As I write this at 1 pm on July 14, 2015, I’m realizing that in EXACTLY 24 HOURS from now I’ll be at the Richmond airport, beginning my journey to India. I’m feeling a combination of anxiety, excitement, and eagerness to land in Delhi and meet up with my fellow classmates. Most of them have already reached Delhi, so I’m very interested to see how each of their travels went as well.

july15

If there’s one thing that I’ve learned recently, it’s that no matter how many times you travel, you never feel any different before you leave. Each trip is a new journey, a new adventure that is incomparable to anything else you’ve experienced. I will surely forget to pack something: a toothbrush, a shirt, something else, but it doesn’t matter. Because I can get almost anything in India or at an airport on the way (I’m going through Richmond-Boston-Washington Dulles-Dubai-Delhi – crazy itinerary, right?). I’m supposed to meet someone to pick me up at the Delhi airport, who will be carrying a sign. It would be an understatement to say that my dad was a little weary about that situation. Anywho, while I’m at the Delhi airport, I’ll be able to buy an Indian SIM card to make calls and use the internet on my iPhone. I’m hoping there won’t be any problems with my PIO (Persons of Indian Origins) card, which serves as a Visa for me. It is associated with an expired passport of mine, so that’s the only thing I’m worried about.

PIO2

After that, the guy will be taking me to the train station, where I will getting on a train to Jansi, to meet my classmates. Everything should go pretty smoothly once I get there, since I’ll be with everyone, including my professor, the other students, and the program coordinator, Mahesh. Coincidentally, Mahesh is from the same part of India (Chennai) that my parents are from, which also means he speaks the same language (Tamil) as us. Because I’ve been away from my parents for so long, my Tamil skills have become shamefully limited, so I’m excited to be able to build them back up again.

chennai

This will probably be the last blog post until I leave, so if you’re reading this, please keep your fingers crossed for me and all my friends in hopes that our journey goes smoothly, and we learn a lot about ourselves and India.

 

Until next time,

Sheela