Back to Bangalore

Hi everyone. I just checked out the blog and realized that June is almost over and neither Eric nor I have made a single post all month! What a couple of slackers. However, as we left for the US on June 5 and only returned to Bangalore on June 23, I think we have an acceptable excuse. Though we returned to India on the 22nd (to Delhi, then on to Bangalore on the following morning), we really only got readjusted to the time difference today (last night was our first night of actually sleeping at NIGHT). I personally think that three days for readjusting to an almost 12 hour time change isn't too shabby.



Anyway, we had an awesome visit to the US, we are so happy that we got to spend so much time with friends and family, though of course it still wasn't enough. We got to meet a couple of new babies (Kim and Josh's baby girl, Natalie and Jen and Andy's baby girl, Allison), see how some others had grown in the last seven months (Alex's little girl Zachia, Jen and Andy's son, Evan and Eddie and Ashley's twins Ryan and Haley), congratulated some newlyweds (Matt and Janell), saw my baby brother married (Brandon to LeAnn), wished some who are about to be married the best (Steve and Amy), watched a TON of baseball/softball, and tons more. As you can image, we were busy, but were loving every minute of it. But don't worry, we made sure that we got plenty to eat either between or during visits (sometimes both during and in between). I swear I spent most of the trip with a delightfully upset stomach.



The only down side to our visit home is that after two and a half weeks, we had to again say good-bye to everyone. When we left for India at the end of October, I had just finished my graduate work and had been so busy with writing and defending my thesis as well and writing fellowships and trying to put together a final manuscript, I was utterly overwhelmed. We had also sold our house and had packed all of our belongings into a storage unit and were living out of bags with Eric's aunt and uncle and were trying to get everything packed for our move to India. I was so freaked out about what work was going to be like in India and how life in general was going to go and where were we going to live and how we were going to get around... My point is that with all of these things going on I really never had the time to think very hard about all that I was leaving behind, not just our home and our way of life, but most importantly our friends and family. That was very different when we left last week. We are now settled in Bangalore, I had no worries about what we would be facing when we stepped off of the plane so all I could think of was what we left behind. About how my three month old niece will be nine months old the next time I get to see her and how much I will be missing in her life (and her mother's, love you Kim) while I am away. About how by the time Eric and I return permanently my nephew will probably have his driver's permit (which I am sure causes fear and loathing in his parents). I wonder who is playing cricket with my other nephew in our absence... We will be missing Matt and Janell's and Steve and Amy's wedding receptions later this summer, and Kim and Josh's wedding in July. That doesn't even count the birthdays and anniversaries and other little daily events that we took so much for grated. I am feeling less sad now that I am back with my friends here in India, but we are missing everyone so much and counting on everyone to keep us updated on life back in the US. I can't wait for our visit in December and I am looking forward to getting caught up with everyone again. My fellowship has been finalized so we will be here until June 30, 2009, but we will get through these next two years six months at a time, always looking forward to our next visit home to be with the family and friends that will sustain us until the next time.