10 Months Down, 6 Days to Go

So I know that I still haven't put up my blog on Hyderabad but I've been pretty busy since I only have a little time left now. I'll try to get to it before I leave but in the meantime here's a short blog about my feelings with leaving Pune and my year coming to an end. Just as my title says, it's been exactly 10 months since I arrived in India and I have just 6 days before I leave.

Thinking of leaving Pune makes me so sad. My life is here. I have family and friends and restaurants and stores and memories and just, I have a whole life that I've built here. I don't want to leave that. But when I really think about it it, that's what it was like before I left. I was really worried about leaving all this incredible happiness that I had accumulated over my life in Edina. The thought of going to a new place that I didn't know that much about was really scary. And at first it was difficult here but I adjusted and tried new things and grew and matured and made new memories here. And now I don't want to leave that, even if I'm also excited for my future at Mount Holyoke College. I guess what I'm trying to say is that there is a constant cycle of change through life. We move from place to place, building lives and meeting people and making memories until we must move on. It's not fun to leave these lives, but we can always return to them to visit. And we will always have the memories and people. And the people who hang with you through all this change are the real friends and the true companions of life. I have had the absolute greatest year this year. At times it's been less than perfect and of course I have a few regrets, but when I look at the year as a whole - all that I've experienced and learned and tried and seen and done - I'm astounded. Exchange is without a doubt a painful experience. For most it's the adjustment to the host country, but for me I know it will definitely be the adjustment to home. I've questioned at times if it was all worth it to go through the sadness and awkwardness. I'll go back to the US and be away from my best friends and have the awkwardness of renewing friendships from before and reconnecting with people. I have no idea what it will be like but from everything I've heard it's a difficult experience and one I'm not excited for. But would I go back and have a normal senior year and miss these 10 incredible months in India? Absolutely no way.

Here's a preview of me and Rachael!.

Mothers Day Reunion and Running Out Of Time

Well this was my blog from 3 days ago. I couldn't get my internet to work before I left for Hyderabad (I arrived back last night!) so I couldn't upload it. So I have this blog finally up and hopefully tomorrow I'll have one about my trip to Hyderabad!

When I returned from Manali I wrote a blog which ended up being so long that it became two blogs. One chronicled my adventures hiking and the other was about my feelings with only having exactly a month left. Well I procrastinated and I was legitimately busy (you'll find out why below!) so now I have even less. I'll leave Mumbai on June 5 so counting today I have 14 days in India. It's not a very nice anniversary, but it'll have to do. The thought of leaving conjures up a lot of different feelings, but I'll do my best to break it down.

 

First though, some happy news! My mom visited me! She arrived a week ago and left yesterday, so it was a quick trip. We had an amazing time and I loved having her here. Mostly I showed her around Pune and spent time with my friends and family here so that she could meet them. We also went to Aurangabad for 2 days. It's only about a 5 hour drive from Pune and has some amazing caves, but I hadn't been there either (we had a rotary trip organized for December but it never happened). The drive ended up being really tiring so we mostly rested. Here are some of the sights we saw:

A beautiful market in Pune

Daulatabad:
This was a fort just outside Aurangabad. It was reasonably interesting but the climb up to it was difficult in the heat. We tried to get a guide but it was pretty expensive and unfortunately we had a miscommunication with our driver, who spoke very little English, and he led us to believe that he could explain everything to us. Turns out he couldn't, but my mom and I had fun together. There was an especially memorable part in which we had to go through a dark hallway with lots of uneven staircases. Back when the fort was in use this hallway was used to confuse any invaders. There was absolutely no light in it, it smelled gross and there ended up being lots and lots of bats on the ceiling. When we emerged though, there was an absolute incredible view of the valley below.

My mom being adorable

An amazing view!!

Bibi Ka Maqbara:

This was basically a tomb inspired by the Taj Mahal. It's been pitched as a "mini Taj Mahal" but honestly it's nothing like it. It' looks similar but as you can see from the pictures there's sort of nothing impressive about it. It was actually kind of sad to be honest. From a distance, like in the picture, it looked pretty good, but going up to I was more disappointed. It hasn't been maintained super well and it just really compares in no way to the real Taj Mahal. But, from a distance it definitely looked good.

An amazing door

The not so replica Taj

When we returned to the hotel we were exhausted. So we ordered pizza, I watched a movie and we went to bed early. The next morning we slept in and decided it was better to have a shorter day and go just the half hour to Ellora rather than the two hours to Ajanta. Ajanta is known as the better one, it's older and has ancient Buddhist paintings. Because it was undiscovered until the 19th century it's much better preserved. Ellora looked really interesting too though. It has Buddhist, Hindu and Jain caves and has more carvings than paintings. Here we booked a guide to show us around. My camera had died so I didn't get any pictures of it unfortunately. It was really interesting though! Our guide was very informative and I learned a lot that I didn't know beforehand.

After this little two day trip we headed back to Pune. We only had a few days and but it was really fun because I got to go shopping a lot with my mom! With Catherine and my dad it was more difficult since my dad wasn't very interested and we were all tired from traveling so much. But with my mom I really enjoyed picking out presents for people. I won't say what any are but I'm excited for when I get back. It'll be like a mini Christmas with me as Santa!

