Eating my way through my thesis.

This is a confession that may or may not be appropriate for the internet, but I’ll make it anyway!

Each week I come up with a new plan to be the most productive with my thesis. This week’s solution: eat. Eat whatever I want, whenever I want. I’ve had a few cans of Vanilla Flavored Coke Zero, sugar cookies with the rainbow chip frosting, Wheat Thins with cheese, pasta with oil and Parmesan cheese, at least a pound of Red Vines, and two Reese Peanut Butter Cups!

I think maybe next week I’ll try and come up with a new solution. Between the stomach aches and sugar headaches I don’t think I’m accomplishing what I want to. That and my pants are starting to get a bit tight. Luckily I also unfroze my gym membership this week, so the damage has been limited.

Liann is really LinkedIn

My friend Natalie recently invited me to join her network in LinkedIn.com. I decided that as a woman soon to enter the job market, websites like this may be helpful in finding that perfect job for me. As I joined I downloaded the contacts from my Gmail account and carefully selected 60 or so contacts to link to (some old friends, a few BYU professors, a couple co-workers, even an ex-fiancé). I saved a few contacts so that I could add a personal note when inviting them to link up. Thinking I was clicking the “continue on to making my profile” button, I accidentally sent an invite to all of my Gmail contacts. That would be everyone I have ever emailed or who has emailed me. The total comes to 514 people—including a sociology professor at Harvard I emailed once, a few ex-boyfriends I don’t talk to anymore, people I only know as “byubabe,” and about 50 city clerks in Iowa I contacted for a research project once upon a time.

I'll admit I was laughing as I was sort of yelling "no, no!" to my computer while rapidly clicking again and again the STOP button at the top of the web browser. I did stay some of the damage and only invited 390 of my closest associates to join my network.

Well, if anything at least I'm very well LinkedIn.

One of the more terrifying ways to die

I understand that the human race has come up with methods of torture that are more painful than I could ever imagine. But it seems to me that there would be purpose in the torture--something you are standing for, something you refuse to confess. I get that diseases like cancer can bring a slow and yet steady demise. But hopefully there is family there to provide love and support during those long days and painful treatments.

Over Christmas break I spent the 7 days on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. One morning I was eating breakfast and overheard the people at the table behind me talking about a news report they had seen about a woman who had fallen off the side of a cruise liner in the middle of the night. It happened to occur on a Norwegian Cruise Liner (the same one I've been on) and apparently none of the guests knew about it until they got off at port and the FBI wouldn't let the woman's husband off. There was talk among the table as to whether the man pushed his wife off the balcony or not.

As I was first eavesdropping I also wondered if the man pushed his wife. That afternoon I walked around the promenade and thought about jumping off the side--not in a suicidal way. We were leaving port and the boat was carefully maneuvering out of the area. Men in fishing boats were waving to us from their anchored positions. And I thought it'd be pretty fun to jump off, kind of like cliff jumping.

The next night Aaron, Brandon and I were out on the promenade after a night of listening to the bar entertainment. A fellow cruise ship passed us--silently, like two ships passing in the night. :) I watched as the lights on the other cruise ship became smaller and smaller in the distance--so quickly--I never realized how fast we were moving. I was gripped then with the scene of that woman. Wet, a little confused after such a fall, spitting out salt water, gasping for air, clawing her way through the waves, heavy with soaked clothes, watching the boat, thinking for sure it would stop. Then as the reality sets in--the large cruise ship has no idea I'm not on it anymore. The recognizable boat quickly becomes just lights in the distance. I would feel so small bobbing up and down in that big ocean watching my "home away from home" leave me behind to die here in this salty sea.

What was she thinking about right then? So many possibilities at the end I suppose--a determination to live, an acceptance and a lonely farewell to the world, seething anger at her husband, sadness at opportunities soon to be lost, peaceful reflection on a life well lived, or maybe she was just too drunk to be thinking at all. What would I think about? What would I do?

The thought terrifies me. Brandon and Aaron were kind enough not to tease me as I shared my fear with them. I hope I never die by falling off a moving cruise ship.

Rethinking Motherhood

Now I’ve always thought I’d make a decent mother someday and that I would enjoy nothing less than fulfilling that “greater calling” in life. I’ve done quite a bit of babysitting. I generally enjoy spending time with kids. But I have seriously reconsidered motherhood after spending 5 days and nights babysitting my sister’s five children—and mind you my mom and I were both there. Which makes me even more terrified! There were two women in the house, which allowed for the luxury of a daily nap.

