Arriving in India

We left the house at 3:30 on Thursday and drove to Newark airport for our 8:30 p.m. flight (direct Continental, GREAT deal). Beforehand, we had loaded up on our last American food- a delicious breakfast at Ruby's of bacon, onion ring, and bbq sauce cheeseburgers (Nora kept kosher, don't worry) and then on to Olive Garden. By the time we got to the airport, we felt like obese children. 

Nora writes this next part: Little did we know that Max Stossel, son of John Stossel (http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/), the sexiest man alive, would be awaiting us (or Mohenna actually) at the airport to surprise Mohenna and to say goodbye for 50 days. It was a very nice gesture, and Tanu (Mohenna's mother) said that she "had a hunch" that he would skip work and show up to say goodbye. All I can say is that it was beautiful, but nothing more because now Mohenna has returned and we are transcribing together...

After a final Jamba Juice, we went on the plane for 15 hours and our reputations as crazy people began as soon as we got on the flight. We sobbed together to The Notebook, but Nora's hebrew subtitled version left out all of the passionate scenes, so we constantly had to rewind Mohenna's and watch again from her seat. We sat next to an interesting girl- luckily she was probably only 4'11"", so we were able to sprawl out. Before she passed out into a coma from a few ambiens, we learned that she was going to India to study the fashion of sheep herders- a likely story...

We finally arrived smoothly and Mohenna's aunt (Leepa), uncle (Ashish), and 12-year-old cousin (Aman) picked us up. Nora was extremely jet-lagged and overwhelmed at the lack of any adherence to traffic laws or pedestrians. Lights are for decorational purposes only. Once we got home, I showed Nora around the house- the house is big, with four stories, and a different segment of the extended family living on each floor. We are on the ground floor with Leepa, Ashish, Aman, and two labs- Spicy and Diglet, while Ashish's parents are on the first floor, his sister on the second floor, and his brother on the third floor. It is chaotic and a lot of fun- never a moment of silence. 

As soon as we got to the house, we were greeted by Hiru Didi, the craziest and most eccentric old woman who runs the household- she literally yells at Ashish and Leepa. She has worked in the house for the last 12 years, and swears that once she dies that she will haunt the place. She has not grasped the fact that Nora does not speak Bengali, and refuses to call her Nora out of respect- she calls her the equivalent of "older sister," or "Mrs. Foreigner" as a joke. She made us delicious fishy potato balls, salad, rice, and fish stew when we arrived, and we all hung out in one of the rooms and ate and talked. I have noticed that the dining room goes unused, as everything is brought to the big bed and eaten from a tray. Nora constantly attempts to follow directions from the Lonely Planet guide, but is constantly shot down. "No, we do not only eat with our right hands!" "No, we wear tank tops everywhere!"- still, she refuses to follow their advice that these things only apply to more traditional areas for fear that she would offend someone. We are staying with one of the most untraditional Indian families. For dessert we had delicious mangoes, and Nora tried Mohenna's favorite fruit, lychee- it has a very strange consistency. 

Finally, we passed out only to wake up at 6 am due to our plane ride the night before.