Back in Transition

The excitement of Uttarayan makes the following days seem lazy and uneventful. Tulsi has to work at her internship so I bop around on my own in Ahmadabad using my awkward Hindi/Gujarati to do errands and return time and time again to the Singapore Air office. In the evenings we zoom around with Tulsi's cousins on the back of their bikes. We eat a secession of snacks on the street, go for dinner, then ice cream, then paan, repeat.

My last day in Ahmadabad we visit the village of a friend of the family's who makes us amazing food and walks us through his fields. I annoy Tulsi by constantly asking agriculture related questions to be translated and thoroughly enjoy the outing. We return to the city to make a food-filled round with the cousins and meet the few other friends I have to say goodbye. We top the night off with a in-house dance party, blaring Hindi music in the sitting room before catching a few hours of sleep.

My flight to Mumbai, where I have been rerouted to fly home, is early in the morning, affording me a full day there before my midnight flight to Singapore. I stuff my luggage and myself into a rickshaw and head to Naina's place to relax with her before meeting up with Shivang. I convince them to accompany me in the search for a few elusive gift items. Chitra meets up with us, then waits with me until it is time to board the plane.

Once in Singapore I venture out from the cushy airport on the free bus that takes me to a shopping center complex. I try to walk from there to see more of the city but the freeway seems to be blocking me so I settle for some delicious noodles in the food court before returning to check in for my flight. We have a short layover in Hong Kong where I groggily peruse locally made artsy do-dads in a shop between dutyfrees. More sleep and airplane food until we land at SFO. I'll miss India but it is nice to be home.

I stay with Whitney and my sister, working few shifts at my sisters restaurant and trying to see friends as much as possible. My bags are split between temporary homes, my clothes are not yet all clean, and I'm still waiting for the visa to go through, but I'm starting to get excited about my next step into the unknown.