There were a couple of things that really got me about all of this. One, I felt like the worst version of myself came out. After my experience in India I learned not to consider myself “patient,” but this week I found myself wanting to lose it a more times than I care to admit. It’s not a pretty thing to see in yourself. And two, motherhood is so very selfless. I haven’t thought of myself as selfish, but this week I found nothing was about me. As the week progressed I took less and less care of my looks. Not only that, every night I wanted some sort of judge to listen to my grievances and deliver some sort of justice.

I can hear it now. I approach the judge in my pantsuit outfit carrying a folder detailing my case and say:

Your honor there are a few grievances I would like to put forth before you today and see that you remedy these situations. First, my one year old niece Jane was awake between the hours of midnight and 2:13am coughing. I kept running downstairs to get her some water until I was able to locate the infant’s cold medicine and administer it to her. I’d like to get my 2 hours of sleep back.

Second is the case of the 3 year old, Eve; my complaint is that she hit me multiple times and said “I hate you,” and “You’re not my friend!” repeatedly. I would like you to make her say “I’m sorry” and if possible keep her from saying “no” to my every request, suggestion, and mode of comfort.

The 6 year old nephew, Henry, has wet his bed for the second time since our stay. I would feel justified if he would wash the following items: 1 set of sheets, 2 pairs of PJ pants, and 1 pairs of underwear. I’d also appreciate it if there was some retribution since he lied to us regarding the wearing of pull-ups one night.

Your honor, Kate, the 8 year old, keeps forcing me to “play puppies” with her by getting angry when I refuse. Can you simply explain to her kindly that pretending to be kidnapped and then found by a stuffed animal puppy is only so fun for so long to a 25 year old?

And finally I would like for your honor to get my 10 year old nephew, Ethan, to put his Sunday shoes on the first time I ask him, instead of provoking his younger siblings to the point of tears.

In their defense those kids were fun to be with. They are so creative. Ethan made popcorn for our Friday night movie and handed it out like a regular salesman. During the film Eve climbed up and reclined on my lap while Henry and Kate tried their best to cuddle with my two arms. Ethan, Kate, Mom and I also played 2 rousing games of Settlers of Catan to my delight. I also enjoyed going to Kate’s 3rd grade class and giving a short presentation on India. And finally, Jane always had smiles for me each morning even though I wasn’t her mom.

There are sweet moments in motherhood I am sure, but I take my hat off to you women who do this day in and day out. To let it all go and love those kids despite it all is tough. You are amazing and deserve more than just one day to celebrate all the work you do.

Letter from the Author

Sorry I've been so busy since coming home. Celebrating Thanksgiving with family, buying a cell phone, signing a housing contract, lining up a job, organizing my thesis, and catching up with friends/family has been all I could manage in the last 2 (or has it been 3?) weeks since coming home. I've been thinking about this blog and what to write for a while now. Mostly wondering what to make of the end of this Indian chapter in my life. So, (first) I apologize for bombarding you with three long blog entries in one day. But they felt like three distinct experiences that have come again and again to my mind as I think of all this.

(And second) I want to apologize to regular readers (I've been running into a few and wonder how many more of you are out there!); while my life will remain being of interest to me, it may not be as exciting to you. I will try my best to continue writing and posting the entertaining anecdotes of my life. The next two chapters of my life will hopefully be entitled: "Madly finishing her thesis to finish grad school by April" and "Liann finds the first job of her career in this failing economy." I am planning for more Indian chapters to come, but the future is yet to be seen.

Reentry

I came from one sort of chaos to another.

India has streets full of people, carts, cars, buses, motorcycles, bikes, ladies selling flowers, begging mothers toting children, shops full of spices, restaurant stalls full of customers, men peeing on the sidewalk, women waiting for buses, salesmen with those useful odds and ends, and sacred cows meandering in and out of it all. Smells, sounds, sights, all senses are deliciously overwhelmed.

I come from a family of 10 children, all of whom made it home to Arizona for Thanksgiving. My house, big as it is, felt just as full as those crowded Indian streets. Boys running inside and out, girls telling jokes to each others' delight, toddlers screeching as they ride trikes around the patio, babies in highchairs crying for more food or freedom, mothers searching for lost kids, my brothers yelling at each other while playing the X-Box, my sisters constantly sweeping up while catching up with one another, and one old dog trying to live on the periphery of it all.

