16 May 2007 - Rebirth

Delhi, India

After almost 24 hours of traveling I got into Delhi last night at 2:30am completely exhausted, yet undeniably anxious. The travel wasn’t bad at all. LAX was crazy as usual with its thousands of international travelers scrambling to find the right kiosk or queue or gate number. I love it when my parents take me to the airport. My dad is so obliviously focused solely on checking me in that he regularly bumps into other people. It’s hilarious. I always have the best time in LA, so leaving home isn’t ever easy. No matter how many times I come and go, I still get that tinge of separation anxiety every time I leave.

I lucked out on during my travel, making some good airplane companions. LA to Frankfurt I sat next to a friendly and social Danish man name Kim who desperately missed his wife and 2-year-old baby girl. He makes Denmark seem like it’s full of nice farms and tasty food. And in the Frankfurt Airport, a very savvy looking Indian man sat next to me who turned out to be from California! By that point I was feeling anxious about getting my bearing in Delhi so meeting someone from back home who knows India was serendipitous. From the moment I told him my deal he immediately pulled out his cell and starting writing down contacts of his good friends who could help me get situated and show me around the city. We even happened to be sitting in the same row and next to a sarcastically, self-correcting Canadian woman who was making a Buddhist pilgrimage to Dharamsala. The 7 hours on the plane passed effortlessly.

Because our flight arrived so late in the night and because my pick-up situation was shady, Ro, my Indian-American friend from the flight waited til I got my bags and made sure my ride was waiting. Before we parted ways, he quickly introduced me to the contact he had scribbled for me earlier, Mr. Nasir Kahn, and then I was off.

Usually homesickness hits me like the coming of an ominous monsoon. While I was walking out of the Delhi airport I saw a guy resting himself on his overgrown backpack, reading Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist and I began to feel it – that distinct sensation of traveling alone, not knowing what to expect from this new place, or yourself, and the anticipating of finding out how afraid, how adventurous, and how savvy I’ll be.

I was beyond exhausted, but I couldn’t fall asleep. There was too much busyness in my head. I couldn’t stop thinking that I’m in India. India! Who ever thought I would have an opportunity to live here for nearly a year. So my challenge ahead is I have to make something beautiful from scratch.

The heat here is no joke. A hundred and ten degrees of unrelenting and all-encompassing dense heat accompanied by 100% humidity and the dust and smog from thousands of buses, rickshaws, cars and motorbikes filling every Delhi road.

Delhi is not unlike Vietnam. So although the heat is ridiculous and the roads of terribly congested, it all feels strangely familiar. Swap out the Hindi signs for Vietnamese ones, and sarees for ao dais, and I would have thought I was in Saigon.

By the time I got back to the room, I only had a bit of time to chill out before heading over to USEFI’s office for orientation and to meet the foundation staff. Ms. Varrtikka Mudaliar is my grant advisor and is a wonderfully joyous woman. She briefed me on everything from A to Z. All of my concerns and anxieties concerning the grant and flexibility of the program dissipated after our meeting.

Nasir, Ro's friend met me after my orientation for the first urgent to-do: buy a phone. Nasir is a easy going guy who works for Ro in a international company that provides transnational retail companies all kinds of local support and services for their international distribution. Both Ro and Nasir are two easy-going, genuine and amicable people. Before helping me get a phone, we stopped by India’s Gate, a large arch-shaped monument erected for Indian WWII soldiers who lost their lives in service. But the best part of the detour was walking around during the intense lightning storm that ignited Delhi’s vast, night sky.

After dinner we met with Ro for a bit and I thanked them for all of their hospitality in helping me. I feel so lucky and thankful. The universe has been generously helpful thus far.