PICTURES....

Finally, Pictures from the trip home... I think that there are over 50 pics in this slide show... It may take a few minutes to get thru all the pictures....

It is just a quick glimpse of our trip...

Enjoy!

Catching up...

OK, first, there were a few things that I missed on my re-cap of the 3 weeks home. I think this is the last of it....

- Getting a haircut by my hair dresser Roman. I have been going to him for over 15 years!!! It felt good to get it cut and styled...

- Having to fill my own gas in the car!! Yes, frightful, I know!! Having had the luxury of not having to do it for over a year, I was a bit spoiled!

- Listening to the radio stations from home... and catching up on some of the latest tunes. I realized that I really like 93.9.... they play some songs that take me back to my college days!!

OK, I think that is it for the trip back home!

Moving foward to the 're-entry' into Bangalore....

Once we arrived, it was a comforting feeling to be back with our own things and being able unpack the suitcases. Living out of a suitcase for 3 weeks really sucks!!

The Ozone neighborhood looked pretty much the same. It was good to see the Palm trees. There is an exotic, tropical feeling that comes from seeing palm trees. OK, maybe just for the mid-westerners that only see evergreens and maple trees.

Our friends were excited to see us. Hiran and Kamal and their son Shyl were excited to see us. As was Harshal and Jignasha and their boys Grisham and Sajan. Now keep in mind, Grisham and Sajan had left for the US back in June so the kids reunited after 2 months of being away. It was good because, the kids picked up right where they left off. Milan was reunited with Shruti. She also was gone for the early part of the summer so Milan and Shruti had been apart for over 2 months! Shruti, Milan and Sajan have a little formed a little group. It is nice to see them hang out....

On Wednesday we did the trip to the bus stop so we were able to catch up with the rest of the neighbors. It was nice to see everyone. Overall the crowd at the bus stop was smaller, and a lot of familiar faces were gone. Many have moved back home due to assignments ending, in some cases assignment ending sooner that initially planned!

Our first weekend home was relaxed an low key. Due to the madness of the previous 3 weeks, I vowed to just stay put and do nothing all weekend. So this was a good thing for the driver, as this allowed him the weekend off.

Coming back to work was fine. Nothing new and exciting had happened in 3 weeks. But that was expected.

I can say that there is a nice feeling to be back.... but still an empty feeling leaving our 'other' home.

OK, Moving On..... Last topic!!

Does anyone remember the signifigance of Monday, Aug 17? Let me help you out.... no, not a birthday... or anniversary.... not a local holiday.... It is far grander than any of those.... Aug 17 is the day that Vim has re-joined the workforce!! He started his new job at CISCO. It is a good job and he already knows so many people at CISCO from Ozone (Jignasha, Kamal, Nilesh, Venu, and the list goes on.... ) which helps with the transition. So, here are some initial thoughs from Dev on the differences between 'Life at Cisco' and 'Life at GM'.

- At Cisco almost all the employees have blackberries. At GM only the 3 people have blackberries (seriously, and no, I am not one of them). While most people at GM do have have mobile phones, they are all the basic versions due to the strict rule about 'no camera phones'.

- At cisco, there are a lot of women in leadership positions. At GM, not so much. It is still a very male dominated industry.

- At Cisco, most of the employees have travelled to the US. Most of them have actually worked in the US as part of the 'IT-Boom'. At GM, most people have never been on a plane!

- At Cisco, there is a full campus environment with multiple buildings and restaurants that are all Cisco. At GM, we occupy several different floors of buildings of a Tech Park Complex. Definately lacking the 'campus' feel.

- At Cisco, Vim knew over a dozen people there before he started, at GM, I probably knew 4.

So, those are my initial observations. Is it obvious that Vim got a good deal, and again.... I got the short end... : ) But it is all good!!

Missed a Few Things...

In my re-cap of the 3 weeks, I missed a few things....

- Being able to take a hot shower without pre-planning. Remember, here in India we have Geyeser that take time to heat up the water

- The fact that it stayed 'light' outside until well past 9pm. It gets dark here at 6:30

- Being able to drink water right out of the tap

- Eating Original House Pancakes and visiting with our family friends who just bought a house in Birmingham. Their house in now our 'dream-home'!!

I am sure there are other things that I have missed, I will keep adding...

