Homeward Bound

My 29 day journey is coming to an end. And as cliche as it sounds, in some ways I feel like I just got here. A lot of people are asking me if I'm ready to come home, and it's all a state of mind. I could take it or I could leave it. If I knew I had a few more weeks here, I'd be fine. I never got lonely. Maybe I don't get lonely- just bored.

Truthfully, knowing I'm coming home has me a little anxious. :) I have babies to see and hold and love- Connor, Dakota, Jack, Alison, Simon, Ben, Caleb....and the list goes on.

I leave here on Sunday morning around 330 am - provided everything goes as planned I arrive in Chicago around 1030am CST, still on Sunday. I know I'm coming home to cold weather, but I'm ready for it. The first thing I want to do is take a deep breath of fresh air, fill my lungs and hold it, take in a little more and hold it, and take in a little more until my lungs are as full as they can be and let it out with a yoga style 'ssshhhhhhh.' The quality of air difference is what I've noticed the most.

I've had a good time being here and I'm so thankful for the opportunity. I'm ready to take off the facilitator hat and resume responsibilities of my actual role. (I say that even knowing there's a lot of work that lies ahead!) It's always good to be in these shoes to remember the challenges trainers face.

On Wednesday, my training class gave me an oil burner. I bought some new oils here, so I'm anxious to fire it up. They are so sweet- they were a really great class. Today, one of the strongest performer said he appreciated how frank I was with them. (Everyone tells me how blunt I am all the time, so I got a good laugh out of that.) They weren't too sure what to expect when they heard I was coming, but I think they were pleasantly surprised. I'm a toughie but I like to have fun, too and I think we maintained a good balance. They kept asking me when I'm coming back.

The group had their 2nd round of practice calls today and they did a good job. I leave them to ramp up through the certification process before they are turned loose to take actual live calls. I have very little worry. They sound like new hires, which is expected. With time, they will begin to recognize routine calls and handle them like champs. Before I left I assigned them each pieces of the payroll process and challenged them to gain ultimate ownership over these pieces. One of the managers has said that they would add those items into their performance conversations, so I'm anxious to hear how that irons out. They are so smart, dedicated to learn and hard on themselves when they get something wrong. No sooner than they would hang up the phone, they would march over to my desk, "Erin, I didn't do well on that call, I told them this when I should have told them that." And these were small things.

Bhanti dropped me off for the last time tonight. Along with a tip I gave him a key chain that had a picture of the Chicago city sky line and under it said 'windy city.' Appropriate, too. When I got in the car and he said, "So cold. Fast air."

"Very cold and windy," I said. "Fast air is windy."
"Windy. Win-dee" he said, with emphasis on both sylables.
"Mam, what also? (Good grief, how do you explain also??)
"Ummm, You're cold? I'm cold, too. I'm cold, also. You're tired? I'm tired, too. I'm tired, also."
"Also. Too. Tk."

Tk means Ok in Hindi. Actually spelled Tikh Hai (or something close to that).

Tomorrow I'll get everything packed up and head down the club room for some relaxing (read: adult beverages) before I leave for the airport. (And I've heard that leaving the airport is an experience on it's own.) I've made friends with Juttin and Vijay (hotel employees who make my coffee every day), and they have taken good care of me so we'll hang out for a little while tomorrow evening. Today I gave them each a picture frame as a 'thank you.' Juttin said, 'How did you know to get us a gift?' I said, 'You've become my friends!' They keep asking me when I'm coming back.


And to my friends at home- I'll be there for Bowl-a-rama next week. I'm fiening for a trip to 'The Bistro,' and I kinda want some nachos. Who's in?

Some randon tid bits:
- Dogs. There are stray dogs everywhere. Like squirills! I even saw a cute little puppy wandering around one night at work. I turned down the rabies shot when I got my immunizations. Had I known the abundance of stray dogs and the fact that Mr. Monkey Man scared me so much, I might have opted to get it. I told you he got aggressive- he tried to open up my (thankfully) locked car door. I guess it's a tactic so when the monkey gets into the car, with all the chaos, it's prime opportunity for them to snatch your purse or wallet.
- Crouching. At home, we sit on the side of a curb or lean up against a fence or whatever while we're waiting for ..whatever. People crouch here, in a trifold. Feet on the ground, bent knees, butt down (not touching the ground). Smoking, working, chatting, waiting. Always in a trifold.
- Everyday on the way to work, I'd notice the men laying tile on the sidewalks and digging on the side of the road-in a trifold, of course. Yesterday, I noticed that they had manually dug out a whole trench on both sides of the road. Probably 4 feet deep or so, but all by hand with hammers that are long and pointed on both sides...I don't know what hey are called. They got the work done pretty fast, considering, but at home, we'd have horrible loud machines doing all the work. I think to make the chaotic roads wider.

I think that's all I have for now, but I'm not sure I'm done with the blog yet. We'll have to see.

See you on the home front! Until then, Namaste.