While on the trip we talked a lot about going home and our last few weeks together. It was pretty bittersweet because two students (Peter from France and Leon from Germany) have now left. We knew that it was really our last time with them for a few years at least – yes, we're already planning reunions!) In the past our whole group (roughly 16 students) has been kind of divided. Although we're all friends we're closer with some than others and there’s two pretty distinct groups. I think this last trip was especially enjoyable because we all spent more time together. While hiking we talked about lots of things. Towards the end I remember reminiscing about friends and people at home as well as discussing which food we missed the most (for the record: my mom's meatloaf and pasta, BaPa's steak and malts, GG's pancakes and Cathy's brownies). 

Sometimes I feel so ready to just go home. I'm mentally prepared but I still have a couple of weeks of waiting to do. I've had an amazing 9 months but I have a lot waiting for me at home. This summer I'll be working a bunch at Camp Icaghowan and I'm super excited for it and especially to reconnect with old friends. I'm also officially attending Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. I couldn't be more excited and I'm really looking forward to it. In addition to all this I have seeing my wonderful family and friends and eating all the food I've missed and visiting all my favorite Minneapolis landmarks. It’s not that I’m not loving it here or that I’m homesick. I know that at some point this year will end and while my time here has been incredible and while I do look forward to the next few weeks I’m also ready to go home. I have a lot waiting for me there and I’m excited to share my experience and all that I’ve learned with everyone back in the US.

But at other times I don't want to leave at all. I love my family and friends here so much and it's going to be really hard to be away from them. Luckily for my next 2 weeks I'll be pretty busy. I just arrived back from Hyderabad with my amazing host mother. I had gone to see my good friend Rachael who was on exchange Minnesota last year. And now I'm down to the wire with almost no time left. These two weeks will probably be visiting my favorite places and frantically trying to pack the incredible amount of belongings I've accumulated over 9 months. I only have a little time left in India and I plan on making the best of it.

I have to end on a sentimental and cheesy note. Almost two weeks ago I went out to lunch with a bunch of the other exchange students. We met Bruno, his parents and his aunt and uncle. Though they didn't speak very much English we entertained them with variations of the little swearing in Portuguese we've all picked up. As we were leaving his family gave us huge hugs and kissed all of us on the cheek (something, which after 9 months with a bunch of Latinos I also do now). Then in very broken English his parents told us that we simply must come to Brazil and that their house was open to us. I can't really communicate how happy and warm it made me feel. Even just thinking about it now makes me smile a bunch. 

THIS is what I have gone on exchange for. To make connections around the world. To build friendship and relationships and have an international family. To know that all I need is a plane ticket to Mexico or Sweden or Brazil or India and know that I have a place there where I will be welcomed. Not only have I learned about myself this year but I have learned so much about the world around me. In particular Indian culture, but also the perspective of my fellow exchange students. When I think about how I don't have quite as many close Indian friends as I had expected I remind myself that I would never exchange the best friends I have made in the other exchange students for anyone else. (And, for the record, the Indian friends that I have made I feel that I have really made a connection with.) My exchange year has been a little unorthodox (hello never having or going to school) but it has been an amazing experience. I can only look back on it with fond and hilarious and amazing and exciting memories and stories.

Surviving the Himalayas

Well, I'm still alive (though you might not have known considering how infrequently I update this) and I'm back from my Himalayan trek! I'm also terrifyingly only a month away from going home. I have a lot of feelings and thoughts about this huge transition, but let me first talk about the trip!! 

 First of all: it was the best trip of this year and also one of the best experiences of my entire life. Just 10 days filled with my best friends, hiking and camping, beautiful nature and a new favorite city - Manali. 

We started by taking a train to Delhi and spending a half day there. Unfortunately I was pretty sick the few days before the trip (that combined with no wifi at my house was why I didn't finish my North India blog before I left) so that day I basically just rested. We had a long overnight bus ride to Manali and arrived in the morning. One of the things we noticed immediately was that it was cold. Now for those of you in Minnesota that probably doesn't sound very exciting. But considering that it's been roughly 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit for the past month and half in Pune and even in the Winter it never got below 30 or 40 degrees (again, obviously, Fahrenheit), the cold was incredibly exciting. Plus: SNOW!!! And pine trees!! And proper mountains! This woke us up pretty quickly. 

Delhi!

We had a day in Manali in which we saw two temples and walked around the town and prepared for our trek. We ended up having to buy a lot of supplies (which was a bummer because Rotary had told us we could rent things) but I think I'll be able to use everything back in the US. We packed carefully and rested up for the big trip. The hotel was simple, but very comfortable and homey (Audrey and I had a gigantic fluffy comforter which we loved). The next morning we started off.

The first snow! (it's the little white bit in the back) 

Old Manali

In total it was 5 days of hiking. Each day was a little different. The first and the last were by far the hardest. The first day was difficult because it was a lot of stairs and we weren't used to so much hiking. On the last day we had to hike the entire way back which we had came, though by a different route, and going downhill was hard. 

