What's new in Peoria???

September 1999 - that's when I moved to Peoria as a contract employee - so I guess I can actually say that Peoria has been home since the last century??!! Ajey was working in Chicago then, and either of us would have been hard-pressed to find Peoria on a map - no wait, the agency was based out of Chilicothe - that had sounded even stranger than Peoria! Of course, Chilicothe was pretty much a 1 street town - and we drove past the agency office, the Super 8 motel I was booked into, a Pizza Hut and a Kroger - hmm, disappointed much?

We decided to keep driving to Peoria - followed signs to the Riverfront, looking for a good restaurant - the word 'riverfront' always conjures up images of a happening pier, tons of casual restaurants with outside seating, bustling with life - pretty much sums up everything that the Peoria riverfront was not!! Actually, the whole downtown area had a deserted look....no people, no cars, just buildings! A big letdown, especially after cheerful Westmont where Ajey had his apartment!! Was I really considering moving here?? Maybe I should just wait for an opportunity in the Chicago area...

Well, I did go into the interview next morning - and everyone I met was so incredibly nice and welcoming!! So I took the offer - as a stop-gap, mind you - and the rest, as cliched as it may sound, is history!! Within a few months, Ajey had accepted an offer in Peoria too, and although we didn't know it then, Peoria was to be our home base for the coming future!! The first place I had in Peoria absolutely sucked - a 'garden view' apartment which actually was a basement apartment, and the next one, though absolutely luxurious by Peoria standards, still left a lot to be desired!!

Nevertheless, it was a good time for us - lots of laughter, lots of fun. The friendships we made then are close to my heart and deeply cherished. So in the natural progression of events, when we decided to buy a house, it was almost like putting a seal of approval on Peoria - putting down roots, settling in. Strange how things work, though - three short years later, we sold our house and set off on this exciting expat life. But no matter where we go, how far we travel, one thing remains the same - Peoria still remains our home base!!

All this nostalgia - I've completely lost track of what I was going to write about in this post!! Anyway, enough with the rambling, back to the topic at hand - so, what is new in Peoria? I've been known to say that nothing changes in Peoria, even the potholes are familiar friends - of course, this is not true! Over the last decade and half, I have seen plenty of changes in Peoria. The new Walmart and Menards on Allen road, the new mall - Grand Prairie - with its glitzy shops (yay, Peoria now has two malls!!!), the amazingly upgraded public libraries - just to mention a few. The cornfields have given way to row upon row of suburban houses, and the people are all new too - the lack of familiar faces a bit unnerving, to be honest!!

The Riverfront has also gone through a transformation - and it surely is a vast improvement on what it was 15 years ago! Two added attractions since we left for China are the Caterpillar Visitor Center and the Peoria Riverfront Museum - both right across from the Riverfront building. We're saving the Cat museum for when Ajey gets here, but the Riverfront museum was a good way to spend a rainy afternoon on the July 4th long weekend - well, at least Manasi and my little nephew were pretty excited to go!!

In the lobby

How high can you jump??

Big hug!!

Funny mirrors...

It's not a huge museum - but it does have a little bit of everything! A movie theater - was it IMax, can't remember - we had just missed a show on Mummies, the next one about Transformers didn't sound that appealing, so was off the list. What was most fun for the kids - the interactive sports displays - jumping high, strength tests, tests for reflexes and so on! A whole section for the Peoria river conservation effort was completely ignored by us - don't look at me, the eco-counselor is on vacation!! 2 really interesting sections - the Peoria Walk and the Ripley's-Believe-It-Or-Not.

The Peoria Walk is a little slice of history - Peoria from the days of the French settlers, to its boom-town days with its infamous breweries, all the way up to its staid reputation as Caterpillar town! Plenty of pictures, sound clips and curios on displays - did you know that one of Abraham Lincoln's famous speeches was here in Peoria, or that Charles Lindbergh delivered mail here before his famous flight?? Interesting nuggets of information - I'm hoping the next Quiz night will have a whole section on the Peoria - what, it could happen, you know!!

Made in Peoria!!!

