Destiny took me to another land to establish yet another home, far away from home!! Greg and Deepti helped to buy all the requirements to begin life in the US. I am sure I wouldn’t have bought half the stuff Deepti listed for me! The bathroom and kitchen shelves will be packed for almost eight months. Greg helped with basic furniture and Deepti with other home requirements. The bedroom has a queen-size frame and bed, and the living room has a table with two chairs and a work chair.
I was getting started in my new apartment, opening the door several times to unload the things sometimes with Greg and sometimes with Deepti on different occasions. Several cars could be seen filling the parking lot. But not even a single human structure was peeping out the window or the door. I couldn’t help but smile and think of moving to a new house in our locality. Inquisitive, innocent faces will peep, come out and begin a conversation. From where have you come? Who are they with you? Are you married? How many children/grandchildren do you have? What are they doing? Come for a cup of coffee. Shall I prepare some lunch for you? I missed those. I was so disappointed that none were seen to smile around.
During the evenings, I went for a walk to get to know the neighbourhood, if not the people in the neighbourhood. The Seminole Trails apartment complex is for Florida State University (FSU) students. Single, double and four-room apartments are built in large spaces with a well-maintained garden, office, standard reading room, gym and swimming pool. The residents can use all the facilities 24X7.
The kitchen in my single-bedroom apartment has four electric burners connected to the cooking range to bake, grill, steam, and boil. There was a dishwasher and a refrigerator of the huge size I had not used earlier, laundry, microwave with grill and bake facility that can wash and bake for a big party. These were the basics that I had in my apartment. Most other vibrant kitchens have much more than this. The cutlery is overflowing with gadgets and accessories everywhere. At home or institute, sets of knives, spoons, forks, mugs, plates and bowls are easily accessible and in excess. Various sizes of cutting boards, peelers and graters adorn the kitchen cabinet. Despite all this, cooking is a chore that people avoid. They don’t even understand that someone can enjoy cooking. It is just the culture here. It seems to be a huge, laborious process where people end up eating packed food. Even salads are packed and ready to eat. Cutting vegetables to make salad is a time-consuming task! They probably use that time for more productive work. But, I thought nothing could replace the beauty of an Indian kitchen, where the cuisine recognizes every household, and people can hardly think of something more productive than cooking five different items per meal.
It is astonishing to find people eating packed, pre-cooked, and restaurant food despite having the best gadgets and accessories in the kitchen. Our ancestors will marvel at the kitchen facilities with 24X7 hot water in the tap to the kitchen sink, a switch to open the clog, and a switch to cut the food waste into bits. My hostel students may stare at me when I educate them not to throw food in the wash basin if they see these facilities. Different types of detergents, soaps, papers for the bathroom and vessels, groceries, vegetables, fruits, milk, and curd for the kitchen look smartly loaded.

Each step I take here expose me to a strange sight; each expression is a new language. There is no end if I start. I have to be careful to throw (I am sorry you can’t throw!!) waste. It should be put in a particular bag. You can’t use a waste plastic bag. It has a colour; it has a shape and size. You should put in that ONLY. No one will come to pick it up if you hang it on your doorstep or gate. You should go to the nearby dump truck and place your bag precariously inside. Early in the morning, the truck will come and pull it along and vanish somewhere. I am tempted to put the organic waste in the garden under a plant. I have not been able to do it till now. But it is for sure that before returning to India, I will teach these people how to use bio-degradable waste for the garden. Somehow, I will find a way to hide the kitchen waste under the trees in front and around my apartment.
Dogs are never found around moving at their will. They are cared for much more than humans. They are dressed well, fed well, and taken for walks. Group walking is like ours; talking loudly and laughing cannot be seen anywhere. I smile thinking of how Negi and Dhanya would frown while Elizabeth, and I plucked Jasmines and collected wild fruits and edible leaves around the RIE campus during our evening walks
You see some people walk with their dogs. There are dustbins with a pickup brush every ten steps to remove dog waste and drop it in the bin. Dogs are trained more than training children to behave well. If there is no caretaker for the dog, it is open for adoption, and they are taken quicker than taking kids. Dogs are trained before they are given for adoption. John and Deepti adopted two dogs, and they were lovable. Usually, I don’t admire dogs, and I could never find a reason why Upasana had to feed per pet Max with her hands and sing to him, but after coming here, these dogs have made me feel that it is acceptable to keep dogs as pets.
I may be missing my family and friends, but what I miss more is green chillies. My God!! How these people live without the pungent bite of the green marvels on Earth!! I pity them for missing such a taste. Anyway, they do not know what they miss!

The Florida State University has its bus service throughout the city of Tallahassee. They run on all weekdays. Monday morning, I took a bus (OS bus. All buses have names of the destination from FSU circle. Two letters are the short form of calling the bus. OS is Osceola) to the University centre with the help of the driver and from there, another (IN – Innovation) to my institute, Florida Centre for Reading Research (FCRR). The drivers were so helpful in letting me know where to get down and where to look for the next bus. After getting down from the second bus at Ivey Avenue, the street where FCRR is located in Innovation Park, I couldn’t understand where I was. I was lost!
Greg had taken me earlier on Thursday and Friday, but finding the exact location was hard. I asked a lady walking with a bag (a rare sight) where FCRR was. She was helpful but did not know the exact location of the building. Greg was texting me where I was, but I did not know what to say. Finally, he sent me the address, 2010 Levy Avenue, which I searched on Google Maps and started walking in that direction. It was showing one mile!! It has been an hour since I left home. I was walking fast in that direction, and an FSU IN bus stopped and looked at me, gesturing to get in. I couldn’t help thanking all the Gods enough for the courtesy of the driver. I identified the FCRR building as he drove, got down and entered the building. It was a feeling of great relief and achievement.
Whenever they see people standing or walking, they stop and ask if they need to be picked up. It is such a privilege. We don’t have to run for the bus; the bus will stop and wait for us!! Interesting. Though there are designated bus stops, buses will stop when a button is pressed as requested to stop and when they see someone standing on the road to pick them up. Charging points are available at some bus stops. Everything is automatic and quick. They stop appropriately for charging, something comes out and gets hooked to the bus, and within 10 minutes, the bus moves. All bus drivers I have seen are Africans. Lady drivers outnumber men. Most of them are very courteous. They greet when students enter the bus and wish when they get out. It is mutually done. Don’t imagine the bus to be packed. I am talking about university buses called Seminole Express. Seminoles are a tribe of Florida. There is an interesting history of Seminoles, and you may read about it to learn more details about them in the series that is following…….