Sunday, July 29, 2012

Our Last Month in USA


Soon after we sold our house that is on 26th June, our new home owner allowed us to be there at home till 4th of July. We had everything else sold except the refrigerator.  We gave away all small items including the office tables, chairs, hangers, kitchen items, groceries etc. On 3rd night one person comes and enquires about the fridge. He agreed to pay only $100 for the fridge. We still had some food items inside. We are big tea fans, so just replenished our organic milk supply on 3rd not realizing that the fridge will no longer be there after the next day. The next day, on the 4th July, our new owner arrives with his entire crew (his wife, children)  at about 9 Am while we were still having tea. We just started boiling milk then. In any case, after seeing them, we did not want to hang around there for any longer. We decided to leave with all our belongings to the hotel. But the actual check in time for any hotel was around 2 PM. It was really very hot outside and we reached our hotel thinking that they will let us in. But, since it was holiday time, they said there is no guarantee that you will get a room even though it is booked. We could not wait any longer because we would spill and spoil the milk. So, we moved in with all our belongings loaded in a car from one hotel to another. Finally the one very close to our house, most importantly close to Y was available. We booked that and we had an early check in. Among other things we carried, utensils, kitchen papers, toilet papers, small amount of groceries. But it is needless to mention that we used each of the items that we so painfully carried with us. The next day, I was all set to go to VA to conduct workshop and jamboree. My trip to VA was very enjoyable. I will post about it later. Pramod poor thing lived in seclusion for all those 9 days and managed to sell his car on the Sunday after I came back from VA. It was all very memorable. I re-made my yoga video, put the annotations and music in it. Spend my time really leisurely going to Y, talking on phone having nature walk.
On 18th July, we decided to check out of the hotel and stay in one of our friend’s house. We littered their house with unending number of trashy items, and feel bad about it. On 18th evening, I could go out and say bye to all my friends. That night however, was very memorable for us for the in-appropriate behavior of our friend’s husband. It is hard to believe… The explanation for their behavior was not satisfactory and we have decided to dissociate from them. That was quite an experience. When we look back and think what has happened, we just feel overwhelmed for our new experience. Of course there is always some kind of sadness involved in losing the friendship of a close one, but hey that happens in life…
On 19th we started for NY from DFW. Everything was good. Returned the vehicle on time, The overweight luggage bags with the domestic flights were waived in consideration of our international travel and so on. Finally, we reached in La guardia airport. We booked a room through airbnb website. I would recommend that site to anyone who does not want to pay a lot of money to the hotels and at the same time, seek the comfort of home for a long term stay. Our guest house was located in Bronx and it was just 6 miles from La guardia airport. Booked a cab, landed there by 3 PM. Pramod started his office work and I also started my work. I must admit one thing here, the internet speed was awesome. I never had experienced such high speed internet. I could do all my data downloads from the guest house. I would highly recommend this place to anyone. The place is called Sobro guest house. It has a shared kitchen, groceries, shared toilets. But nevertheless, everything was extremely clean. We went around on 19th, did some shopping and ordered Chinese take out. The stay in NY was awesome. Then Vidya joined us on Saturday and showed us around the city. We appreciate her company and her time and moreover, it was good that we met her before we left.  We had the experience of testing some exquisite Thai tea, nice Indian Masala Dosas and some Indian Buffet. On Saturday, we managed to walk in on the Brooklyn bridge, empire state building, then time square. On Sunday, we visited the world trade center(9/11memorial) , Rockefeller center and central park. We went back to room at around 7 PM. I managed to cook in the rest house earlier and we had the opportunity to eat home cooked meal. That night, all the house-mates were very active, having Vodka, talking and playing cards etc. There was a film suit also going on at the same time. Then comes 23rd, we set for leaving to the airport. Only dis-appointment was the taxi prices. The local taxis cost about $45 from Bronx to JFK airport, but this taxi which we thought should take $35, charged us $65 eventually.

So, in the end of our stay we learned 2 important lessons in life: 1. Never to get too close to anyone and get so attached that their behavior will hurt you. 2. Never assume anything.

No comments: