Bittersweet visit

I have borrowed P's bluetooth keyboard to write this post. I am frustrated typing with one fat finger on my iPhone keyboard to do much more than tag a post. This isn't a post of pictures, documenting our travels. It is a post of words, documenting our internal journey.

P and I have had breakfast and a walk around the neighborhood. We are back in the room, a/c'd, fans spinning, shades pulled. F is still asleep. We're taking our time getting our internal clocks adjusted to Asian time. But it is also a time to take it slow. It is monsoon season, cooler than Delhi, but very humid. We hope to cherish all things Indian, and specifically Bengali. Kolkata is in the state of West Bengal.

It is hard not to think back to the family who was here at the Fairlawn, in June, 2009, so excited, so scared, not knowing how our life would be changed by our time in Bangladesh.

We had scheduled this trip so that we could return to Chittagong. F wanted to see some of his WCA friends. P and I wanted to see staff at AUW. We weren't sure that we'd be able to see any students. We wanted to return, to feel connected again. To not be in exile. But it just didn't work out.

First were the visas, we had ten-year visas for India. So there was no problem getting this far. But the expense of going to NYC to get a BD visa on a work day to say nothing of the $150/person for the visa was more than this family could do. We are still recovering from the financial difficulty forced on us after leaving BD.
We also learned that there were no direct Kolkata to Chittagong flights currently scheduled. Getting to Chittagong meant going through Dhaka, a difficult trip, adding more expense.

So we are spending an extended visit in Kolkata. But it isn't the same.

We had a wonderful overnight train ride from Delhi to Kokata. We were so fortunate to share our compartment with a lovely women, originally from Kolkata, returning for a family visit. She was delightful and so generous sharing her history and knowledge of the area. Our story slowly came out. And in all irony of ironies, it turned out that she had considered applying for a position at AUW. We listened to the reasons why she eventually decided not to submit her application. We listened, assuring her that she had made the right decision.

And yet, I know that we made the right decision to go to Asian University for Women. Our life is better for our time there. Our family is stronger. We have been so blessed by loving friends. I will follow the progress of my wonderful students as they continue through their careers.

My heart cries out to see my friends, my students, my home for a year. You have touched me. My life is so changed by you.

Just now the monsoon rain is flooding down. I have a tear or two to dry.