LA: the gateway to India

There's a few cities in the US that fly to India. You can't catch a flight from Phoenix to Mumbai or Delhi, but you can connect to LA, Chicago, Newark, of New York and catch a flight out. So yesterday my Mom and Brother stopped over in LA on their flight to Bangalore (in the Southern part of India, my mom has a sister that lives out there).

The night before I was so excited that they were coming here. It's been a while since my Mom and Brother have to come to see me in LA. Even though we had a few hours together I wanted to make sure that they were comfortable and had a great time.

I can't explain how nice it was to have them here. I gave them my list of things I wanted from India. Gave them some things to take to family members. I really, really wish I was going with them. They're seeing EVERYBODY. All our relatives. My mom always cries when she has to leave me. I can't help but feel sad about it.

I can't just call my mom up and talk to her whenever I feel like it for the next 6 weeks. Its unreal how my options for friends, family to turn to have dwindled in the last few months. I guess its a test of my own nerves.

I can't wait until our entire family can take a trip together again back to India. We took a trip to Orlando last year. I see a lot of people take that kind of stuff for granted. The truth is the time you get to spend with your entire family is extra precious. People also take for granted that they have their extended family around. I don't have that luxury so I have to really make most of those opportunities.

I miss a lot of things right now. I miss my Mom and Brother. I miss my dad, I miss my family overseas. I miss some of my friends that are not close by. I miss home in Tempe. I miss having people to talk to. I miss innocence and being naive.