I'll get back to the twelve steps soon, but this is where I put my travel notes, and i've just spent several days in the UK and India. Travel journal being edited, but here are my "I'm home" thoughts.
I've actually been back since Saturday night, but the travel and time changes and all the things that go with coming back after two weeks abroad had all my time yesterday. My sleep schedule will take a while to get readjusted... it was 11 and a half hours to adjust the time zones. I didn't reset my watch, just remembered that it was half an hour fast, and morning instead of night, etc.
No crises while I was gone. The dogs were clean and fluffy and happy to see us, and seem to be none the worse for wear. The fear is always that they will regress in behavior or get sick or ... all those things we doggy moms worry about. But they seem to be just fine.
I've kept a running journal of the India trip, and will try to clean it up for posting this week. Quick impressions for you... India is amazing. All the bad things you've ever seen are there, but if you think that is the gist of the country, you would be very wrong. It is full of joy. The people, from the lowliest beggars to the loftiest business people seem to have made peace with their lives and exude an essence of being thrilled to be alive. Of all the things I saw and did, that is the take home message for me.
The country reminds me of what I think the US must have been like at the turn of the century. The industrial revolution has sort of passed it by.. infrastructure, except in the biggest cities is non existent. Their most abundant and greatest asset is their people, and the population continues to challenge well meaning politicians. We talked to a banker at a dinner one night, and he said that 50% of the people are doing fine, but the other 50%, the very poor, the homeless who give India its reputation, is a problem no one can figure out. And they are trying, because these are not people who don't care. It is very hard to change what has become an accepted way of life for so many though.
I recognize that I travel in a bubble. We stayed in the same hotel in Delhi every night, mostly because it was a known and India must be taken in small bites. The first day we ventured out of Delhi, my husband cautioned me that I would now see the "real" India. Twelve hours later, I knew that if I had days like that at the first of the trip, I'd have been booking earlier flights home.
And that would have been a mistake, as I wouldn't have had the time to fall in love with the country. With its spirit, its problems, its pride. It is humbling for me as a person, and like the best of travel, will make me appreciate all the more what there is at home, and what there is to do, everywhere.
I'm not ready to download all the details from my mind yet, and have quite a bit of work to catch up on, so I'll beg off the travelogue for now, and hopefully sprinkle experiences in as things get back to normal.
In the meantime, namaste.
I've actually been back since Saturday night, but the travel and time changes and all the things that go with coming back after two weeks abroad had all my time yesterday. My sleep schedule will take a while to get readjusted... it was 11 and a half hours to adjust the time zones. I didn't reset my watch, just remembered that it was half an hour fast, and morning instead of night, etc.
No crises while I was gone. The dogs were clean and fluffy and happy to see us, and seem to be none the worse for wear. The fear is always that they will regress in behavior or get sick or ... all those things we doggy moms worry about. But they seem to be just fine.
I've kept a running journal of the India trip, and will try to clean it up for posting this week. Quick impressions for you... India is amazing. All the bad things you've ever seen are there, but if you think that is the gist of the country, you would be very wrong. It is full of joy. The people, from the lowliest beggars to the loftiest business people seem to have made peace with their lives and exude an essence of being thrilled to be alive. Of all the things I saw and did, that is the take home message for me.
The country reminds me of what I think the US must have been like at the turn of the century. The industrial revolution has sort of passed it by.. infrastructure, except in the biggest cities is non existent. Their most abundant and greatest asset is their people, and the population continues to challenge well meaning politicians. We talked to a banker at a dinner one night, and he said that 50% of the people are doing fine, but the other 50%, the very poor, the homeless who give India its reputation, is a problem no one can figure out. And they are trying, because these are not people who don't care. It is very hard to change what has become an accepted way of life for so many though.
I recognize that I travel in a bubble. We stayed in the same hotel in Delhi every night, mostly because it was a known and India must be taken in small bites. The first day we ventured out of Delhi, my husband cautioned me that I would now see the "real" India. Twelve hours later, I knew that if I had days like that at the first of the trip, I'd have been booking earlier flights home.
And that would have been a mistake, as I wouldn't have had the time to fall in love with the country. With its spirit, its problems, its pride. It is humbling for me as a person, and like the best of travel, will make me appreciate all the more what there is at home, and what there is to do, everywhere.
I'm not ready to download all the details from my mind yet, and have quite a bit of work to catch up on, so I'll beg off the travelogue for now, and hopefully sprinkle experiences in as things get back to normal.
In the meantime, namaste.
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| Mangal Manjusha, Delhi, India, February 2013 |
1 comment:
Can't wait to hear the rest!
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