India - Day 0 - Thanksgiving

11/27/14 (Thanksgiving)

Newark Liberty International Airport

This Thanksgiving, there can be no doubt that I have lot for which to be thankful.  At the top of that list is a wonderful and loving girlfriend.  Also at the top would be having the means and ability to travel the way I do and enjoy the luxuries in life that I do.  The very fact that I can embark on this trip solely because I want to take a picture in front of the Taj Mahal with my water bottle and cigar is something for which I should be very thankful.  Those are the two big things.  Other things, such as the assortment of four cigars in my breast pocket, the fact that I’m living in the greatest city in the world, and my health are also on the list.

However, just because I am thankful for all of these things does not mean that I am about to give thanks, or even that I agree with the concept of giving thanks.  The original implication was to give thanks to god for the blessings he has bestowed on us.  I do not believe in god, so that is not happening.  I also think it seems patently ridiculous to thank my girlfriend for being my girlfriend, just as it is ridiculous to thank my boss for giving me a job.  A relationship is like a job.  It is formed because both people want it.

I suppose that Day 0 should start at the moment I turned on the parade and truly felt the holiday spirit.  I had no appetite.  Actually, that’s not true.  I was hungry, but I didn’t want to eat.  I had neither the energy to leave my apartment nor the desire to eat food.  I lit up my 2013 Christmas Pipe, thankful that I was completing the cycle on Thanksgiving, just as I believe I did last year as I headed to Iran.  My trip to India this year is far less ambitious.  My trip planned for next Thanksgiving will be even more ambitious than Iran.  I planned my itinerary as I smoked my pipe, my spirits lifting by the minute.

After the pipe and once I was fully packed, I headed to the subway.  I had a bit of a dilemma.  I knew that I would want to smoke a Bolivar before I departed for India, but I was not sure if I would have a chance to smoke it indoors.  That meant that I would have needed my coat, and I did not relish the idea of lugging my coat around India.  In the end, I chose to bring the coat.

I got off the train, and all of the memories of the past 4 months came rushing back.  I remembered the first time I saw her this year, in this exact same neighborhood, when I hugged her goodnight at that exact same street corner and wondered if I wanted something more, and I remembered everything that followed, and I was very thankful how all of the events of the past 4 months played out. 

It was after 1 PM, and I had still not eaten all day.  We would be drinking, and we would not be eating until 5 PM.  I quickly realized my mistake, but there was nothing to be done.   I was able to graze enough before dinner to keep my appetite at bay, and I had a wonderful time with my girlfriend and her family.  We got toasted and laughed and joked and teased each other.  She asked if I had more fun than I would have had at the fancy hotel with my grandfather and my parents.  The answer was obvious.  There was no place in the world I would have rather been than where I was at that very moment, and for that I was thankful.  We had a delightful feast, turkey and stuffing and all the trimmings.

Knowing that it would embarrass her, I did not use my chopsticks to eat my meal, instead opting for the more traditional knife and fork.  That, however, did not stop me from taking a picture for Instagram.  I couldn’t even finish my plate, despite not having eaten all day.  It was then time to go, and I said my goodbyes to her family.  She then walked me downstairs, and we said our goodbyes.  I would be seeing her again in 96 hours, and in the meantime I would travel halfway around the world and back.  It seemed so weird.

The car was downstairs, and, when I got in, I took a shot.  I asked if I could smoke if I opened the windows.  At first he said no, and I resigned myself to smoke my Bolivar at Newark before I checked in.  He then shocked me by opening the window and saying that I could.  I promised myself that I would give him a generous tip, and I enjoyed my cigar as we made our way to Newark.  The cigar took less time than the ride, and I was thankful for being able to have my cigar en route.  When we got there, I asked if I could pay by card, but he said that they were not set up for that, and he would not take a check either, which meant that I had to find an ATM in the airport and then come back to pay him.

That was a minor nuisance, and the line at security was slow.  The agents, rather than being bitter about working on Thanksgiving, were having a grand time, joking around, and having fun.  One of the agents said that we should line up heel to toe, and, as I stepped up to the person in front of me, attempting to put my toes on the back of his heel as requested, I realized that he was joking.  I headed to the gate and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close.