We're back now.
We arrived back at the house at 7:00 am local time, which is 9:30 pm in the US, and 1:30 am London time. We were all very tired, but I showered and went to the office, then loaded up on coffee and worked through the day. Tara and the boys lay down for a morning nap. Through a series of circumstances, neither Tara nor I had a working Indian mobile phone, so we didn't touch base until about 4:30 in the afternoon. At that time Tara called me and said that they had all slept through the entire day. Wow. Jonah insisted it was morning until the sun set during dinner, settling all debate between him and Tara.
It'll take them a few more days to adjust back as a result, but had they not slept, they would have perhaps gotten a bit sick, so more power to them for the nine hour day nap.
How do we feel about being back, a year after our arrival - the beginning of our second year? It's a mixed bag.
It's monsoon here, so it is grey and wet and that is a bit of a downer after so much blue sky in the US. Additionally, this place is just as we left it - crowded, chaotic, dirty, exciting. The same. The US was the same, India is the same. But we're seeing both with new eyes. Really incredible places these two, you could do alot worse than considering the US and India mutually one's home.
There is a certain peace in our rhythms of life, so we enjoyed dinner, and I am totally loving sitting on our patio writing this blog with all that surrounds me. But another year where "the lake" means Husain Sagar and not Bomoseen or Winnipesaukee - well, that is a sad thought. And the knowledge that we can no longer say, "Let's go up this road and see what we find" is gone. Loss of our spontaneity of movement is really not that great of a thing, for those of you who think having a driver is the good life.
On the other hand, Akbar greeted us with a smile, and there is zindagi (life) breaking out all around us, and our servants had huge smiles when we came in and touched our feet (it's an India thing, you wouldn't understand), and little Devi ran across the street and screeched with delight at my arrival home after work, and we will soon see our great and special friends that we have made here - altogether, it's a wonderful feeling of optimism that we have for the second year of this adventure. Very excited.
A little melancholy and a great deal of gratitude - a very unique mixture of emotions that I feel right now. Tara feels the same. The ever-resilient kids are about break even. Good for them.
Year two - ready, set, go!
