Family Matters

Considering in our family (as I believe is true in most families) the ability of the group to make asses of themselves is generally greater than the sum of its parts, I have to say I think my family survived their week here quite admirably. We powered through the Golden Triangle, a famous North Indian tourism trifecta consisting of Delhi, Agra (the Taj Mahal) and Jaipur (home of a large fort/palace).

We started and ended the week in Delhi, and I think my proudest moment was when the four of us squeezed into the back of an auto like any good penny-pinching Delhi family would do. The Taj Mahal was absolutely amazing, and totally meets the hype. It was made even more enjoyable by our Indian tour guide, who kept talking about the Muggles who had built it. We got extremely excited that he too was Harry Potter fan and we were impressed that he took the time to tell us it was not, in fact, constructed by a bunch of Hogwarts kids. Alas, it turns out he was referring to the Mughals, who build an empire in India in the mid 16^th century and who are not nearly as cool as Muggles.

Agra also has a history of producing precious stones, so part of our tour included a stop at a jewelry store that makes Tiffany’s look like Claire’s. I mean there were some serious rocks in there. At one point the jeweler showed us their prize piece, which was an emerald necklace worth 7 million dollars. After he showed it to us he insisted that one of us try it on. Of course, my mom, sister, and I were terrified of the thing, I mean if we broke it my NGO salary in rupees was not exactly going to help us buy it back. Somehow he convinced Care to wear it, and I must say that it went extremely well with the Red Sox t-shirt she was wearing. I think its safe to say no Plant will ever again wear a 7 million dollar necklace. Hell, even a 7 million rupee necklace isn’t likely!

Mostly it was great to see them after such a long time, and I think they enjoyed seeing the absolute chaos that is a life in India. Being with them definitely made me realize I am going to be in for some serious culture shock when I get back to the US. I don’t think I had realized just how “Indian” I’ve become over these past 9 months. I’ve definitely picked up on Hinglish, which involves using bizarre verb tenses and phrases - I would be wanting to see you all when I get back to the US, and I will do my level best to see you this summer only. Once I am in receipt of my plans I would be letting you know. Fortunately, I still prefer beer to Barcadi Breezers and football to cricket, so there is some hope for an easy transition.