I'm Back From India!

Well folks, I'm back.  Did you miss me?

So India was amazing.  Overwhelming, exhausting, hectic, but also warm, friendly, delicious, and astounding.  Lots and lots of adjectives for my short week in this country.  I definitely want to go back lots and lots, and maybe even move there for a while, though Anuj is not sure about that latter part. 

It was a looong trip there - the early departure and the late arrival were taxing, and Anuj is absolutely no company on a plane ride.  The man just sits down and zonks out.  Completely.  For the duration of the entire flight.  I had bought Sudoku books for us to race each other, but we only managed one contest until he settled in for his shut-eye.  Which, speaking of settling in, Anuj laughed at me for what he calls my "nesting".  Apparently, I "nest" on an airplane.  Which I guess is true: when I sit down I go through a fairly elaborate ritual of unfolding my blanket and pillow, placing them exactly where I want them to be, carefully choosing what I plan to stow in the overhead bin, what goes under my seat, what goes in the seat flap in front of me.  (this involves thinking about what book I'd like to read, if and when I will watch the inflight movie, etc.)   I set out the snacks and the drinks I brought with me, and I apply lipgloss, lotion, and drink water.  (It's dehydrating to be on an airplane, didn't you know!)  I have always thought this was all perfectly normal until Anuj looked at me dumbfounded and said, "Joke, what are you doing?!?"    I continued to arrange and put away and looked up and though, "What?"   I guess I was being abnormal?

We arrived in India at about midnight.  I was so tired but tried to pull it together for my first impression on Anuj's family.  Anuj had said arrival in Delhi was crazy: loads of people holding signs and his entire family waiting to welcome us.   So I was prepared for the onslaught.  That never came!   We got through the gates and absolutely no one was waiting for us.  Anuj was puzzled, saying that had never happened before.  Before I could go into a panic mode (we had no phone numbers, no addresses, nothing to indicate where we were going, and it was kind of a melee of people at the airport), a man who looks like an exact replica of Anuj's dad came pushing through the crowd and gave us lots of hugs and kisses and flowers and welcomecards.   Aha!  This was Ramesh Chacha, Anuj's uncle.   And we were off.

We went to stay with Anuj's dad's parents'.  Not necessarily a spacious place to stay, but to stay anywhere else would be an insult to the family.  I was pretty prepared for less comfortable facilities than I was used to, so it didn't shock me too much, but Baba and Dadi's house is definitely small and basic.  Also, it was filled to the hilt with relatives.  We came in with an elaborate process of welcomes, "Namaste"'s and the touching-of-feet.  We were both blessed over and over again by Anuj's grandparents, which was so nice.  Luckily I was somewhat familiar with the headpatting and feet-touching, but to actually experience it in India was pretty cool.  Here's me with Anuj and his Baba and Dadi, on their couch in one of the two rooms of the apartment:

We didn't go to sleep until about 3 am!!  Which, considering Anuj and I had been up since 5 am Amsterdam time (well, I had.  Mr. Sleepy McSnore had of course slept the whole airplane ride), staying up that late was exhausting.   I fell into bed completely exhausted.  (side note: since apparently sleeping arrangements are so loose in India, with people sharing beds, sharing rooms, sleeping on sofas, beds, and even easily on mattrsesses on the floor, Anuj and I somehow managed to be allowed to sleep next to each other the entire week.  It seemed ok with all family members, though I am still wondering whether we didn't create a slight scandal by doing so?  I offered to sleep elsewhere but I was assured everything was fine.  It was nice, with the all the "new" experiences that week, that at the end of the day I still had the familiarity of Anuj right next to me.)

I was woken up, to my horror, at about 6 am the next morning.  It being a tiny apartment, with lots of people in it, with some very early risers, there really was no escaping the early morning wake up call.  Anuj pulled me out of bed and brought me out to the balcony, and he made my first morning in India a wonderful experience with a cup of steaming hot chai and a glance of early morning bustle on a Delhi street.

