back to life.. back to reality..

wow.. this has been the longest vacation i've taken in a looooong ass time! and as we speak i am jetlagging like a mofo..

the trip back was.. exhausting! i barely slept on the plane even having only gotten 2 hours of sleep the night before. 10 hours to heathrow, 3 hour layover and 9 hours to o'hare. gruesome i tell you! the seats were uncomfortable as hell and all along the only thought in my head (aside from a safe return) was my bed.

ahh.. to have slept in my own bed this past night was, pun intended, dreamy.

obviously there's an element of excitement lacking when coming back to the grind of life in chicago versus vacationing in dhaka, so you gotta take what you can get.

but my trip home was fabulous! i really, really, really had a nice, relaxing and fun time with my family and friends. there were days when i had twelve thousand things to do and others when i literally camped out on my sister's humongous ass verandah, no one home but me. i lay out on oversized pillows, a cozy blanket because it was pretty nippy that day, and a good book (i'm reading life of pi by yann martel). and this went on for several hours, and i mean five or six, straight. that was perhaps the most peaceful time i enjoyed in dhaka.

other days found me waking up late to home made breakfasts of daal puris or bombay toast or parathas and omelettes.. hanging with my mom and throwing in my 2 cents for her daily crossword puzzle.. talking politics with my dad while watching cnn..

speaking of cnn asia.. it's so nice to see the diversity of their newscasters..

but i digress..

let's see.. i spent the last day of the year in a village called bhaluka which is about an hour and a half drive outside of dhaka. my dad organized a family picnic at my uncle's guesthouse so i got to see a ton of my relatives all at once. it was actually quite an enjoyable day.. and if it weren't for the fact that i had new years eve party plans that night, i would've been tempted to stay over. it was such a beautiful, peaceful and relaxing place. i think the only bit of physical exercise during my entire vacation was had while playing badminton with my cousins. the next morning my arms were sore, and i had to stop for a good minute or so to wonder what i had done to cause the soreness! but i love badminton.. i used to play all the time when i was growing up..

but i am so jetlagging. i guess i'll continue this later, cuz i need to sleep and establish some sense of a regular pattern before i start work in three days. ouch...

[title song plays in head..]