Returning to India

After 5 ½ months of indefinitely wandering around the USA--driving nearly 7000 miles across 22 states--it was a weird feeling to know we would be going back to India again.  But there were definitely a few hiccups in order to get there.

First of all, we weren't sure what condition our Indian apartment would be in when we got back.  While we were in Miami, about a month before, we got word from our expat liaison in India that a portion of our apartment had flooded.  Apparently the neighbors downstairs noticed water leaking from their ceiling and when people went to our apartment to investigate, they found that much of the first floor--the living room, dining room and kitchen--were covered in water.  It appears that the bidet shower hose (I had to google it to see what it was called) had rusted and split open.  They cleaned up the mess, aired out the rugs on the balcony, and assured us that our furniture and the rest of the apartment were fine.  Of course, we wouldn't know for sure until we saw it for ourselves.

This video shows what it looked like before they came to clean up.

Hear the water sloshing around as he walks?

See how the rugs are soaked through?

(Funny aside about the cleanup: apparently they just dumped all the excess water on the grass in our balcony garden . . . and that caused another leak for the downstairs neighbors.)

Another hiccup was getting our flights situated.  We decided on a British Airway flight that only had one layover--in London--but then a new Covid strain emerged and different countries began barring all UK flights.  India followed suit a couple weeks before we were supposed to fly out and we had to figure out another way to get back to India.  This time we got a flight via Air France that stopped in Paris, and crossed our fingers that our flight wouldn't get cancelled.

Finally, getting the proper required Covid test was tricky.  There was conflicting information in India about just how many hours before our flight we needed to get the test done: was it 96 hours like the Indian federal government said, or was it 72 hours like the state of Karnataka said?  We decided to trust the Karnataka information since that was where we were flying.  Also, there was no guarantee that we would get results back for the particular test we needed in time for our flight.  After dozens of calls to the county and various pharmacies and health centers to figure out how to go about getting the test we needed, we still weren't sure and time was running out.  We finally just drove to various county Covid test locations to ask in person.  At the second location, we spoke to someone who knew what she was talking about; she gave us the paper work we needed and told us to come back at 8 am the following morning for our tests.  

We sat in the car, rolled down the window, and pulled down our mask so she could--one by one--put a different swab in each of our mouths and place it in a sealed container.  We downloaded a local Florida app to get our test results and hoped they would come before we had to leave.  Luckily, they did--that is, all but Kiddo's.  The rest of us got our negative results, but Kiddo's never showed up.  Brandon immediately called the county number, was miraculously able to talk to someone helpful on the first try (they were even able to reconnect when the call disconnected and Brandon had to call back), and learned that for some reason Kiddo's info wasn't put into the system correctly.  She could see the negative test result (phew!), but the other information that should have been on his account wasn't there.  She emailed Brandon a screenshot of Kiddo's info showing his negative results, and we hoped that it wouldn't cause any issues when we needed to show it to the airlines.

Finally, it was time to fly home.  We packed up our stuff one last time (despite our best efforts, we still needed to buy another suitcase to pack the extra stuff we'd accumulated), filled the car to the brim, and drove the four hours back to Miami for our flight.

After a drive thru lunch, we stopped at a park near the airport to kill some time.  The playground got old pretty quick, but watching the massive lizards didn't!

And then it was time to go!  We couldn't even check in for our flight without showing proof of our negative Covid tests.  There were people arguing with an employee about having a test done, and they must have found one in a hurry because they were on the flight.

The flights went as smoothly as can be expected--each of us slept a few hours on the plane, but spent most of the time watching nonsense shows (note to self: Air France's media options for kids are pretty lousy)--and we got a small breakfast during our four-hour layover.  We arrived in BLR in the early morning hours and after getting off the plane, went through four different check points where they took our temperature and/or checked our negative tests.

And just like that, after 5 ½ months and 24 hours of travel, we were back.

Family Pictures 2020 (technically 2021)

At some point during our sojourn in America I realized that if we were going to get family pictures taken, I should probably get that figured out in . . . whatever location we happened to be in.  This was complicated because we usually didn't know very far in advance where we would be.  Utah and Houston would have been great places to do pictures, since we knew several photographers there, but that didn't happen.  I messaged several photographers in Miami, but when it became clear that no one was available, I started looking for photographers in our next location--and I found someone great!

We got our pictures taken three days before our flight back to India (talk about waiting until the last minute!) at Lighthouse Point Park.  The beach seemed like a fitting setting since we had spent so much of our time in the US at various beach locations, and getting them done right before we left was a great way to commemorate our time as evacuees.  

I mentioned that Daytona Beach was cooler than we anticipated, but I was hoping for warmer weather on picture day.  No such luck; the forecast had a high in the low 60s (just a reminder: this is cold for us).  So I went to Target that morning to buy some pants for the girls (Henry already had a suitable pair, but opted not to wear them), and we brought jackets along just in case.  

The first part of our picture session was breezy, but not too cool; however, by the time we actually went down to the beach and the sun was setting, it was cold enough that we all put our jackets on.  If you look closely at the pictures near the end, you can definitely see how cold the kids are (we almost didn't get any lighthouse shots because they were so done!), but what would family pictures be without a story, right?  Plus, we look dang good!

