Past the midway point

Well, I'm back in Bangalore. It's funny how you can get so used to something new. When I flew back I was calling here "home". After more than 3 weeks I guess it is home. When I got picked up at the Airport it felt so good to be back. I recognized the roads as I drove by. It dawned on me today how used to everything I am getting. When I first arrived here I was amazed at the chaotic driving, the buildings being either run down or fancy corporate ones, and seeing livestock in middle of busy roads. There is a certain charm to it all. It may seem sometimes to run backwards; with the occasional loss of power for a minute, or the A/C in the building will go on the fritz. But everyone takes it all in stride.
What I feel most attached is the people and is what I think is the spirit of India. The people here I feel are really unique. So far everywhere I've gone the people are just so outwardly happy. It doesn't seem to matter if you are poor or rich everyone has a positive outlook. People regard family life as very important and business life as secondary. It doesn't mean they don't have a great work effort, they totally do. It's just not their main motivation.
In Bangalore the traffic gets so thick that you could be stuck for hours, and yet everyone takes it in stride. In LA horns are blaring if you don't move in 5 seconds.
Monday, Michael and I were invited by Raman to a weekly lunch the animation team puts on. Everyone brings in a meal and have a large pot luck meal. Half the table was non-veg and other have was veg. The food was some of the best I've had. It was just so fun everyone dancing around each other at the long table trying to grab different dishes before they all ran out. Course it didn't help that we had these tiny little spoons to serve the meal, or maybe that did help. This is another interesting fact. Most meals at home are fresh and prepared daily. The concept of fast food is not rampant here and it is a welcome thing to see. People by and large eat very healthy here.
I know it may seem like I'm rambling on, but it's just that these thoughts have been popping into my head. It's also interesting that everyone is so polite in individual spaces but when it is a mass of people that politeness that I'm used to melts away. Its not that anyone is rude, far from it. I think it's when you have a population of about 1.5 billion in a country you have to be used to navigating in large crowds with a little bit of zeal or else you just won't get anywhere.
It's been a very profound experience so far and feel very honored to be given this opportunity.