Back to Chaos

The long uneventful journey started Monday morning at 11:30 a.m. The last thing I did at O'Hare was to taste a brownie from Starbucks - nothing like it. I was happy to see V waiting for me at my gate in Frankfurt the next morning. Contrary to expectations of a long waiting time at the Bangalore airport and a horrendous customs clearance like last time, this time was pretty smooth. I was very impressed by the courtesy of customs officials towards women. Lifting 2 35 Kg bags was not easy at O'Hare. Whereas here, 2 guys helped me do it and it felt good after the long journey.
It was a rollercoaster ride thereafter. The worst nightmare was to walk to a restaurant to get breakfast the next morning. Crossing the streets and the roadblocks at the intersection near our apartment scared us. V's white shirt turned black by the time we got back. We knew what we had chosen to come back to but the intensity of it did not strike us until the next morning. However, the generosity of our neighbours in helping us settle down felt good. During my 1 year stay at Chicago, I never got to know the name of my neighbors though everyone greeted everyone else with a "how you doing?". Almost a week later, we find ourselves caught in an attempt to strike off atleast 1 item of the fast-growing to-do list.

The Times of India newspaper is 50% lighter than the Chicago Tribune. We seem to miss the ads. Ads of Chicago Tribune with the "real" world news from The Times of India would be a good combination.