I could get used to this.

I've just reached the country I can truly call my own.
The first thing I notice is the smell - how can anyone survive here?
Five minutes later, I was completely oblivious to that smell.
Its true that every city you fly into presents itself to you in all five senses. Smell hits you first - because its the first to permeate the barriers that the country erects around its airports.

Its now about an hour since I left the airport.
All thoughts of my initial disgust of the smell are lost as the cab driver recklessly meanders through traffic at a speed that makes all the other cars going in the same direction seem like cars in the other direction.
"Do these seatbelts really matter?" and "Oh fuck I'm going to die today!"

Yesterday I arrived here. Now I'm at home! Within the comforting grasp of family!
Ah the exquisite pleasure of losing my worries at the front door and reverting back to being an irresponsible kid, being fussed over by everyone! I don't have to help with the cooking, and I don't need to do the dishes after. Eat home cooked food and sleep when I want... Bliss!

I reached home a day ago. I tried driving here - it was a blast.
I didn't realize how easy it was to get back to being ruthless and pushy while driving. No one gets trained in driving combat unless they've driven here. God help the weakling who trembles at the thought of cutting lanes or merging into incoming traffic or every vehicle on the road coming within 3 inches of your beloved car.
Darwinism at its best.

Its been a couple of days since I came home.
The long talks, the endless rest, the hot food (that I didn't have to make!!)... I could get used to this.

Its been three days since I came to "my" city.
I've been braving the traffic just so that I can go to every place that is dear to me. What fun!

Its been 4 days...
I went to my school. Its been ages since I saw it. I wish I were back in school. Would I do anything different knowing how beautiful it looks to me now?
I went to my college. Oh how the kids these days have changed! Makes me feel so much older than I really am.

Its been 5 days...
I went to meet my friends. Numbers have changed. Some don't live where they used to. Some aren't even in the same city. Wow - they seem to have moved up in life!

Its now a week .... and I don't know why I ever left this place to go anywhere else in the world.

Day 8: Saw a reckless driver get into an accident that I could predict about 10 seconds before it happened based on his behavior and action and seeing that the people he was trying to overtake had absolutely no idea he was. With that 10 second headstart, I was barely able to get out of the impact zone. WTF was he thinking?

Day 9: I was witness to the first bribe I've seen happening since nearly three years. It felt familiar and mundane but shameful and ridiculous as well.

Day 11: No lights all day yesterday. What fun! It seems last week was an anomaly - I was welcomed into the country with lights, but the celebrations are over this week. Back to the rationing schedule.

Day 12: Not enough time to write much. Lights keep going out. The Internet is slow at home - and we've bought the most expensive plan. How am I ever going to get any work done here? I had to write this post and save it as a text file so that I can post it when the lights and internet both work. I'm getting back to the "workrounds" mode that I remember I had before I left. At least my laptop works this time.

Day 13: Just came back from a bit of shopping. The prices here are insane! I alternated between remembering the prices before I left and converting between currencies. No matter how I did it, the conclusion was the same: This place is no cheaper than my adopted home! Does it make financial sense to move back?

Day 14: I seem to have caught a bug. Oh joy!
There's no concept of insurance here and the waiting times are just as bad. At least the doctors are friendlier and don't give me endless disclaimers. Now that I think about it, I just realized I haven't seen one advertisement about "auto, motorcycle and home insurance" nor any pharma ads with their endless list of deadly disclaimers.

Day 15: It's becoming hard to justify living here permanently unless I'm so rich that I don't need to work or at least can get others to do the work. Driving is a mess, bribes are a regular part of the daily routine and the infrastructure sucks. There are traffic rules that no one follows and getting from point A to point B involves breaking at least a dozen laws.

Day 16: Only 2 more days. Just 2 more and I'll be back home.

Day 19: Back home. Everything here just works. I feel lightheaded because there aren't any workarounds to follow, no need to constantly worry about what problems I need to avoid, what bribes I need to pay... Life is so much simpler.

I can see how I got used to this.