Homecoming: Mt. Gambier, Tasmania and Melbourne, then back to the USA. This BLOG is over.
After 17 months and 1 week, I have finally returned to good old Merced, California, USA. The trip home through Singapore and Australia was fantastic. It was sooooo good to see my brother Jamie in Mount Gambier, Australia, catch up with him and see what his life is like over there. Jamie is last year’s SEABL (South East Australian Basketball League) Most Valuable Player and it was really great to see him and his team in action. I saw 3 games. They lost 2 road games in Tasmania, then rallied for a comfortable home win just before I left. Jamie is surrounded by many, many really nice folks who take care of him and, as it is a small town, no doubt they keep an eye on him as well - so no worries Mom!
We did quite a few things in the 2.5 weeks we had together. We:
1) explored some caves
2) checked out the beach - only 20 minutes from Mt. Gambier
3) went wakeboarding and air chairing on a nearby river
4) played some basketball
5) got killed in a heated doubles tennis challenge - (0-6, 1-6) - not pretty
6) Dawned wetsuits and went snorkeling in a series of 3 freshwater ponds
7) Took a tour of the outback from a friend’s dad - complete with a lot of beer and a few fist-fulls of good Australian meats. The vegetarian in me cried that day as I ate chicken sausage of all things! Ewph. It was a great time though. Hilarious folks.
8) Most of all, Jamie and I just spent time together, talking about life and reconnecting after so long apart. It was a thoroughly satisfying visit.
I flew back home through Melbourne where I spent my final afternoon in Australia assisting my good friend Sarah McDonald who works as a florist. It’s fun to work with so many beautiful flowers, and the smells were amazing, but man, that is tough work. I have a new found respect for florists - the busy ones at least ;)
Sarah kindly dropped me at the airport around 4am and four stops and 20-something hours later, I arrived in San Francisco. My mom met me and we went straight to my youngest brother Kevin’s work and had a late lunch with him - ahhh burritos!. My oldest brother Brian, his wife Mary Kay, their daughter Hazel, Kevin, and my cousin Sarah and Aunt Diana all came home to my Mom’s house this past weekend. Many friends came over as well. It was as wonderful a homecoming as I could have asked for. Much of the focus was on Hazel, the new baby in the family, so I was spared some of the attention and questions that make me long to be back in India.
People ask me how I have changed. On the surface, I look the same. But I am not the same. Every experience in life changes us. What changes have occurred might not be immediately apparent, but differences are there. Snapping back into life in Merced is like awakening from a long dream. Much has changed since I left home, but there is no place that is more familiar to me in the world than my mom’s house (my home), Merced (my town) and the USA (my country). I'm not a crazy flag waver who goes on about the USA being the best country on Earth. It just happens to be the place I know best. I understand the people around here. I get the jokes. I know how to get things done. I understand the relevant political and developmental issues that my city faces. I basically can come here and within a week I can be nearly fully integrated into society again… on the surface.
I have learned much about India, about other parts of the world, about myself and about the human condition. I immersed myself in a culture that was extremely different in so many ways. I ate foreign food, spoke a foreign language, tried to dance in a new way to songs I didn’t understand. I had to start from scratch, learning new customs and cultural idiosyncrasies and I also had to learn again how to read people and try and understand them based on their language, gestures, actions and expectations. I gave it my best and I think I did a pretty good job. Of course, there is always room for improvement, and I am sure there will be a NEXT time out there, on the road, adapting to a different culture.
Returning home as reminded me what home is: It is a place of familiarity that goes deeper than we realize. It is a place where you can feel comfort all the way down to your bones. I appreciate more than ever that I have such a wonderful family and we have a place like Merced that we can call home.
On the uncomfortable side, I am absolutely overwhelmed by the material excess of America, the sheer wealth and the high standard of living that most of us have on a material level. And of course, we probably all take it for granted. We might argue that considering the money we have, we live modestly. In reality, most Americans enjoy a level of comfort in goods and services that exceeds the imaginations of the majority of those in developing countries. It’s even clearer to me now that the rest of the world can not live the way we do in the West. The Earth just couldn’t support such a thing. That is a fact. It is on us to come to grips with this fact and to act accordingly.
So what is next? That is another question I will be getting a LOT of in the coming months. Answer: I do not know. But as always, I have some good ideas. I have dreams and I have a desire to pursue a career and to hone a set of skills that will benefit others. I’ll always want to work in some way to improve the lives of those in need, especially in Developing countries.
I suppose this Web Log (BLOG) is over. “A YEAR IN INDIA” as I had dubbed it, is over. More than a year is over actually. I feel as if I have had a lifetime of experiences within that time period. I owe endless thanks to the Rotary Foundation and to my sponsor and host clubs and districts - from the North Merced Rotary club in District 5220, Merced, California, USA to Poona North Rotary Club in District 3130, Poona, Maharashtra, India. I am very grateful to my sponsor family, Don and Kenra Bragonier in Merced. And I am ever thankful for my host family, Nalin and Leah Sheth in Poona (my parents in India).
If any of you made it this far, THANK YOU!!! for listening and sharing some of my experiences with me. It has been unbelievable. I hope you have been inspired to learn more about India or possibly to even make a trip there. It is an amazing place with wonderful people and a rich mix of many, many different cultures. Don't take my word for it. Get yourself over there! And if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask me. I'll certainly return to India as well, but for now, I would like to be with family and friends for a while. I will also pursue a career. BUT, I am sure in a few years, I’ll be back out there. I don’t know where. But India is calling still. Latin America feels neglected, and Africa is inevitable.
If I have learned one thing in all my travels, it is that no matter where you go, in spite of the wide variety of languages, cultures, religions and political systems, people are basically the same and they are overwhelmingly good. So don't let anyone ever try to stereotype or belittle an entire people. Politicians usually use fear to do this. ANYONE who does such a thing, has a destructive and hateful agenda. Be critical. Be conscious. Be present. And be happy, because the world is full of wondeful people.
Peace to you all,
Colin out.
p.s. for info about the rotary scholarship and living in India, check out the BLOG that Daphna Dror and I put together. It's full of great info about what to do before you go to India and what to do once you are there. It would even be helpful if you are just going to India to travel -
www.rotaryindia.blogspot.com - it is a work in progress....