The RBION section had an amazing display right at the entrance - look closely at the picture of Albert Einstein below - you'll never guess what it's made of!!! 440 pieces of toast - believe it or not!! This was a really interesting part of the museum. If you've seen the show on TV, you know what to expect - but seeing the kids' reaction is priceless, and it's such good entertainment!! I wish we had spent more time here, rather than hurrying out to catch the last show in the planetarium!!

440 pieces of toast!!

A python made of used washers..

Model of a python..

Ah yes, the planetarium - we wanted to see the Amazing Universe show, but we missed it by minutes. The last show of the day was a special weekend show called Journey Into Space. I was looking forward to plush seats, cool air and views of the night sky and beyond. First of all, no plush seats - what's up with that??!! Secondly, I felt the show would have been better suited to a flat screen rather than the dome screen - there were a lot of photos and videos - all distorted because of the curvature of the screen. All the rockets and space stations were curved, which led to a lot of confused questions from Manasi. And here I was hoping to sneak in a quick nap - oh well!!

It's not a fantastic museum - not even close! But it's a start - and will hopefully get bigger and better as the years pass. I'm looking forward to going to the Cat museum - I'm sure they'll have some of the bigger trucks in there - and I absolutely love those!! Meanwhile, going back to what I started with - there's actually not much new in Peoria, and that is exactly what makes Peoria so easy to come back to!! And while I'm enjoying being an expat too much, it's always nice to know that Peoria will be here for us if we do decide to return to a 'normal' life!!

Closure...sort of....

I thought I'd take a walk today. After a stormy night, the day is a perfect July day in Peoria! Thought it would be fun to walk in the park by our old house, the house we lived in for a brief 11 months before we moved to China. Set off quite cheerfully - and was totally unprepared for the staggering onslaught of memory - a visceral, gut-wrenching memory that literally left me gasping. For as I walked past what used to be our backyard, there she was - on the deck, tail thumping, ears twitching, waiting for us to get back home. There again, snuffling in the grass, loping to the gate to welcome us. And again, a streak of white by the lake, running back to us. And in a flash, I was back in the vet's office - a summer day much like today, the trust in her brown eyes fading away, a last wag of her tail, twitching paws stilled forever. I sat down on a bench, struggling to gain control - finally gave up and kept walking, tears streaming down my face as I kept feeling the tug of an imaginary leash - oh Ajey, where is our beautiful baby now?

I hadn't expected it to be so hard. After 2 years, I thought I was at the point where I could think of and talk about our Snowy without crumbling into a mass of raw emotion. But then, we never really had any closure here in Peoria - we left for China the day right after, and I think what kept me functioning  then was Sunny - making sure he was ok on the flight over, settling him in the new house. Losing Snowy almost seemed like a bad nightmare - surely she was waiting for us to come get her in some vague, undefined place, and soon, very soon we would. Yes, denial. Denial which was relatively easy in China, denial which has sustained me for the last 2 years. Now back in Peoria, I'm reliving her last summer, when we were literally counting down the days left to her - the nerve-wracking anxiety, the choking sadness, all those doubts and conflicting thoughts, all the what-ifs...

When Snowy was diagnosed in February, our move to China was already in the works. And although at the time the doctors gave her only 6-8 months, with the medication and diet, she rallied remarkably. She was never visibly sick - and that actually made it harder in the end. Right until we made our house-hunting trip to Suzhou, I was convinced everything would work out for the best - we would fly Snowy with us like before, and she would live out the rest of her days with us in China. That trip changed everything - first one thing and then another, and then pretty soon, before we knew it, we were in a spiraling freefall.

 First, the length of the flight - almost 15 hours in the plane, and here was Snowy needing to be fed and medicated every 4 hours. As much as I tried, I could not a flight with 2 legs, so that we could break the journey in Europe, give her a respite. Then we found that United Airlines had revamped their pet transport services - they gave it a fancy new name and description, but the bottom line for us was that our pets would not fly in the same plane with us, but would be shipped as cargo - straight away that put the clock up by at least 4 more hours. Unacceptable, United, totally, unforgivably unacceptable. Then there was some confusion regarding flying both our pets together - someone came up with the brilliant idea that cats and dogs cannot be together on 1 flight. Seriously, a lot of times I felt like I was talking to them through a fog!

