The Thing About India Is...

Hello, readers! So, the count down has begun. If I didn't miss any days I should have 49 more days left in India. Wow. Where did the time go and why won't it go faster? I want to go back to the states and eat cheese (apparently it's not a big thing here), but I don't want to leave my friends behind or forget the amazing journey I have had here. Think goodness for friends with digital cameras, but the thing about cameras is that they can't capture everything. They can't get every smile, laugh, look of fear, hunger and desperation (they only get a few of those). However, I have 49 more days so I need to make the best of them and I intend to.

So, if you have read this blog before you probably have at least glanced at my bio. It gives a brief summary of my past and what I plan to do with my future. One of my main career goals is to become an investigative journalist with a focus on international issues (foreign correspondent for short). When choosing my study abroad location India seemed like the perfect choice. As bad as this sounds the country is basically brewing with news stories from the corrupt government officials to the high rates of violence against women to the the paid off cricket  players. There was also the issue of gendercide, a trend I hope to have some effect in ending.



I wanted to come to India and do some journalism work. I wanted to go to the slums, interview the people and write an article. I wanted to go to female orphanages and volunteer so that I could better understand the struggle of young women in India. To be honest, I even day dreamed about going on some wild adventure for a story and having to escape from pursuers on one of the old rickety Indian trains. The thing is none of this has happened. I have college 5 days out of the week from 10AM to 4PM so there isn't much room for anything else. I have to be in my hostel by 6:30PM which also cuts down on adventure time. Then, there's the whole language barrier. Also, the city I'm in India is pretty well off compared to a lot of the other places. Little slums and the slums that are there aren't nearly as bad as they are in North India (according to my friends at least). I saw the slums while sitting on a bus and to be honest, not the horror story I expected, but then again, that's actually a good thing. Women shelters? My friends don't know since violence against women and gendercide aren't major issues in this part of India compared to other areas. To make a long story short, the last few weeks I have been wondering if I truly accomplished anything during this journey. Were any of my goals met? I came here so full of expectations...but that's the thing about India. You should always expect the unexpected.

Perhaps, I didn't go on the fabulous adventures of an investigative journalist and reach my hand out to the hearts of the people. I still experienced and learned plenty! I learned to be more confident because being the only international in a college...lets just say you get a lot of stares. I learned to not be so scared and to just jump in. There were several times here that I was confronted with an opportunity that scared the heck out of me, but I did it anyway. Like when my friend offered to taking me riding on her scooter. Indian traffic is crazy, but I did it and now I really want to buy a scooter when I get home. I learned patience. Right now there are things going on in my home that I can't control because I'm in India but still have an effect on me. I can't do anything to stop it so I just have to roll with it and not worry too much. When I get back in the States then I'll tackle those problems. I've learned tolerance because living with nine other girls takes a lot of it! And do you know what the best part is? I have 49 more days to learn much more.

Enough about me though. I want to know about you guys. Have you traveled? Where and why? What did you gain from your experience? Was it unexpected? Was it ( as that Lee Dewyze song goes) "sweet serendipity?" Did you enjoy your trip or was it a waste? Let me know! Hope to hear some replies soon!