First Visit Home... The Long Sleep.

So I finally went home to visit my aunt and uncle on Sunday night. The sanskrit-based languages have very specific terms for peoples' relatives. So in particular, I went to visit my mama (mother's brother), and mami (mother's brother's wife). They're an interesting family. Both parents are Ph.D's, and they have two kids, a 13-year-old named Akshar and a 5-year-old named Raghu. My nana (maternal grandfather) also lives with them.

Some of you may have heard stories about the infamous cousin Akshar, who in all his spoiled-brattiness has managed to garner himself quite a few new toys from his foi (father's sister) and fua (father's sister's husband), a.k.a. my mom and dad. I'm pleased to report that his temper tantrum upon not receiving a new video iPod was less intense than the previous one he threw over not receiving the particular game he wanted for the PSP which he had gotten only a few months prior to that. That being said, he's still quite fat, but that's to be expected from a kid who tries to out-eat his 6'0", 210 lb. dad.

I'm also glad to say that little Raghu is proving to be quite the bright young little boy and rather eager to please. During dinner yesterday he recited the stories of the "Three Billy Goats Gruff" and "Rumpelstiltskin" IN PERFECT ENGLISH. Very impressive. He's also quite hyperactive, but hey, he's five. He has picked up a few of the less-desirable habits from his older brother, including being somewhat disrespectful to his mother, father, and grandfather. I think that comes from his dad, though, who patronizes his extraordinarily intelligent wife on a fairly regular basis. Raghu likes to shout a lot, too, but that doesn't make him any easier to understand.

Yeah, they make for an interesting family.

Anyway, I'm planning on going home to stay the night with them once a week (Sunday night - Akshardham is closed on Mondays). So Sunday was my first time home. Jayu mama (his name is Dr. Jaivardhan R. Bhatt) picked me up from Akshardham at 10:30 PM on Sunday and we began the arduous 45-min ride home. See, it's not actually that far, maybe 20 Km at the most, but Jayu mama doesn't drive his little Suzuki compact car any faster than 35 Km/h (about 21 mph). And no I'm not exaggerating. That's not to mention the fact that he takes the long way around to get home. So anyway, we eventually made it home, and I promptly passed out.

I didn't realize exactly how tired I was until I tried to wake up the next morning and failed. After two weeks of non-stop 13-15 hour days, I basically slept the entire day Monday, getting up to bathe, eat, and drink water. I got up at noon for lunch, then again at 8:30 PM for dinner. Quite a day, huh? It was restful and relaxing, though, which was very nice. Shortly after dinner, we went on another 45-min ride back to Akshardham, and after calling my sister to wish her happy birthday, I promptly fell asleep again until 7:30 AM Tuesday morning. Amazing.

More on this family to come later. I'm sure there will be PLENTY of interesting stories about them over the next month-and-a-half.