Perspectives

Neat rows of similar looking houses. Clean clear air. Fast cars. Chirping birds at 5 am. COSTCO. New accents. Smell of processed food. Frozen Paratas. The hope diamond. Claude Monet and the only Da Vinci painting in the West. Officers in that black uniform. Exit this and Exit that. Highway 66. Top down convertible rides. America.

It's been 5 days since I landed in this country. I am now an "Alien". I keep starting a blog post but my brain is so muddled with different thoughts that I never finish it. I think I might be murdered by a certain Mr Acharya if I don't finish this one and so at the risk of churning out something very disorganized and random, I write.

I landed without any misadventures. Considering I flew Air France (cheap and best) that's saying something. After a very filmy sendoff at the Bangalore airport (have I really left that place I love so dearly? Maybe I never will), I slept most of the way from Bangalore to Paris. I only woke up every now and then to make sure I was not leaning off on the techie type dude I was sitting next to. He seemed like a Ravi Kiran or a Ravi Bhushan. Definitely a Ravi. He looked like he was bored and had done this a million times. In contrast to me: teary eyed, with my straight hair and Nikes. Through out the plane journey, I kept feeling these weird jolts, where I was thinking "Is this really happening or is this that dream I had two weeks ago?". And then I would realize it's not a dream and had to calm myself down somehow. Moving countries, especially for someone like me (until now, I've been in one place my whole life) has been a turn-my-world upside down or put it in a blender and whizz kind of experience. I think I'm still recovering. Now it feels like a 45 degree flip as opposed to the 180 degree flip I started off with. Anyway, I slept a lot except when they brought food. Plane food is probably the worst thing. Its like they want to remind you that this is what not having home food will feel like. I got really cranky every time they brought food. Because it kept reminding me that I had left! My solution was to doodle in my moleskine. The only thing in the world that can calm me down.



I intend to finish this one before I start college. My experience of time still feels warped. How do we really experience time? I feel like the last two months happened all in one day.

I found my way around the Paris airport pretty easily. I had heard horror stories. The dude who looked like a Ravi helped. Then before I could say thanks or ask him his name he ran off somewhere. I doodled some more and watched people. Especially mothers with bratty children and mothers with super well behaved children. Such a stark difference. The plane from Paris was delayed. We took off about 45 mins late. I slept a lot more on the DC flight and watched a Matt Damon movie (another thing that can calm me down). Did NOT wake up for more horrible plane food. At Dulles airport, I had some interesting conversations with the immigration officer about arranged marriages in India and what I thought of them. He also told me to "make money" while I was here. Whatever that meant. Welcome to America, peeps.

My aunt and uncle who I love so dearly were there to receive me. My first observations were the huge roads and how all the frames looked like they were photographs shot with the 5D Mark II. Some strange clarity in the air. I definitely felt a surge of adrenaline that I feel when I am about to start something new or when I just get into the groove of a run or when I am about 10 laps through on my swim. I would love to learn to drive here and thoroughly enjoyed the ride with my uncle in his convertible (I must own one at some point in time and I should take more photos. What is happening to that Nandana who shoots everything! I feel I might actually be in some kind of limbo still).

I visited the National Gallery of art and have been going for walks in the development at 7 am. I love the sound of the robins and the bulbuls.
The gallery took my breath away. Seeing the Picasso's and the Monet's right there with your own eyes is something else. A real treat. The Da Vinci topped the list for me.



I intend to go back with my mother. She knows a lot more about the paintings than the brochures at the gallery. I took the metro to get there. Nice. (Bangalore metro, bega khatro : Bangalore Metro, get built fast). DC looks a little like Mumbai. At least that's what I thought. I visited the National Mall too. Saw lots of people running there. Must go back when my ankle is better. Again, didn't take pictures. Don't ask me why. Ask Nandana, she's in Limbo somewhere. My uncle and I plan to do an all you can travel trip on Sunday. Will write a more detailed post then.

I saw the Hope Diamond too. It says "The Hope Diamond" and then it says "India" below. I felt a slight irritation seeing that. Why is it still here? That was the most crowded hall at the Museum of Natural History. I guess people love seeing things that shine. I was starting to feel cranky again.

Anyway, this is probably the most disorganized blog post you have ever read. But its coming from a girl who is still confused about which time zone she's in and what being an alien actually means. More organised Nandana style stuff coming your way in a while. (Remember to take pictures, Nandana).