I felt right at home among all the chaos. I spent each successive night roaming from bed to floor to bed as the house guests came and went. I chatted with sisters about babies and with brothers about business. I did crafts with kids, wiped noses of toddlers, and held babies until they cried for their own moms. Overall, I just slipped back into my family's life. Jet lag made me a bit dizzy the first few days, but that quickly passed. Although each night I found myself going to bed early, not at all like I used to be.

So many people asked if it was weird being home. Strangely enough it hasn't been weird at all. I tell them the story about the bus and that tension I felt while thinking about the one world while living in the other (see my post below on my prep for reentry). But since I've been home it sort of feels like the last 7 months of my life were a bit of a dream, some very vivid dream I can talk about in great detail, but still a dream.

My Indian dream.

Goodbye

I was never very good at goodbyes. When I went to New Zealand and lived with as an exchange student (of sorts) for 5 weeks I found myself tearless at the airport trying to console the other 3 girls with me as we went back to America. I always like the scene in the Sixth Sense where the boy and the man pretend that they will see each other the next day even though this will be their last goodbye.

The boy says, "See you tomorrow."
The man replies, "See you tomorrow." And the man walks off.

I wish all my goodbyes could be that inconspicuous, none of this waving a handkerchief, running after a train, long crushing hugs. I would just like to walk out of your life like I walked into it. And we'll both know what that interaction (long or short) did or did not mean to us; none of this flaunting our relationship through dramatic scenes of parting sorrow.

The Daniels see so many students come and go I feel like all their goodbyes are of the simple, loving, but short nature. I'm sure they miss some students more than others. But they don't make a big deal about it. The first time I left them I know they didn't think I was coming back. They thought I hated India, and well they were sort of right. Only later did I see the value of my experiences in India. I knew (even then) I would come back, if only to prove to myself that I could do it better the second time.

Well, do it better I did. I even came to love the place. Strange that something so difficult could become so beloved.

I came to really love that family, especially Jeeva. Jeeva, the host mother, is a gentle quiet woman. I'm afraid that many students come to see her as part of the background. I think they perceive her as possibly a little dumb and quite submissive. Over those 4 months I was living there in their house I came to respect her more and more as a strong leader in her family, in the church, and among her neighbors.

My last day there Matthew, the host father, had gone into town. The girls, Jeeva and I sat on the porch waiting for 11:30 bus to come. We moved to the bus stop near their house. Jeeva came and stood with me, something I never expected her to do. As I stood by this small woman I knew we had shared a lot. I can't quite describe what we shared, or what made it different to leave her this time, but it was different. I think it has something to do with the many little moments we had together.

• That one Sunday night her Salomane tied me in a saree like the old village women and I hobbled around making Jeeva, Priya, and Salomane laugh harder than I've ever heard them before.
• The sacrament meeting where I watched Jeeva cry while giving a talk.
• The random evenings spent hanging around the kitchen just shooting the breeze.
• The daily ritual (created over time) of finding Jeeva when I got home and asking about her day and telling her about mine.
• The day I made Jeeva and Matthew laugh by sharing my silly thoughts on wanting to pick up the short old crabby ladies on the bus so they can hang on the tall bar (like some monkey bar) and stop pushing me out of my spot.
• The water days where we got Jeeva to come to the government tap (our own "nuclear weapon" to any conflict) to deliver justice and put the other ladies in their place.
• The mornings I woke early and watched with interest as Jeeva dunged the courtyard.
• The times she invited me in alone to eat with her family.
• Hearing her tell about bearing her testimony to the Jehovah Witnesses that came by.
• Listening to her broken English as she talked about what she saw on Guinness World Records Television Show and being amazed with her at all the crazy feats people do.
• The afternoons she put me in charge of their family's little shop while she ran an errand.

In some way all of those little moments added up to a deep and meaningful relationship and I was sad to leave her. Not that I was sad to leave India. It felt like the right time for me to leave. I knew I had had wonderful experiences and would have those memories for a long while.

It was my deep relationships with people in the States that made me homesick while in India. And it will be those deep relationships in India that make me long for that place. My ex-boyfriend grew up in Kenya and Nepal, but always spent his summers in Idaho at his grandma's house. He talked about living in-between, never really having a place he considers home. I don't feel that. I have a home and it's in Arizona. But I am finding that I make myself at home wherever I go by surrounding myself with loving relationships. After enough traveling I suppose I'll always be missing someone from a place far from me.