Ok, instead of me writing one HUGE post that is all about India, I am going to do it this way - update often in the next four days and tell you the whole story. This way, there will hopefully be something new everytime you check in.  Also, it means you don't have to get bored reading the Longest Entry Ever (I never like the really long entries on blogs!  Is that weird?).  I am also going to try and experiment with making my first photo album on this site - but that's for later.  I also have a crud load of work to catch up on so I am doing that too.

Also, remember that you can click on any of the photos in all the entries and see them in enlarged form.  It's worth it with some of these India photos!

to be continued...

Comments

[louisa]

lovely to have you back Joke !!! been missing your posts :-)
You are not the only one who ' nests' on planes. I have to control and watch myself when packing my carry on luggage otherwise there basically would be no suitcase to take as would all be in my carry on !! ha ha

I am even worse as I bring my own towel tooth brush soap and have a little schedule as to when things get done on the plane trip. nice to know there is another ' nester' out there !!!

[Julie]

Seriously, how people can survive long flights without hand lotion and properly-placed snacks is beyond me. And people who can sleep well on planes disgust me.

Glad you had such a great time-- can't wait to read part 2!

[Jennifer]

If I can make a photo album in typepad, you will defintiely be able to!

I bring so much stuff on plane rides. At least a liter of water, becuase it IS dehydrating on there, about 3 books in case I don't like the first two of them, earphones, extra jackets, travel pillows.. and, of course, drugs. I have all the comforts of home, but I still can't sleep on planes -- probably becuase I'm an insomiac at home too. On our overnight trip back from hawaii I doped up on enough benadryl and percocet to knock out an elephant. I didn't sleep a wink the whole 8 hours... but thanks to that drug coctail I had a rockin good time staring at the seat in front of me. I highly recommend it next time you have a long flight, now that you have the first impressions out of the way :)

[Meredith]

Man I'm so jealous! I've been BEGGING my husband do go to Africa, India, Seoul, Thailand, Russia.. etc etc etc and he basically has shot down all of these places.. although his mom said she'd go with me.

When I told him i wanted to do an African safari for our honeymoon he offered to take me to the Baltimore zoo instead.

I can't wait to hear more about it .. post a bazillion photos so i can live vicariously through you

we're going to italy in less than 2 weeks now for almost 3 weeks.. ever been there? any suggestions on what to do?

[cee]

Welcome home! I'm looking forward to more stories and lovely photos of a land so far away!

[janet]

welcome back! Thanks for posting so many pics - I can't wait for the whole story - sounds so fun!

I do the same "nesting" thing on flights and I am obsessive about drinking a lot of water. You have probably flown internationally so many times you could write a book on the right way to travel!

[Ali G]

how incredible! india is so on my list for future vacations - i'd love to see the place heron grew up. but we're definitely going to indonesia first, since that's where his family is now.

so, in the list of ali's imaginary vacations - indonesia, then india. then perhaps iceland, just to stay on the 'i' kick.

i was totally wanting to create a photo album - so many nice photos of both dallas and jackson hole! maybe we can emotionally support each other through this trying time?

[Jennifer]

Man I need to learn how to use spellcheck.

[Lisa B]

Wow, welcome back! SOunds like quite an adventure. I can't wait to hear more!

[Z]

Welcome back, I've missed you too.

And after 3 visits to India (2 to friends' weddings) I miss India too, all the time. Yes, sleeping arrangements are very friendly and a houseful of people is no problem as we all just doss down wherever there is a space.

I nest on planes too and can't sleep.

Did you wear a sari?

[Isabel]

Hooray. The pictures are amazing. How cool!!

And sounds like Anju and my husband are the exact same...sleeping the entire flight. I'm also so bored when I fly with my husband. I'm to the point where I don't even try to get a seat next to him. What's the point!

Also, happy that you got to sleep by each other. I am sure that may you far more comfortable!

[Tom]

Flights are very dehydrating! Great post, Joke. Can't wait to read more.

[Shweta]

Hey it seems this was your first visit to India. You may learn a lot about India from my Sister-In-Laws's blog . Mari is a Costa Rican and is presently settled in India . She is married to my cousin brother Ishan. You must visit her blog :

http://www.masalamom.blogspot.com