The next post will be about the return back to Bangalore!

A Week Later

It has been almost a week since we left Michigan and the jet-lag is behind us (for the most part). So... the look back on the 3-week trip.... one word sums it up... a BLUR!!!! I will share the hi-lights (and low-lights)...

- Eating Taco Bell (several times)

- Surprising Roopa (Vim's cousin) - Our trip home was a 'surprise' for Roopa (It was her wedding that we attended). She was surprised.... that made it all worth it!!

- Visiting everyone.... We had a calendar of daily plans and social visits for our 3-weeks before we even landed. Everyday was visiting at least one family, and on most days it was several families.... It was good to see everyone but it did make the trip feel a little hectic.

- SHOPPING.... the malls, target, meijers, kohls.... it was GREAT!!!!

- Driving.... ah... the freedom.... the down fall, not having door to door service that comes with having a driver... oh, the trade-offs

- Seeing all the new additions to the family - Kiran, Amaya.... and all the little ones that have grown over the past year....

- PF Chengs, Noodles and Company, Chipotle, Don Pablos..... (can you tell that food was definitely a highlight!!)

- Going to Michigan Adventure Park with Family and Friends.... This was a great trip because we discovered that little Milan is a 'thrill-seeker'. He loved the rides. It was a bit surprising because this is a 180 from our last trip to a park like this, at that time, you could not get him on any ride... he was a scardy-cat!!

- A visit from my brother and sister-in-law and little Kavi.... OH... what a cutie pie!! I am going to miss him!!!

- A visit from our friends from Atlanta - it was so great that they made the trip up to visit (it was a road trip!!)

- Tim Hortons Coffee..... several times.... YUMMMMM, especially the stuff you get in Canada. Yes, it does taste different in Canada than it does in the US. Trust me... it is good in the US, but it is better in Canada.

- Visiting family and friends.... Even though it was draining running around doing the visits, we are glad that we were able to touch base with a lot of people. Definitely there are people that we did not get a chance to see... sorry! : )

- A trip to the Vekaria family resort in Flint Michigan (anyone interesting in booking this resort, let me know, I have an inside connection and might be able to get you a good rate!!) : )

- Did I mention Taco Bell and Tim Hortons?? Oh my mouth is watering.... To add, Tim Hortons coffee is the best, but the tim-bits... mmm mmmm good!

- Going into the office at work and realizing that my access badge does not work anymore!! Going thru the typical corporate bureaucratic process to get access again. : ( And then seeing all the empty desks... it really hit home about the number of people affected by the job cuts. Really sad.

- Roopa's Wedding.... That was definitely one of the big highlights, 4 days of wedding festivities and meeting tons of family... a great time!! Congrats Jeff and Roopa!!

- Seeing Kiran (Vim's cousin little guy who is 6 months old!) - what a cutie!!! I just want to eat him up!!!

- Driving by the old neighborhood and visiting with the old gang! It was very nice to catch up with everyone. It was funny b/c my parents house is just up the street from where our house used to be and I can't tell you how many times we almost turned into our 'old sub' thinking we were going home!!!

I think that sums it up. Who would have thought that 3 weeks was not enough time to fit it all in, but we could have used another week (or more).... nevertheless, we are back in Bangalore and feeling empty from all the buzz from the last 3 weeks.

I think that the visit home has put a lot of things into perspective, it has been a good year for us and we have been fortunate to have this opportunity. While the year was good for us, but there are others close to us that have not had such a good year.

Two Homes....

I can honestly say that we have 'two homes'.... Michigan and Bangalore...

The trip was GREAT!!!! We ran around everyday seeing friends and family... it was perfect... Unfortunately, we did not get a chance to see everyone, and in some cases the time spent was rushed... Who would have thought that 3 weeks was not enough time to see everyone.

We are now back in Bangalore... it is bit of an empty feeling knowing that our friends and family are so far away.

We have unpacked all of our bags.... 9 check-ed in bags at about 50 lbs each, and 5 hand bags at about 20 lbs each.... roughly 550 pounds.... I am still scratching my head wondering how we accumulated that much 'stuff'!!!

Today it is off to the kids school to get them situated and tomorrow it is back to school for the kids and back to work for me.

I will write a longer post about our trip home.