotten very little sleep in the previous days so I happily got caught up.
I finally arrived in Amurica, customs and immigration were a joke, and I breezed right through. Yay!
I left the airport, and drove straight to my sister's volleyball game, where we stayed for hours. Woot. Then we went straight out to dinner where I enjoyed a delicious turkey burger and fries. Yummmm American food haha!
So this will be the last post of A Diamond in Delhi, until I return to India again!! Thank you all for being such loyal readers, and I look forward to telling you stories in person :)
<3 ttfn
So, the days leading up to my departure were quite stressful, with all of the final papers I had to write and such. I finished my last one at 3am Friday morning, got 4 hours of sleep and started my day with a re-entry session at the IES center. Basically we all just talked about how we feel about leaving and going back, and learned about reverse culture shock, and how people would be reacting to us once we returned. I definitely think it was useful.
Then we had our own version of bonding and went out to eat at my favorite restaurant in Delhi, Yeti. It's a Tibetan restaurant with some of the best food I have ever had. I ordered sun-dried spinach with tingmo (traditional Tibetan bread) and chicken momos (dumplings). The spinach is crispy and literally melt in your mouth delicate- it is difficult to pick up without it disintegrating between your fingers. YUM. As nice as this was, it was the last time we would all see each other because I was leaving that night. Everyone else had the next day together, and as I heard them making plans for tomorrow I had to fight back tears. I have grown to love these people and the idea of not seeing them for a very long time was really getting to me. We all had a lovely lunch in spite of that, and we all said our (rather embarrassingly tearful on my part) goodbyes outside the restaurant. I have made some wonderful friends in India and it was really hard to see them go.
I didn't have much time left in the day and I still had to go to the market to buy last-minute presents and get henna!! So I power-walked through my favorite market in Delhi, Laj Pat, and went on a shopping spree, and got henna at the last minute.
When I arrived home it was time for a 'family dinner'- the last dinner we would all be together. Wahhh!! Talk about trying to keep it together, geeze. Sadly I had to excuse myself early because I had to start packing (eeek!!). Luckily I had bought extra luggage at the market on a whim. Yeah... without that huge duffel I do not know what I would have done.
Apparently Auntie had not forgotten that I told her I sang once upon a time, so it was requested that I sing for the group! Yikes. So I pulled Pie Jesu out of my hat and barely made it through because I had a huge lump in my throat. It was all for Auntie, and the first performance I had given in years. It was really special for me, and I'll never forget that moment.
All too soon the taxi came and we all said our tearful goodbyes. One girl pulled me aside and said some of the sweetest, most genuine things to me that I never want to forget. I left very special people in India.
Long story short, I went to the airport and was sitting at the gate and my flight was canceled. Gah. Also, no one was speaking English which was frustrating. So I grabbed my bags and squished on a bus to a hotel, unsure of when I would get back to the states because the pilots were on strike. After many false alarms, I was told to be ready by 8pm the next day because we would be taking the same 145am flight, just 24 hours later. During my time at the hotel I showered and slept, pretty much. As you read earlier, I had gotten very little sleep in the previous days so I happily got caught up.
I finally arrived in Amurica, customs and immigration were a joke, and I breezed right through. Yay!
I left the airport, and drove straight to my sister's volleyball game, where we stayed for hours. Woot. Then we went straight out to dinner where I enjoyed a delicious turkey burger and fries. Yummmm American food haha!
So this will be the last post of A Diamond in Delhi, until I return to India again!! Thank you all for being such loyal readers, and I look forward to telling you stories in person :)
<3 ttfn
