Thursday, June 16, 2005

 

I haven't disappeared. I've just been busy packing to move out of my apartment.

Well, I've been back in the U.S. for week now. India seems very far away. I expected to feel more of a culture shock when I got home, but it is barely there. I think spending over 36 hours within the confines of airports and airplanes desensitized the impact of switching environments. Nonetheless there are a few things I have noticed about the U.S. that I overlooked before. It's extremely clean, quiet, open, and peaceful. I drove across Illinois a couple days ago, and I was just amazed by the flat open fields- the yellow green meeting up with the blue sky was serene. The natural landscape in India (witnessed from the train) is much more rugged. The colors are also a bit more jarring. The dirt is a rusty colored and it is accompanied by its complementary color, the green of grass and trees. This Indian landscape gives me an emotional reaction I can't quite desribe, but I'll just say that it is quite different from the feelings I get when I see American midwestern farmland.

In his last blog, Jonathan mentioned the difference between traffic here and in India. I feel it too. I'm amazed at how behaved the drivers are. No one feels the need to honk their horn at anyone. Everyone stays within the lanes painted on the roads. The streets are far less crowded here with no random cows or pushcarts selling vegetables. I do have to admit that when I crossed the street yesterday I got a little confused as to which way I was supposed to look. I expected the cars to be driving on the left side of the street.

Comments:
Welcome back to the blog jillian, and might I mention that was a nice post. Goodly done job. hehe.

And yes, the peace here is erie. I look out the window and don't see any movement. There is glass and trees and concrete and an occasional car (in it's own lane). I like India. I like America too.
 
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