USA Ahoy !

Having neglected my blog for too long, I decided that I would start off even if it means copying some of my emails. It is not that I do not have anything happening in my life. Actually there is so much happening that it becomes difficult to keep everyone posted. What I do to answer that is an interesting thing that could be the subject of another post!! So coming back to topic, I copy some of my emails as posts here.

Following was first of the two part email that I had sent to my near & dear ones. No, converse is not true, so if u did not get the email, it doesn't mean that you're not my near & dear one. It just means that I was saving some viewers for my blog.

Now that I am relatively settled here, I thought I would write a mail to
tell you what all has been happening here:

31st Aug : After taking off from New Delhi, I realised all of a sudden
that there was too much free time with me. So I utlitised it in part
with my plan of what to do after I land & in part with watching movies
in aeroplane. I must have watched atleast 7-8 movies but the one that I
remember most was Ratatouille. While flying over London I could watch
the London Eye which is a huge merry-go-round. In each flight I made
sure I talked a bit to the person flying with me (British, Nigerian &
American). At each airport that I landed I made sure I explored every
part of it.

The flight was mostly vacant till London but after that it was full.
Flight over Atlantic Ocean did not have much to see except the blue
ocean & white clouds. Infact we were at so much height, the ocean seemed
to be frozen in time. Due to passing time zones, this whole flight
appeared to be one long afternoon. It finally ended when i landed in New
York. It is by far the best airport that I have seen till to date. After
getting through formalities, I realised that my next flight had got
delayed. Therefore I had a light dinner in airport itself. That also
tested my dollar card for the first time. One interesting thing in NY
airport was a multi-religion chamber where people from different faith
could come & pray. It was just a silent room with place to keep your
shoes outside. By the time I reached Boston it was already around 11pm
(a total of 26hours flight !). I wasnt too drowsy as I was sleeping for
most of the time in my NY-Boston flight. Jijaji & Kunal had come to pick
me up.

01st Aug to 10thAug : Next 11 days were spent really great. I not only
learned a great deal about American life but also had fun along the way.
For most of the time I was there, a friend of Jijaji had also come with
his family, so it was like one big reunion. Perhaps because Mummy & Anna
had given me so much info about Nashua & US, I knew exactly what to
expect & on seeing the beautiful scenes in Nashua & NY during my flights
before, I felt familiar with them ! The home at Nashua is very very big
in comparison to the homes that we see in India & also quite beautiful.
It also had few birds around for me to start clicking my camera. But
perhaps the most fascinating part was to visit the shopping malls such
as Walmart, CircuitCity, BestBuy which were a treat to watch. Although
malls here look very boring from outside unlike the malls in Delhi, but
from inside they are similar. I also got to taste McD & other food
outlets here. We also went to a mini-golf course, driving range,
baseball practice court & an ice cream parlour which was fun.

Amidst all these, days just seemed to fly between visiting malls &
playing with Rohan. One thing that needs mention here is the search for
a 'laptop deal'. I am sure jijaji must be smiling as he reads this. Not
having decided on any laptop before, it took several days for me &
jijaji to finalise on one laptop & when we did, we realised we had
ordered at the wrong place. After a lot of phone calls made by me &
Jijaji, we finally managed to cancel our online order (which would have
taken too long to deliver) & purchase it from a BestBuy store. Last few
days were spent in packing, data transfer & last-moment shopping. Thanx
to Jijaji, Akka, Kunal & Rohan (whom I saw for the first time), I had a
really great time in Nashua NH.

10th Aug : The day of flight did not seem to be right with thunderstorms & hails
falling & when I saw my first flight getting delayed my premonition was
proved correct. Due to delay in my first flight, I missed my connecting
flight to Texas as a result of which I not only reached Texas around
11pm but I also missed my groundshuttle bus which would have taken me to
college area (1.5hrs drive from airport). Taxi was an expensive option &
I was not confident about rental car. So I had no choice but to stay the
whole night in airport. I shifted my baggage to an area where
receptionist could see me & slept while keeping my legs/arms over my
luggage. Lots of other people were also doing the same thing.

11th Aug onwards : To be continued... (I am sure I've bored you enough
already)