Now, are you ready to be bombarded with pictures?  I thought so!

Want to see even more family pictures?  Here are our previous years:

2019  2018  2017  2016  2015  2013  2012  2011

Three Weeks in Daytona Beach, FL

While we were in Miami, we learned that we would be able to go back to India soon, so we knew our next destination might be our last.  We decided that being within walking distance of the beach was a priority, with bonus points for being within an hour's drive of Blue Spring State Park to see some manatees.  Daytona Beach fit the bill!  We didn't realize how much the temperature would fluctuate being four hours north of Miami, but, luckily, there was more to do in the area than just play on the beach--although we did plenty of that, too.

Lots of morning walks, especially on Sundays

Morning bike rides on the beach with Brandon

were an almost daily occurrence

 

We felt so lucky to be able to spend so much time at the beach while we were in America!  Seriously, we've never been near the ocean so much in out entire lives and we loved it!

Our first day trip was to Blue Spring State Park to see manatees.  We visited it briefly when we were in Florida eight years before and wanted to show the kids!  Although there weren't as many this time around, it still did my heart good to visit these happy little blobs.

We happened to walk across the dock

just as they were swimming underneath

We got together for an outdoor dinner with some law school friends who were visiting family nearby and it was so great to catch up!  Time flies!

CJ had been casually going through her reading lessons since before we were evacuated; we didn't get in a real routine with them until we were Miami, but I was determined that she would finish before we returned to India so we wouldn't have to take the book back with us!  She finished like a champ!

Then it was Christmas Eve!  The weather cooperated so we spent much of the day on the beach and then picked up Indian food for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner.  The proprietor gave the kids mango ice cream while Brandon paid and it was one of the best Indian meals we'd had since arriving in the US.  We overordered, but didn't regret it one bit.

We read the story of Christ's birth in the scriptures and then opened our stockings to read the notes that we had left each other.  (In case you were wondering about the upgrade in Christmas trees, our Vrbo had thoughtfully decorated before we arrived.)

On Christmas morning, the kids got stockings full of goodies and a few little gifts.  As well, they each got an experience gift for the family to do together.  We planned to do H's that very afternoon--a first for our family: mini golfing.  I highly recommend this as a Christmas Day activity.  We had the place to ourselves and it was so fun! The kids loved it!

Of course there were also alligators

Before our delicious Christmas dinner, Brandon and I took a walk on the beach--another Christmas Day activity I recommend.  

A few days later, we fulfilled CJ's Christmas gift experience: we went to the Central Florida Zoo.  The zoo itself was only ok, but it had been over a year since we had been to any zoo at all (and my strongest memory of that day was trying to keep people from touching my kids), so it was a fun day.

E's gift came at different times: three trips to an ice cream parlor!  She loved it!

Jeremiah's Italian Ice was my favorite!

Tedi's Ice Cream had some fun flavors

The kids all got sundaes at the Whole Scoop.

It was a great way to finish up her present!

Brandon had a few days where he was feeling pretty lousy and even though he didn't really have many of the typical symptoms of covid, we thought he should get him tested just in case.  Don't worry--his test came back negative.  (If I was going to complain, I would also mention that I'm pretty sure our Vrbo was a cat-house and I had crazy allergies any time we spent the day at home.  But I won't.)  

Drive-thru covid test at the local pharmacy!

We walked the Buncombe Hill Trail in Tiger Bay State Forest, but if there was a hill, then it wasn't big enough to notice.  Although we enjoyed checking out the lake from the dock, it was really just a walk in the marshy Florida woods.

We drove up to St. Augustine to check out the fort and the Old Town, but because of covid, the fort was only open a few days a week and with a limited number of people.  We ended up not getting there until the afternoon and by then there was a huge line to get inside.  So we changed our plans: we walked around the outside of the fort, found an empty ice cream parlor for some sustenance (see Tedi's above), and walked around Old Town until we got uncomfortable with the masses of people and left (actually a very similar experience to the first time we went to Mt. Airy).  We meant to come back to St. Augustine to try again--I mean, it all looked very cool--but it never happened.  Add that one to the list of things we still need to see in America.

New Year's Eve!  We were hoping the temperature would be warm enough to spend the day at the beach, but after two very chilly attempts, we gave it up.  But nothing says New Year's like pizza, spaghetti, and mashed potatoes!  (It's tradition, folks!)  Kiddo told us that he stayed up until midnight, but the rest of us were sound asleep when 2021 came rolling in.

We saved some Тархун from Little Moscow

to drink on the occasion

It is usually eaten separately

Our last real outing was to Ponce Preserve, a protected area not far from where we were staying which contains a Native American mound and some very old oak trees.  The girls also enjoyed finding a completely empty playground--a rarity, in our experience.  

[This place will always be tied in my mind to the Capitol Riot because this is where we were when we first heard about it.]

Saying goodbye the beach for the last time!

And just like that our time in Daytona Beach had come to an end.  Next up?  Back to India!