everything still feels unreal. so unreal. rheea and arun picked me up from the airport last night and as we drove the fifty minutes home in the absolutely most ridiculous driving conditions i've ever seen, it felt like maybe we were in the car in san bruno [where they used to live] or maybe on a speakerphone call. again, aside from the fact that three lane roads, red lights, and pedestrian crossing are all merely SUGGESTIONS in indian driving. that part didn't feel very san bruno-y.
when we got to their flat and i met [see: absolutely and completely loved up on] their doggies, rheea and i went on to the rooftop terrace that is their patio with sweating glasses of whiskey swimming in already melting ice and looked out at the black night, in silence.
r: i seriously cannot believe you're here.
me: i know right? like i don't even know what to say.
r: me too!
me: it is like the best kind of silence.
r: yes.
we stood on a concrete bench, nursing our drinks, just content to be by one another.
nick and his friend chrissy, who happens to be traveling in india at the same time and is a complete and total doll, came back to the house and the five of us talked story, took pictures, drank [indian whiskey, so far, is horrible, btw. watered down and prone to leaving a slightly sterile aftertaste... like a hospital, yum.], jammed out on acoustic instruments, and cuddled with the doggies.
i wasn't tired but rheea didi ["big sister" in hindi] was insistent at 2am that i must get to sleep. i was laid out on the terrace floor, thambee the golden retriever sprawled asleep in my lap, listening to arun play nani, my ukulele, and staring up at the polluted sky, just breathing. but no, rheea was not having it.
"jet lag is going to make you worthless tomorrow if you don't rest and we have lots planned."
but... but.... i want to revel a bit more, i want to swim in the sweetness of the first night, i want to feel all of my limbs stretched out and grounded, i want to....
"to bed yobo!"
so to bed we all went. and of course, like i mentioned at the beginning, it is 6:30am bangalore time and i am WIDE AWAKE. so awake. so so so awake.
anyhow, here are a couple shots from last night's reunion. i am going to return some emails [keep 'em coming, gems. i heart them all.], eat something so i can take my malaria pill, and then crawl back into bed to see if i can get a bit more sleep.
jet lag really is no joke.
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| together again. tired but ohsohappy pose. |
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| group shot #1: normal [ish] |
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| group shot #2: "excited face" meets "fobby face" except for nick... who only does "G face" <3 |
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| group shot #3: i can only shake my head at whatever is happening here... |
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| group shot #4: we've fallen into chaos... sigh. |
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| yobos. yes, THIS ONE is veryveryvery much us. |
Indian whiskey has been that way ever since the days of the British Raj(rule). The select few Indians who mingled with the ruling British were given cheap booze and told this is how Scotch tasted.
ReplyDeleteAfter the British left, these guys decided to start their own breweries mimicking that the taste of that "whiskey".
You should keep to King Fisher's Beer (Blue or Ultra). King Fisher is Indian for good times :-)