New Arrival

Okay I’m here in freaking India. 

Running like I’m home alone.  The flight in Salt Lake city was delayed by HOURS.  As a result, the time in between connecting flights shrunk.  I was out of the plane and on the terminal with 13 minutes to spare before the flight to London left me.  Ralf talked to me on the phone and just kept saying, “Run. Run. Run.”  When I got off the plane, I bolted and ran and ran like I was in the movie Home Alone, so I laughed the whole way.  It was a long way to run and I barely made it.  I ended up next to a pair of grandparents and their granddaughter on their way to Sweden and some other obscure country for a graduation present to the g-daughter (spoiled brat!).  The grandparents were professors of psychology at Chicago University.  It made me terribly bored and uncomfortable.  At one point the grandma mentioned to me how it was gross to sit behind another plane ingesting the fumes of the other plane’s jet fuel.  She said it was stinky.  The grandfather persistently tapped on her right shoulder until she gave complete attention and said: “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”  This made me laugh hysterically and I even said, “Look at this guy!” as I pointed to the grandfather with my thumb.  The whole family was shocked by my rude behavior.  It just felt like, “If you can’t be absolutely calm and robotic, then don’t be.”  He needs to lighten up.  With his Ph.D. Just rhyming here.

A dear friend.  I sat by an Indian man wearing a button up shirt, casual pants, and a pair of cool spectacles on the plane from London.  I was tired and hungry and nodding off as I sat in a “spacious” airplane seat.  This man and I were determined the first hour of the flight to ignore each other’s existences, when finally dinner was coming and we had to put away our gadgets and exchange a few common phrases with each other regarding the weather, the flight, the food, etc. We talked the remainder of the flight about everything from arranged marriage to BMWs to education to religion to the fact that we normally dread the thought of talking to a stranger on an airplane.  We watched Taylor Swift and Mariah Carey music videos together on his iPad and a film on my laptop.  One of my favorite phrases he said about life was, “Everything is bull s#@$ anyway.”  Instead of being overly analytical about life and questioning motives or philosophy all the time, this theory is much more funny to me and peaceful.  This man made me feel so calm and safe and I had no worries at all about India from that point on.  He helped me fill out the customs form, carried my bags, waited for me to claim my baggage, let me use his phone to call Americans, exchanged my money for me, and even gave me his Indian phone to make sure he could track that I got to Karuna Home Safely.  He is an angel sent to me for a strange time in my life.

My first Indian meal and first experience with their...toilets.

The drive through India.

The driver.  He was very stylish and listened to Justin Bieber and other popular American music on the way back that I, of course, had never heard before.  There was one good 80s song and Black Eyed Peas song, but the rest was not my cup of tea.  Whatever that means.  The driver and I had some communication issues, but was fun to muddle through it.  It was hot with no air conditioning and pop music and terrible traffic, but it was the most fun car ride of my life. 

Being the special educator.  I’m excited in a weird way to be “the special educator,” but also intimidated.  I’ve been “the special educator” back at home, but here it seems to be a bigger deal because of the rare nature of people in this field.  Plus, nobody likes having anything expected of them, right?  Ha ha, I just want them to expect I’ll eat really well and go to bed on time, and that everything else will be extra.  Then I’ll really be the special educator of all time.

The kids.  The children are so beautiful and everything and more what I expected they’d be.  So much personality, love, and sweet spirits.  I feel surrounded my familiarity when I’m with them, and I’m thrilled to carry out my research and just be in their presence as much as possible. 

‘Til soon.