Ya Girl's Coming Back

Mark your calendars bc the tickets are booked and I have one month to go! I fly back the Saturday after Labor Day so that I can get that sweet, sweet VA Fall before it descends into frigid nonsense. I fucking love a fire pit.

It's still a decent chunk of time but I have that paralytic ADHD trait (not actually diagnosed, just assuming based on years of living with myself lol)  where my mind thinks I can't do anything if I have something coming up. Have an appointment at 3pm? OK I'll be in waiting mode from the time I wake up til I have to leave. So even though I have weeksssss left, I'm stressin about making plans to do anything or go anywhere that isn't literally within the city. Also it feels like there's so much within the city itself that I haven't hit up so I'm fervently working through my custom Google map of Bombay and also trying to squeeze in one last sidequest to somewhere lush and relaxing.

It will have been seven months away by the time I get back and I'm legit homesick. Feels weird bc I spent more of my childhood & teenage years homesick for India and counting down til summer vacations here. Ofc at this point the majority of my life has been stateside-- 24 out of 33 years -- so my friends, my apt, my habits, my taste buds are firmly in the US, giving me a lovely identity crisis of who I am but that's an existential crisis that I can't get into rn.

Aside from friends, who are obviously what I miss the absolute most being over here, the things I'm looking forward to most are--

-Central mf air. AC, heat, exhaust fans, circulation of air that isn't thick with humidity or heat. Summer was fucking miserable, monsoon is .. moist, and having a window-unit AC in just the bedroom has gotten old. Some days I eat, breathe, sleep in there out of necessity. Also can't wait to be in a space with closed windows so I don't have to worry about mosquitoes or flies or anything else buzzing around me.

-Grocery shopping! How boring and old lady of me but I miss my comfort spots like Whole Foods, TJ's, & my bae, Costco. Shopping here is very big city vibes so it's all small stores, and buying just a few things at a time bc you have to haul it back yourself. Supermarkets exist and ofc are very popular but I don't have a car so even with a rickshaw or an Uber, it's not the same. If I'm lugging home milk, I'm not also stopping for pounds of fruits & veggies.

-Foods that don't exist here, that they haven't been able to create at the same level, or without making it ~ fusion vibes ~. I fucking need a bacon, egg, & cheese on an everything bagel STAT. I've been dreaming of Call Your Mother, Bagels Inc, Bethesda Bagels. I need a fat turkey sandwich from the Italian Store. A solid taco that isn't chicken tikka or chili chicken flavored. A bowl from Cava. A Chipotle burrito. Ok I have to stop bc I'm getting my stomach all riled up lmao.

-Actual good beer, and stuff that is over a 4% average ABV that seems to exist here. Sorry India, I've tried about a dozen microbreweries in multiple cities by now and I'm lucky if I find one that I truly enjoy at each spot. Beers here remind me of the jokes people make about La Croix-- someone sprinkles the ingredient in the vicinity of the bevvy and they call it flavored. Belgians are the only ones that taste like they're supposed to and that's because stuff like Tripels and Hefeweizens have those distinct flavor profiles that come through even if it's diluted. I haven't had a single NEIPA that I like and that's my go to genre (?) these days.

-Dressing like a ho without judgmental looks from aunties lmao. I'm talking strapless, I'm talking short shorts, minidresses, whatever tf I want. Bombay is modern by far, and I see plenty of Gen Z & younger girls dressed like they would in the West, but I'm just not comfortable dealing with the stares so I've been sticking to jeans, even in the hottest of months. And when traveling to smaller, more conservative cities? Forget it. I'm in fucking kurtas and high necklines and whatever I need to not be harassed.

-Unlimited data on my cell. I have a pre-paid plan here on my Indian SIM (most common here) and I have 1.5GB a day. Yes I could get a more expensive plan or add on if I run out in a given day but I've just never had to think about how much data I'm using??? I've had unlimited data on my cell forever? It's not something I've had to consider in the decade since smart phones became ubiquitous and it's just so weird to ration my usage or have to top up if I'm out and about.