The problems with the airline aside, what really broke my resolve to take Snowy with us was the quarantine in China. I thought then, and still do - the quarantine was only a way to extort money, and I was sure that we could get around it by paying. And we did find a agent who would help us - but even after paying through our noses, Snowy would still end up staying at least 1 night in quarantine. The worst-case scenarios were frightening. I kept dreaming over and over again of Snowy not eating on the plane, going into hypoglycemic shock, scared and alone - it was soon clear that I could not put her through so much stress and trauma, I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her on the flight.

So the inevitable, agonizing decision - the end of this difficult road, the appointment with the vet. We timed it such that we didn't have to say good-bye until the very end. But Peoria and Snowy are inextricably linked - and I didn't realize that until I came back. I can't walk past that house again, the last home Snowy knew. And I'm sure I'm going to be navigating an emotional minefield the next few days - because her memories are everywhere. I'm hoping that this month will lead me to a final acceptance and closure - help me to let go one more time and help me celebrate Snowy's memories, her love in a way she absolutely deserves. Happy trails, my darling, wherever you are - you'll live on forever in my heart.

Sayonara, Japan!

Sayonara, Japan - a fitting title to this final post on our vacation to Japan!! Our first night in Tokyo, I found myself humming 'Sayonara, sayonara' from the 60s Bollywood film - of course, the name is totally cheesy - 'Love in Tokyo'!! Before long we had pulled up the song's video on Youtube (hurrah for no internet restrictions) - seriously hilarious, Asha Parekh dressed in a kimono (she's supposed to be Japanese), dancing with mincing steps, complete with fluttering fan and twirling umbrella!! Absolutely priceless!!! For an entire generation (or maybe even two), this song was the very definition of anything Japan, and Sayonara - saying goodbye in Japanese was very, very cool!! Back then, I'm sure I would have laughed at the idea of me ever visiting Japan- but that was then, and now - I can't believe I had the most amazing vacation in Japan!!!

We got around quite a bit in a week - and surprise, surprise - I was a bit erratic with my posts after I got back. 8 posts - this one the 9th - spread over 3 months! Sigh, I have to get better at managing my blog - well, maybe some day! Meanwhile, I thought it would be a good idea to have all of them linked right here - easy access to all our fun adventures in Japan! Here they are, in chronological order...

Getting ready for Japan
Konichiwa, Tokyo! - Part I
Konichiwa, Tokyo! - Part II
Shinkansen to Kobe
Universal Studios, Osaka
Hiroshima and Miyajima
The beauty of Kyoto
Last day in Kobe

The thing with Japan is - there's no one big thing, no must-see attraction - nothing like the Taj Mahal or Great Wall or Eiffel Tower! And while that makes the days a little difficult to plan - there is a limit to how many temples and pagodas and gardens you can go to, it is also liberating in a fashion. Without the typical tourist traps, I felt we got a better feel for the country, the culture and the people - what a refreshing change! The Japanese as a people are absolutely in a class of their own! Soft-spoken, polite and patient to a fault - I can't imagine any other place in the world where hundreds of people would queue up 4 hours (and more) for a ride with barely a murmur or any sign of restlessness or irritation! I am, of course, referring to the Amazing Spider-Man ride at Universal! No loud voices, no pushing or shoving, most surprising - no screaming kids anywhere! Everyone seems to be in a state of zen - what's the secret?

I've already raved about the JR - and I'll say it again - undoubtedly, it was the trains that made the whole vacation so enjoyable and stress free! In hindsight, it would probably have been better to fly into Osaka, and then just stay in Kobe - making couple of day trips to Tokyo instead of staying there! That way, it would have been possible to fit in an afternoon at Mt. Fuji too....I do regret missing that one! The other great thing on this trip - totally unexpected and all the sweeter for it - was the quality of restaurants, especially in Kobe! Small little places, with the most incredible food - coming from China, an absolute treat!

And finally - just cannot resist this - the cherry on top, the cherry blossoms, of course!!! This is kind of funny - I wasn't prepared for how many flowering cherry trees there would be, and I did spend a couple of days wondering what happens to the bumper crop of cherries that was sure to follow - until I found out most of the trees were ornamental!! So much for my visions of giant cherry pies! To conclude - go to Japan, go in April, and don't forget your JR passes! Good times guaranteed!!