It's been over a month and i guess i can safely say i have settled in. Moving to the other side of the planet is a big thing. I had expected it to be and may be that helped me cushion the big blow that came with the change. From the moment I landed in this new alien land I kept my eyes and ears wide open trying to grasp and experience all the new stuff around me. It was overwhelming and i was fighting to not gasp at seemingly ordinary things.
Stepping outside the airport was a big relief and i welcomed it and turned every corner of the path pushing my trolley hoping to see Arvind waiting there for me and he was there just as I had remembered him.
Once we got out of the big buildings I realized how tiny i was. I was tiny in India but this was just "out of proportion". Coming from Cochin where every one has just enough space for everything, this was spacious.
The parking lot was huge and I stood there staring at the cars parked side by side neatly. I realized why the cars over here were much bigger when i saw the first family walking up to their car parked beside us. I was really tiny.
It took me only a few minutes to get used to the size difference.
All throughout the ride home Arvind was smiling and chuckling as I ooohed and aahed and gasped at things around me. When I realized that he was laughing at me I had to blush coz all that I saw around me was new only to me and I was pointing at really ordinary stuff. Seeing my embarrassment he said, "Its ok.. i felt the same when I came here first". "Yeah... but you were 13!!!". I forgot the embarrassment as we sped through the bay bridge and I kept quiet - just watching the view as we went home.
The drive from SFO held me quiet as I watched the clear blue of the skies and the greenish blue of the ocean sped past.
(view as the plane landed)
There were wide roads and traffic was a new experience.
As we got closer to home, the big and tall buildings of SFO were replaced by smaller ones with beautiful flowers lining the buildings and dividers. Homes has neat lawns and slanting roofs with tiles. Mento Terrace was just a few minutes away and I remember walking into my new home and being greeted by my new family and my first dog -Jude
