A week in London
After spending four months in India, London was a night and day difference. The air was not clean but rather was filled with the scent of western cologne. I can’t say I enjoyed it any more than the dung and garbage lots I found in India, but at least this scent was sanitary. In fact, sanitation was really a novelty to me. The hotel I stayed at with my parents was…spotless. Of course, at the price I was paying, one could nearly construct a new hotel India (no, but it really is expensive). The cab ride from the airport to the hotel alone was over 60 times more expensive than in India. It just blew my mind.
Once you get past the price, London is just like any other city. We went shopping, saw Spamalot (hilarious), and did the usual tourists attractions. I really enjoyed the British Museum and our day trips out to see Stonehenge, Bath, Oxford, and Stratford. I spent the week catching up on all the sleep I had lost as well as soaking in the luxeries I had nearly forgotten about. These included constant electricity, fast internet, temperature controlled rooms, hot showers with shower heads, toilet paper (oh, how I missed it), clean clothes, and mattresses with clean sheets. To be honest, all of these luxuries are possible and certainly cheaper in India, but were out of my price range while trying to live off of my Indian salary. That last part is the key difference.
And, while I have left out many stories, that concluded my summer. I am now back in Cleveland toiling endlessly away on my masters project during my last semester. I act like life is hard, but I know it isn’t. I have embraced the lifestyle I all but abandoned while in India, but certain things have remained. I have been cooking a lot more Indian dishes now that I know how they are supposed to taste. I notice Indian people a lot more (and I sometimes will interject a “shukriya” in conversation to see if they notice). I am applying to full time positions, but otherwise, life is quiet and a bit lonely. Alvida, summer.