Wrap Up

Well It has been about six months since we came back from India. This time last year I was taking my last final in 100 degree weather in Davis and packing everything into storage. Andrew and I still laugh about our huge argument about trying to shove the bicycle in storage propped up against the wall on one wheel. We we obviously both really stressed out. 

 Going to India was the chance of a lifetime, and I never regret doing it. It was hard at times, sure, but the good times are the ones that I really remember.

 Sometimes I still wake up to nightmares about the begging children, getting our bag stolen, the bomb scares, the stares faces of men on the metro, or some of the other unpleasant experiences. But when I wake up I try think about all of the great things: learning Hindi, skipping classes at Delhi University, getting Beef Kabobs in Chandni Chowk, Delhi, boatride in Varanasi, elephant ride at Amber fort, dressing up in a bright purple sari and going to the Taj Mahal, seeing Mt. Everest, Lake Kacheperri, Sikkim Momo King, camel ride in Pushkar, or learning to play the sitar (and then breaking the world record). <br> We had some pretty amazing times. We had a schedule departure of December 17th, but after the attacks on Mumbai things in Delhi got a bit scary. There were a lot more police around and it seems like were experience something close to Marshall law. Unexpectedly there would be a bomb deter squad on the metro, checking everybody's seats with a mirror and metal detector for bombs. There would be troops running down the street. And all the while the people who lived in Delhi that we had grown to trust were telling us "not to let the terrorists win and lock yourself inside" instead they encouraged us to go out to the markets and stay out in the streets... even as bombs continued to go off. We were pretty startled when one of the bombs that found unexploded was on our everyday regular route to the Art History museum. <br> Instead of staying an extra week past finals we switched our flights to the day after finals were over and started packing. We had a lot more stuff than I remembered, we had to buy an extra suitcase. Good thing we packed light on the way there! We gave our extra food and unwanted clothing to the man who we had paid to come clean our house. He was one of the two decent men in India who we met who didn't try to rip us off or hurt us. The other man was the guy who owned "the corner store" as we called it. He owned a small hole in the wall on the corner of our block and sold icecream, soda, cookies, chips, yogurt, a small little convenience store. He was there everyday dawn till after dusk. He would always give us correct change and even accept our larger bills. He would always try to understand our broken Hindi. On the last night I had an extra 100 Rs and I went to him to get a soda (we would be leaving to early in the morning for him to be open). I purchased a sprite for the morning to calm my nerves and paid for the 20 Rs soda with 100Rs (2 dollars). I told him to keep the change, in broken Hindi, I was not coming back to India, ever. He wouldn't accept it. He called me "baheen" (sister) and told me that I must keep the change. I think that perhaps he thought it was corrupt to keep more than what I owed him. He was a very religious man and always blessed the money you gave him and the change he gave you back. I figure it was for religious reasons that he couldn't keep the money. For some reason I like to think of him a lot, probably still standing in that shop selling sodas.<br> We left India in a rush. I felt sad and anxious. It was hard to say good bye to our friends for the past six months. At the airport we were laughing so hard to just stop from crying.<br> Since being back it was hard in the beginning for me. For Andrew, he said it was easy. He said that he wanted to stay in America for a long time and has no interest in going abroad. Of course a couple months ago I think he remembered his travel bug and started trying to plan our next trip. India was a long trip and right now is a hard time to find a job for me, so I don't think we can afford another trip this summer. But hopefully next summer we can travel again, I think we have both been bitten by the travel bug forever.<br> <br> PS I have found some extra photos that I never posted here of our neighborhood. The last week I was feeling very sort of romantic about our neighborhood. So when we went to go sell back our bike I took the video camera and strapped it to my waist with a scarf. We have a video of us biking through our neighborhood in Delhi, to the university to drop of our final papers and then to Chandni Chowk to sell back our bikes that we had bought in June. I'm not sure if many people are interested in seeing the video(there is an elephant walking through it!) but I'm posting it here more for my own nostalgia. Maybe you will enjoy it.