Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home
July 8, 2011
The journey home followed the same theme that I had going on in India…Expect the unexpected. We left base at 2am just to start heading to the airport. There were raids and strikes going on that day so just to play it safe we wanted to give ourselves plenty of time to arrive for my flight even if we were stopped at barricades. We had no problem getting there luckily. Everything seemed to be going smoothly except for having the windows down on the drive in the middle of a rain storm and our driver running though a puddle and me getting splashed with dirty water. But like everything else that happens in India you just have to laugh. Goodbyes are never fun. The people I have met have meant the world to me and I will truly miss them. I was about to check my baggage when they informed me that my flight has been delayed two hours. Instead of leaving at 6:45 it was now to part at 8:30. Normally this really would not have been a huge issue, but my connection in London was leaving at the time I was to arrive. According to everyone I talked to to try and figure a way to make it they said it was impossible for me to catch. When someone in India says something is impossible…trust me...they really mean it. In most cases if you really need something to be done you can just pay someone off. They informed me that I would in fact miss my connection in London, gave their sincere apologies, and insured me that they would provide me a hotel in London for the night at their expense. In my head I was thinking hey that’s really not so bad… I can go explore London for a few hours and have dinner at a pub or something, get some rest, and then continue my journey home. However the only problem with this was that I would already be missing 2 days of intense summer school and if I did not get home missing 3 days would literally be a death sentence to my brain. I know I needed to find a way home. After arriving in London, still tried after getting maybe only 2 hours of sleep on a 10 and a half hour flight, I waited in a terribly long line to arrange the new flight plans. I was literally overwhelmed by the amount of white people I saw! I felt like I was in this whole new world. What was really neat though was making friends with some of the Indians on my plane. I realized how judgmental we are as a human population…including myself. I have been so used to Indian culture and I absolutely love the sarees and sawarrs that they wear, but coming into a western culture wearing that its amazing to look at everyone’s faces who stare at them and begin to chuckle, whisper, and make cruel jokes. I was so upset and bothered by the people in India who stared at me for being white, but realizing just how much we stare at people with a different culture and judge them more harshly then they judge us… it sort of humbles you in a way and gives you more compassion and understanding for people. I kinda feel connected with my Indian friends now. Almost as if I understand where they are coming from and what it feels like to be judged immediately by what you’re wearing, what color your skin is, or how you look.
After finally being able to talk to an employee I found out there was one more way for me to get home. There was a flight leaving for Newark, NJ in an hour and from there I could catch another airlines connection to Houston. With much contemplation I decided that although this would be the stressful option…all I really wanted to do at this point was to get home. The lady who worked with me was such a huge help. She booked my tickets, gave me the new itinerary, and sent me with special privileges along the fast track way though security! It was kinda nice to skip the HUGE line, but at the same time there really was absolutely no time for me to waste. I literally was running though the airport to try to catch the flight that I desperately did not want to miss. Security has never moved slower and they took away my mango juice that I got in India. That stuff was so good and I was really looking forward to drinking it, but I had no time to argue or complain…I had a plane to catch. I ran though the massive crowd of people and down the escalator and when I reached the gate they gave the final boarding call and I was the last one through the gate. I made it…but barley. Exhausted and worried about sparing enough time to catch my next flight I was in no mood to talk to the nice German boys next to me. The flight was packed and I found out that I did in fact get the very last seat. I tried to get as much sleep as I could on this flight, but of course the quality of sleep on airplanes is never very good. I suppose I basically was like a walking zombie at this point. Especially now looking back at it all that I really don’t remember much. As we landed I waited anxiously to get off the plane…I had less than an hour to get to my next flight. Here I had to go through customs as well as security… I prepared m self mentally to run and boy did I ever run. Being stuck in London for the night didn’t seem so bad, but there was no way that I wanted to be stuck in NJ for the night. The one good thing about being in NJ was that I was one step closer to being home and I could actually use my phone to call my mom and let her know what time she may or may not be able to pick me up. She was totally surprised to hear I was in NJ. I spoke to her in Hyderabad on an overpriced phone call to let her know that I more than likely would be in London for the night and thus arrive at home on the 7th rather than the 6th. I booked it though customs and then ran to the nearest ticket counter that would print me out my boarding pass…they only words they had for me were “I would hurry if I were you if you want to catch that flight…” As if I was not already worried and exhausted enough… I found a few hundred feet later that to get to the terminal I needed to be at I had to catch the tram. The people on the tram were all so funny and nice. I told them my situation and they were so helpful. As we were on the tram you could see the outline of New York City! I haven’t been there myself yet, but hey I saw the skyline which was at least something. As the tram began to move forward my body apparently was way more exhausted than I even realized. The person next to me had to catch me from falling. Because I have been sitting and flying for so long my bodies balance was entirely thrown off. They laughed at me of course. Finally made it to the terminal, but no joke I have never seen security move slower. I was watching the time tick down and the panic begin to set in…I just wanted to get home. Finally made it though…and once again as soon as I arrived at my gate the boarding had just began… I made it, but barley. The flight was very empty which was nice. I had three seats to myself where I just laid down and finally got some decent sleep for about an hour or so. The plane arrived in Houston at 11:45 ish. It was a nice reunion with my mom who came and picked me up. I can’t help but laugh at the tears she was shedding. I think I was too tired to really understand that I was home in America. I was just happy to be at a secure destination. We waited and waited for my luggage, but not to my surprise, it never showed up. We talked to several people and they said they would get it sent to us today when it arrived, but as of today at midnight it has still yet to show up.
After getting into college station from Houston it was so nice to have an actual shower and then sleep in probably the most comfortable ever. I didn’t get bug bites, and I was not sweating my entire water weight out…it was amazing. Really…these are maybe some of the things I appreciate most about America (besides our freedom of course). I had to get up the next day for summer school. After already missing two days of only a 5 week course… I feel so behind and can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the amount of work I need to do to catch up. The professor was really helpful though and gave me a good over view of what I need to do exactly to quote on quote “keep my head above the water”. He even called me crazy at one point for even trying to take this class. I have this huge motivation behind me though and although it is not an ideal situation for me to be taking this class right now when all I want to do is rest and process, I see the end result of it all. I know the weekend will bring little rest, if at all, but I am hoping for at least a little room to breathe in the following days so I can tell my family and friends what exactly I have experienced and show them pictures of the people who I will hold close to my heart forever. I don’t know exactly what the Lord has in store for me as far as returning to India. I would love to go back at some point to see my friends and use my new skill after school, to make an even larger impact. Everyone I have met and the organization I was with will be in my prayers and thoughts constantly.