Epilogue

Finally, after 25 hours of traveling, I have taken a super hot shower and scoured every inch of me with the loofah equivalent of a Brillo-pad. Boris and I had checked out of our hotel Saturday morning. 40 hours later, we were wearing the same Delhi-dusted clothes to the markets to haggle for all our shopping and gift-giving needs. We also road a cycli-cab that went really, really slowly over every possible pothole, ate breakfast and lunch at the Park (the bar we all went to on the first night, where Boris claimed his sportcoat two weeks later at the lost & found), then at the Shangri-La for old times' sake, then dinner at "Piccadelhi Circus." Our flight to Chicago had a group from Kellogg returning from their 2-week stint. I watched Some tear-jerker Bollywood film that didn't have all the dancing but had all the cheesy songs and juicy lines and lots and lots of close-ups of the pretty lady's doe-eyed expressions to emphasize just how pretty she was. Then I watched "Night at the Museum" twice. In Chicago I bought a salad and ate it, even though it was 6:00am there. It was delicious. I am completely on India time, meaning right now it's noon here and midnight there.

In retrospect it was a fantastic trip and I had an incredible opportunity but likely I will not return anytime in the near future. I hate to admit that while I am capable of "roughing it" and I managed to stay healthy, I would have preferred the five-star treatment. It's either age or India was just that tough to travel. But I'm very happy to be home with my gazillion pashminas, and to be brushing my teeth with tap water and not smelling like curry and dirtiness and hand disinfectant.