I've been in the US for a week now! crazy, huh? And I had the greatest mini-adventure yesterday. I took a train in the United States. For transportation. The price of the ticket was half of flying, and seriously, who takes the train for transportation these days??? The Denver train station was quaint and old fashioned with conductors in little conductor uniforms, and high-backed wooden benches. I didn't know places like that still existed in the US and I will totally have pictures up when I get the adapter for my camera back. I think that was the closest I got to culture shock yet. My train adventures in India consisted of massive amounts of people in the train station, pushing to board the train. Vendors walking incessantly down the aisle muttering 'panniwater, panniwater' and 'chaicoffee, chaicoffee.' I didn't know what to do with the quiet, nearly abandoned train station and a double decker, half-empty train that pulled in front of me. Anyways, I hightly recommend the train system. Just so you can tell people you took a train :) Plus, it was significantly more hassle-free than flying.
I lost a piece of my luggage, by the way. Sucks, doesn't it? I had packed it specifically with everything I would need for these 10 days of travelling--western clothes, toiletries, socks. At first this made it even more annoying. But now I'm just thankful that I have all of my 'priceless' Indian items. That would be horrible to have lost indefinitely. But I'm reaching my limit with airports. I think I have no desire to fly again too soon. haha too bad I fly again on Sunday to come back to Ohio!
So, you may be asking yourself, "What has Susan been up to this last week, if she STILL isn't in Ohio?" I mean, besides the coolness of taking a train. I got in Thursday night and spent a total of 2 days in the DFN office debriefing and another four with my friend in Boulder. I've been amazed at how quickly friendships form and solidify in India. I had made arrangements to spend time with my friends Ashley and Megan and Amy. But I ended up hanging out with several other people that interned with me for six weeks last summer, or who came out on short term trips. It was amazing to 'debrief' with people who knew India and who knew me in the context of India. I feel refreshed and rejuvenated and feel much more capable of handling re-entry. This isn't to say that I won't be a mess occasionally... but I may be able to at least answer questions that are asked of me :)
Well, last night I took a train from Denver to Nebraska and am now hanging out in a coffee shop (a consistent theme of my US travels) while Megan and Amy are busy with their real people jobs! It's really yucky out--raining, dreary and cold. But I distinctly remember wishing that I could be curled up with my book and journal with a hot cup of coffee and a cold, miserable day outside. So I guess this is actually perfect for me!
I'm supposed to be working on some more debriefing stuff so I should probably go.
I have a ton of pictures from my last month in India, so if you're interested, here are the links
Medical camp in UP
Kerala
More Kerala
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