Old Manali was beautiful

We had two campsites and spent two nights at each. Two of the days we just sort of explored. The first one we went pretty much straight up the mountain...to snow! It was very exciting. We all threw snowballs and ran around and sledded down the hills and had a lot of fun. Winter is my second favorite season (it's close though after spring) and since it was the first snow I'd seen in a year and a half I made the best of it.

Right outside of our hotel!

The other day that we explored we walked a very long ways away and made it back exhausted. It was (mostly) worth it to be able to say that we did that and for the amazing view, but it was tiring. Overall though the scenery was simply gorgeous. There's not really anything I can compare it to. I barely remember seeing the Rockies or driving through the Alps because I was so young. There's just not really mountains this huge in the US. It was especially humbling when we realized that we were only in the low area of the Himalayas - so they were relatively small!

All of us ready to go!

A temple!

On our trek we had an amazing guide named Mohan who was very fun but also interesting to talk to. He spends half the year guiding in Manali and the other half guiding in the Alps, so he was fluent in French and spoke English with an adorable French accent. Along with us we also had 12 ponies who carried all of our supplies. They were ok but not friendly (despite my many blown kisses and pet names only one or two begrudgingly allowed me to pet them) and unfortunately the bells they wore on their neck kept us up at night (Audrey and I are convinced they purposefully ran circles around our tent.) There were two handlers for them and 4 helpers for our amazing cook. They made very simple food but when you’ve been hiking and sweating for hours we all would have sold our soul to the devil for another potato or hard broiled egg.

Luckily the hikes weren’t too long so each day we napped and explored the area around our camp. Every evening we also made a big fire; one evening even cooking delicious vegetables over it! It was a little strange because it reminded me so much of camp (side note: for those who don’t know I’ve been going to YMCA Camp Icaghowan every summer since I was 11 and I’ve worked there the past two summers.) but it was also really new and fun for that reason. Whereas on all our other trips we’ve seen amazing places and sites it’s been very hectic with lots of driving around and tours. This trip was about relaxing, relishing the amazing landscape and appreciating the company of each other.

A yak!

The first snow!!   

When we got back we had a day and a half in Manali before we left for Delhi. We lounged around the hotel, watched some movies (a mix of newer good animated ones and obscure older ones) and shopped. Manali has two pretty distinct parts. There's New Manali, which is basically a giant pedestrian area with little streets branching off and full of tourists. Surprisingly Manali is a very popular place for honeymooning couples. How to spot them? The women will have fading mehendi up to their elbows and most are wearing at least 20 cherry red, rhinestone encrusted bangles on each wrist. And they wear this no matter what! Often they’ll be wearing fancy dresses with matching odni (scarf), leggings and heels but sometimes a woman will be wearing simply jeans and a t-shirt but the bangles and mehendi give her away as a newlywed. I kind of like it, and I feel like it's a good representation of India. No matter the western influence it retains it's traditions. Speaking of traditional, the other part of Manali is the old area. It's still pretty modern but there's women washing laundry on rocks how I'm sure they have for the past few generations. Walking outside the entry of our hotel there was a small barn with several cows (whom I unsuccessfully attempted to befriend). And the houses are also obviously much older and have probably been there for many generations. That's something that as an American is hard for me to grasp. That the building that I'm looking at is possibly older than my country and for hundreds of years as technology advanced and humans discovered the world these people have continued to live in much the same way. It's just a perspective that you never encounter in the United States, but it's one I've come to appreciate in India. 

In the older part there were less tourists but the foreigners definitely outnumbered the Indians. There was one main road (which our hotel was at the very end of) and the sides were lined with every manner of shop. From restaurants (we went to a little place just to play chess and eat falafel and hummus and pita twice!) to tons and tons of clothing and blanket and handicraft stores. There was also lots with hair braids and piercings. On our last day while hurrying back from shopping Audrey and I passed one such establishment. She turned to me and asked if I’d go with her if she got her ear pierced. I had promised my family (and tentatively myself) that I wouldn’t risk infection by getting one here, but I was sorely tempted. She reassured me that we wouldn’t do it today, probably tomorrow if at all, but we should just go in and take a look. We went in and interrogated the very nice owner about his sterilization techniques. Long story short we both got our ears pierced, a hair braid and she got a dreadlock. It was all incredibly exciting and very, very spontaneous, but I loved it. And it definitely bonded us together, basically if our ears get infected they’ll get infected together! I don’t know if I’ve really emphasized it enough in my blog (or if it’s possible to do it enough) but Audrey has been my absolute best friend this year and I can’t imagine my year without her company (I love you so much Audy that I might write a blog just about our adventures and fun!). 

To try and wrap this up we drove back to Delhi, relaxed and went to an amazing mall for the day and then took the train home. Having the few days of relaxation bookending our trek was really nice, especially because we were all exhausted and sleep deprived. But now I’m back in Pune and realizing how little time I have left! I’ll stop here because I have so many feelings about leaving that it’s at least one blog. Hope you enjoyed and I promise to get the others up soon!