Last minute stuff!

3 days to go! I'm kind of freaking out because there is still so much to do. I've packed up a lot of stuff and took a huge shopping trip to get everything from bug spray to appliance converters. While it's great that that stuff is done, that still leaves my essay (whoops) and my Hindi assignment (double whoops) and cleaning my room, which is a perpetual mess. I don't want to have to do my assignments while I'm in Madrid but it's looking more and more like that will be the reality. I'm going to try and get as much done as possible, but on the plus side, Chelsea will have a lot of stuff going on for her program in those few days, so hopefully i can use that time to my advantage and chill in a cafe somewhere and read/memorize the Devanagari script (Hindi alphabet that isn't really an "alphabet").

Also -  I've been following the adventures of AdventurousKate! She writes a solo female travel blog and has been really inspirational. She's traveling through Cambodia/Laos/Vietnam for 7 months. While I'm not doing something THAT hardcore, her wit and advice on how to not sweat the small stuff and just enjoy travel have been great to read up on. I definitely recommend it.

Indira Gandhi International

After my six days in Spain with Chelsea, I'll fly back to Heathrow and on to Delhi. Last summer, anticipating traffic for the Commonwealth Games, Delhi completed a new terminal to the already jam-packed HUGE hub that it was at IGI - they call it T3, for international arrivals.

It was completed in July '10, and is the 8th largest terminal and makes IGI the 9th largest airport in the world. And it's incredibly lavish - state of the art everything, luggage security that processes 12,800 bags an HOUR, ...and even a full service spa. It has something like 98 immigration desks to process international passengers quickly, and also includes many swanky restaurants, bars, department stores, and even a 100-bed hotel.

India has come under criticism for its creation as less than 1% of the population use air travel, so calling it an innovation to "bring India onto the world stage" is met with frustration at a country that is so poverty stricken.

Needless to say, the ten hours I will have to spend in IGI on Feb 1st will be an experience within itself.

Also - how awesome is this dramatic theme music?

A week and a half? What?!

I'm leaving SO SOOON! Here's the plan, stan:

Leaving from BWI the night of Jan 24th, layover in London, landing in Spain the afternoon of the 25th to see Chelsea Trunk!! I'll be staying for a week in Spain and then directly flying to Indira Gandhi International the night of the 31st, getting in on the 1st at 10:30 in the morning. I won't be able to meet with my group until 8pm that night, so I'll have a LOT of time to kill in the IDI airport.

I just got my Visa in the mail yesterday (whew) and got all of my immunizations last week from a clinic called Passport Health. Fortunately my mother did not come with me and become a witness to a presentation of all of the horrible things that could happen to me while abroad. I'll have to take anti-malarials (ewwww) and prep for the worst when it comes to my body's reaction to the bacteria of the East.

Buuuuut until I'm worshipping the porcelain goddess in some Northern Indian hostel, i can get excited about my week in Spain!!!! I'm in the midst of booking in a gorgeous hostel near Chelsea's homestay. While home is relaxing and snowy, and it's been hard to say goodbye to close friends who have headed back to school, I am so ready for this adventure to start.

it's finals time at Tufts..

...and I am SO READY FOR AN ADVENTURE. Once this final paper is done, I'm outta here!

nothing...

...happens on this blog...

67 days to go. There are 13 people on our facebook group now, headed on the same program to Delhi. All female, all anthro-like majors, etc, haha, which I suppose I should have expected to a certain degree (like the community health major stereotype: all girls with nose rings).

Craziness. In other news: my tufts leave of absence was approved, and my credits have been transferred preemptively. It's feeling more and more real!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes!

So It's been a CRAZAY long time since I've last posted. I'm back at Tufts and it's really my best semester so far. Classes are great, AOII is the bomb, and I really love living in the house. But enough about non-India stuff...

I'm going to India. I'm going to INDIA. Almost every time I told someone at home about India they were extremely skeptical, so it became harder and harder to get excited about it. "You're going WHERE?! Why?! Are your parents ok with it?!" is a much different reaction from the one I get here: ""WOW! India! That's amazing. When do you leave? What program is it? Let me introduce you to this crazy-awesome NGO that I have this even crazier connection to and you should totally meet up when you're there because the director is such a compelling leader and they'd love to have an intern..."

My point is that while there are some people who are really supportive at home, it started to be really easy to doubt myself and my interest in going when I was home. When everyone is asking "why are you going, exactly?" you wonder yourself and second guess what used to be such a confident decision. Happy to say I'm over that, and after a quick session with my anthropology prof from last semester who does all of her research there, I am happy to say that not only have my confidences been restored; I am more excited than ever.

Also, I've been immunized! Eek! No risk of typhoid fever for me :)

Links

I've linked to two of my friends who will be/are blogging out of the country!

Lauren is traveling to Beijing, China for a year starting in August.

Kathleen is off to Paris for the month of july.