Across seven seas

Our container arrived at our doorstep on September 18th after roughly two and half months (it had left our home in Portland on June 28th). It came to us in a typical desi truck complete with the "Mera bharat mahan" sign!
We decided to store all our boxes in a storage space for now since we haven't been given on-campus housing yet (we are currently staying on the campus with my parents).

We used Air7Seas to ship our belongings and it was a completely hassle-free affair. When we opened it here, the container didn't look anything like we had packed in Portland since it had undergone a thorough customs inspection at Mumbai port. But we received everything in perfect condition and were happy with the service.

It was a strange feeling to be reunited with our belongings after 2.5 months in a completely new setting. The first box to be unpacked (even before the container was completely unloaded) was the one containing Kabir's big Tonka dump truck. He had been pining for it over the last 2.5 months and used to frequently ask how much longer it would take for it to arrive. He was very excited to see his dump truck and didn't ask for anything else from the shipment. Over the next few days as I got some more of his old toys out, his excitement reached new levels. However, the day I took him to the storage and unpacked his red scooter (which he used to ride practically everyday in Portland during his outings with Iren), it brought a wistful look on his face. He spontaneously asked me - mama, where is Iren? If there was ever a moment when I noticed any sadness in Kabir regarding our move to India, it was this. On seeing everything come back to him from Portland, perhaps he expected to be reunited with Iren too. I told him Iren was still in Portland. And before I could say anything more to make him feel better, he had already moved on and was off riding his beloved scooter!
Most of our boxes are still in storage and in a way it feels better to open them bit by bit and experience the excitement over and over again. Even though it has been a few months now, it still feels unreal to be back home. Perhaps it will be the day when we have all our boxes unpacked that we will feel truly at home.