I've been avoiding this blog...

So I hate to admit that I've been putting off writing this blog. I don't like thinking about what I am about to write about- but here it goes. I am officially back in America.

Leaving was hard... and my final 3 weeks in India was extremely hard to think about. Leaving my friends, and people that I had become very attached to seemed impossible. And honnestly I was kind of scared... how was I going to react to re-entering the American culture, when I had become so use to the Indian culture?? This question, and several others ran through my head those final weeks.

I made a poster for the girls, and one of the girls did mahendi designs all up and down my arms on my final day. My head was in a whirlwind that day... I was so stressed about traveling by myself. I flew from Goa to Mumbai, then in Mumbai I had to get off my plane, get my luggage, get a taxi and go to a completely different airport (at 8pm) to catch my next flight to Paris that didn't leave until 2am. I was freaking out on the inside and tried my best to just not think about it and deal with it when the time came.

Finally, the time came to leave, and one of my good indian friends tried to get me to the airport in time.... but I ended up getting there late, but luckily getting on my flight just in time.

It didn't hit me that I was actually leaving India until the plane touched down in Atlanta. That's when the tears filled my eyes and I finally realized how much I'd miss India, and the girls. My heart ached... and I just wasn't comfortable with all these white people around me.

Luke (my little brother) didn't know I was coming home yet, and my mom told him they had to take my dog to the airport to do a 'k9 good citizenship' thing... he bought it, and when I came off the plane I saw him sitting by the window in a rocking chair. I came up behind him and said, "hey buddy!" When he turned around, the look on his face was priceless... he was completely speechless for about a solid minute.

There have been several things that have been hard for me to get use to here. Honestly, I find that everyone speaking English now has become very distracting to me... I'm not use to understanding what everyone is talking about around me. That only took a few days to get use to though. I find myself referring to India as 'home' when I say things like "Oh we had those back home!"... this catches me by surprise everytime. I've gone through a few challenges here... but the one that I still can't seem to shake is expecting it to be winter time. I left in December... And in India, it was hot in December, and just kept getting hotter until I left. Now, it has just started to get hot here, but because the last time I was here was the very beginning of winter, I keep finding myself thinking it's going to start getting cold soon. I've been wearing light jackets, and I definitely don't need them. lol. I don't know... all I know is I am sick of the heat... and I am ready to move to Australia to get some cold weather.