A 3-week long official trip to Washington DC and California was in any case not a very exciting proposition for me because I was not getting to see any new place, which essentially meant no new masala for this blog (imagine – travelling around 15000 km and not getting to see even a new single place!! L). The driving factors that kept my excitement level high were two: a) meeting new people as I was going to the HQ of my new workplace for the first time, and (b) meeting up friends in DC and New York/New Jersey area.
The first two weeks in DC were great – all the way from the airport to the hotel, we could see snow piled on road side (remnants of a snow storm that came in December 2009)….how was I to know that I was see more snow on this trip than I have seen in my whole life! On the weekend before I was to fly out to California, all my plans to shop were ‘snowed-in’ – but it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life – waking up to snowfall (thanks to this lovely friend who made sure that I got up when it started snowing J). I had seen snow earlier- but never experienced a snow fall – it is so difficult to describe how it feels when the snow falls on you – light, fluffy like a feather touching you!! A poet has rightly described it as: “The snowfall is so silent, so slow, bit by bit, with delicacy it settles down on the earth and covers over the fields. ………………………….. Snow, delicate snow, that falls with such lightness on the head, on the feelings, come and cover over the sadness that lies always in my reason” (Miguel de Unamuno, translated by Robert Bly).
But how was I to know that this snow which had me captivated that day will become a bone of contention after four days when one of the worst snow storms would hit DC and disrupt life all over the mid-Atlantic region (for more details, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35237043/ns/weather/).I can only thank God that we were stuck on the other coast (in beautiful San Francisco) as the airport in DC was closed (we had to come back to DC and then fly out to India – …..hey - did you just ask why???. Well – that’s another story – one which cannot be made public on this blog!). Spending hours every day on the phone trying to re-book air tickets (every day the flight would be cancelled and we will start the process of getting connected to some BPO in India/Philippines or the likes to get us on the next flight. It wasn’t as easy as it may seem now – it meant being on the phone for atleast one hour before you could talk to an agent (my conclusion as that customer service in India is better!) – only to be told that no seats are available!.....Finally, we did manage to reach DC and leave for India via NY ……wait- picture abhi baak hai – the flight had a technical snag delaying us for about 4 hours at NY airport – a few more hours and we would have been stuck in NY for 2-3 days as the storm hit NY that night and all flights in and out of NY were cancelled!.......But “mera bharat mahaan” (I was on Air India) – and when they could n to correct the fault through the computer – they did it manually!!
This post has not given you details of what to see in DC – for that I need to dig into my notes of 2007 – and I will do it soon!!...
Watch this pace for “must do” in SFO – coming sooooon!!
The first two weeks in DC were great – all the way from the airport to the hotel, we could see snow piled on road side (remnants of a snow storm that came in December 2009)….how was I to know that I was see more snow on this trip than I have seen in my whole life! On the weekend before I was to fly out to California, all my plans to shop were ‘snowed-in’ – but it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life – waking up to snowfall (thanks to this lovely friend who made sure that I got up when it started snowing J). I had seen snow earlier- but never experienced a snow fall – it is so difficult to describe how it feels when the snow falls on you – light, fluffy like a feather touching you!! A poet has rightly described it as: “The snowfall is so silent, so slow, bit by bit, with delicacy it settles down on the earth and covers over the fields. ………………………….. Snow, delicate snow, that falls with such lightness on the head, on the feelings, come and cover over the sadness that lies always in my reason” (Miguel de Unamuno, translated by Robert Bly).
But how was I to know that this snow which had me captivated that day will become a bone of contention after four days when one of the worst snow storms would hit DC and disrupt life all over the mid-Atlantic region (for more details, visit http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35237043/ns/weather/).I can only thank God that we were stuck on the other coast (in beautiful San Francisco) as the airport in DC was closed (we had to come back to DC and then fly out to India – …..hey - did you just ask why???. Well – that’s another story – one which cannot be made public on this blog!). Spending hours every day on the phone trying to re-book air tickets (every day the flight would be cancelled and we will start the process of getting connected to some BPO in India/Philippines or the likes to get us on the next flight. It wasn’t as easy as it may seem now – it meant being on the phone for atleast one hour before you could talk to an agent (my conclusion as that customer service in India is better!) – only to be told that no seats are available!.....Finally, we did manage to reach DC and leave for India via NY ……wait- picture abhi baak hai – the flight had a technical snag delaying us for about 4 hours at NY airport – a few more hours and we would have been stuck in NY for 2-3 days as the storm hit NY that night and all flights in and out of NY were cancelled!.......But “mera bharat mahaan” (I was on Air India) – and when they could n to correct the fault through the computer – they did it manually!!
This post has not given you details of what to see in DC – for that I need to dig into my notes of 2007 – and I will do it soon!!...
Watch this pace for “must do” in SFO – coming sooooon!!
I empathise with you for I know the pain of getting stuck in a foreign land and dealing with the uncertainty of when you will get back to your home!!
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