Settling In

Hello Everyone!
I'm back at home and re-adjusting to the cold, the regular office hours, and the major lack of wandering animals. India was a great adventure. There were some moments when I thought I might lose it, but all in all, I'm glad I went, have no regrets and would do it all again in a second. I never feel like I learn more or get more out of life than when I travel. There is just so much to know and I constantly realize something new about myself! As I review all the moments from my five weeks abroad it's the small things that are still with me the most. The cashew factory, the small cultural differences: shaking the head back and forth like a wave side to side to mean 'yes', or when people said, "acha, acha, acha". I have no idea what this really means, but in the context of conversation, it usually meant, "yes, I get it." Sometimes I saw men who were so small around the waist that after their belts had gone through the buckle, the end part was looped all the way around to the back of their pants. Makes me wonder and appreciate the incredible bounty our country has always seemed to have. Some sights were not easy, and I still find myself reviewing them.
We went and visited a sweets factory one day. The proprietor and the gentleman who was taking us on the field trip were obviously very proud of their success, but when a little worker boy of 10 showed me where to go to find the restroom, I was instantly very grateful I live in a country where my nephews have the right to free education and more importantly that our child labor laws are usually enforced. I know that this wasn't always the case for us, which gives me hope for India--they are on their own path and it will be interesting to see the country change and grow. It reminds me of something the president of the women's club in Khalapur said that has stayed with me. She said, "I was in the States in December 2008 for my son's graduation and I realize that America has been independent for over 200 years. India has only been independent for 50. Just think what will happen in the next 50 years." I couldn't agree more. Many wonderful things are happening there, but there are things that would still be considered incredibly offensive and completely backward to the West. Often, cars breezed right through stop signs. I will miss the 'honk! honk! honk! honk!' of all the cars. The honking meant 'watch out, move over'. It was interesting, yet terrifying. We saw several car crashes that looked like there were fatalities. I am glad to be back in the land of seat belts. We often explained that in America honking meant you were REALLY pissed or to remind someone that they weren't at a stop light for eternity and that the light had changed to green. Where we were in India, there were hardly any stop lights. To slow traffic down, they used speed bumps--usually several in succession.
We had a final presentation to give our last weekend, and I will post that speech next time, but I just want to say here that I was delighted to see in myself during this trip that I was incredibly flexible. I accepted as much of the culture as I could, and went with the flow most of the time. Like any person, I got cranky on occasion, but didn't bawl anyone out or get angry or suffer about what I didn't get to do or what I was expected to do. I am grateful of the opportunity that was afforded to me.
The 2-day lay-over in Paris on the way back was especially wonderful. I got to catch up with some good friends, we had fondu and had a cooking lesson at Le Courdon Blu (I know the spelling is completely wrong). It is so good and wonderful to have friends around the world and now I will always have people to visit with in India! And, to top it off, I have started padding my Netflix que with Bollywood films. I can't remember any of their titles, naturally, but they're there, and I feel an affinity and affection for Indian culture.