To those who were wondering whatever happened to me, with much sorrow I say this- "I was too busy to write." (Gasp!)
Again I am too bored to formulate paragraphs plus I have already repeated the following content several times to several friends and family members and there is a limit to even my ability to say the same stuff over and over again, so I'll pretend I'm writing a not-so-substandard blog post and you can all pretend that you like it. Those of you kind enough to take the pretense a little bit further to leave glowing remarks and comments, I shall forever be indebted to you.
Chennai airport had tightened up security in the days prior to and after the Independence day (India's Independence day btw) so visitors were not allowed into the sendoff area. So alas, I had no company inside the airport except my mom of course (to the uninformed, my mom works in Air India so I can afford a few perks like this). Got teary eyed at several points in the last few days, some out of frustration and some out of nostalgia. To all my family members who came to say goodbye, to the friends who came to help me pack and ended up lazing around and taking pics of me doing it instead, to the friends who kept me on the phone till the second I boarded the airplane, to the friend who realized at the very last second that "Oh shit, you're leaving for real!", to the friend who sent a last optimism-booster message, to the parents of friends for their blessings and for their pride, I heart you!
The flight to KL was expected. Alas! I didn’t land a hot Vinay look-alike in the seat next to mine but I did get a certain kind Mr.Wong who helped me load and offload my luggage from the ovehead compartment AND offered me his magazines AND the last glass of juice from the tray when the airhostess ran out of them just as she reached our row. Ah! So chivalry is not dead after all! KL airport was 'OMFG brilliant'. For all you brand droppers out there, it had everything your wildest dreams could possibly conjure. It took every last ounce of social etiquette in me to not behave like a complete boor and start snapping pics of myself in front of Prada, Gucci, Versace….. someday, someday I will earn enough to shop there!
The next part of the flight (KUL-LAX with an hour's stopover at taipei) was boring to say the least. Tried seeing movies for a few hours, got bored, tried watching White Collar and other series for a few hours, got bored, tried watching powerpuff girls and dexter's laboratory for a few hours, got bored, tried learning french and italian in the e-learning module for a few hours, got bored after I got past arrivederci and je'taime, spilt water in the seat next to me thereby driving the poor lady and my only neighbor away, tried eating exotic sounding sea food and experimenting with the cheap on-flight wine, tried sleeping just to forget the cramps in my leg (Damn economy class!), tried not bursting into tears until I finally, finally and that’s a big finally, landed in LAX.
LAX was nice but after KL airport even that seemed small and shabby. Anyway this time there was no kind Mr.Wong to help me and I had to lug all my suitcases myself. Ran around in circles trying to find the cheapest mode of transport to my temp accommodation, finally got tired and caught a cab. Cab driver gave me a rose to welcome me to America and complimented my very Americanized pronunciation. The first time some guy is giving me flowers and it had to be from a cab driver! Oh well! But since I paid the equivalent of a train journey from Chennai-Delhi for that 20 mins trip, atleast he made me feel comfortable in it.
The next few days were a flurry of emotions, all of them extreme. The university is beautiful, the area is fuck expensiv, people are kind and hospitable, weather is awesome though I have tanned a lot from all the walking around that I do (I would have lost 5 kgs by now, so that’s an upside). Found a place a block away from my department building. Its very beautiful and I'll upload pics of it soon. Moved in and spent a sleepless night all alone in there. Alternately starved and gorged on fast food for the first week till I fell sick. Cried myself to sleep the first few nights from the frustration of trying to adjust to the complete lack of space that comes from living along with 10 other people in a 2 Bedroom apartment, until I got sick of it and chose sleeping alone in my new but also cold, dark, unfurnished apartment. Struggled with 6 bags of groceries up 5 blocks all alone till a couple of fellow tamil batchmates rescued me (for a short distance anyway). Got helped by totally random strangers on the road but also got cussed at and called gypsy and a lotta assorted four letter words by a few narrow minded, punk headed, prejudiced assholes. And all of you who argue that money doesn’t buy happiness, eat your words. The friendliness and general buoyancy of the people is directly related to the area they live in. Near my university, everyone is rich, everyone is relaxed and everyone is happy to help. In fact they go out of their ways to come and offer help even when I don’t need it. But when the minute you step off your bus (or car) in downtown you can feel the discontent in the air, like steam rising from the sewage (insert numerous other cliches to be found in pulitzer prize winning books) and things get all creepy crawley and you have to watch out not to get gang raped or shot or stabbed.
Life is great tho. Even with these minor issues. Living and loving every minute and missing all you more. Am now chatting from an illegal wireless link so I'll log off before I get thrown in jail. Arrivederci:)
