Sunday, November 14, 2010
Day Four - Are you from India? ... I'm going there!
Just about one week to go before I leave for India... Last night out at the bar with Francie and some of her friends I met a guy who looked Indian. Completely inappropriately the first words to come out of my mouth when I saw him was "Are you from India??? I'm going there!!! Hopefully, the poor guy wasn't too offended, we actually got into a good conversation about it. Probably should have taken some notes... As I am planning my last week in the U.S. until Christmas I am thinking about what to pack, people to see and things finish up before I leave. The past four months of my life have been hectic between work, school, catching up with friends, spending time with Brad , I can't wait to get on that plane, close my eyes, and get ready for some serious soul searching in India...
Monday, November 8, 2010
Day Three - Travel Planning (easier said than done...)
Those who know me well know that I can tend to be a little bit of a worrier (by a little I mean a lot). My friend Ashley has coined the term "Claire problems" which basically means dumb little 
things that I stress about extensively for pretty much no reason. However, planning my travels in India, I don't believe fits into this category. There is a lot of preparation and research involved. Even still I wish I had more time to read and learn about the places I will be visiting. While some people are much more "go with the flow" when traveling, I am stressed. I do not want to be late and I do not want anything to go wrong, especially in a country like India where I will be very unfamiliar with just about everything. Typically when traveling I like to think of myself as a chameleon, I do what I can to blend in with everyone else, an attitude which has been successful up until now. However, I am pretty convinced, as is my friend Kateri, that there is NO way we will blend in. Being taller than the majority of Indians, having pale skin and blonde hair is not going to go overlooked. I am not looking forward to what kind of attention we will draw... Regardless, so you can have an idea of the intensity of this trip here is the tentative plan: Kateri and I land on November 25 (Thanksgiving) in Mumbai from there we will grab a plane to Varanasi, a city located close to the banks of the Ganges river. It is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism, Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi will release the soul from its cycle of trans migrations. From Varanasi we take a train to Agra, city of the Taj Mahal. After visiting one of the most beautiful structures in the world we will go on to Jaipur also known as the Pink City. Finally we will finish our first week in Delhi the capital of India. In a nutshell we are visiting four cities in five days. Keep in mind India is a much larger country than you might realize, these trips are not going to be short... And so I am worrying about sleeping on trains, missing planes, and finding hotels. After expressing these concerns to our study abroad director one night in class he responded... "Claire, you are worrying about useless things!"
things that I stress about extensively for pretty much no reason. However, planning my travels in India, I don't believe fits into this category. There is a lot of preparation and research involved. Even still I wish I had more time to read and learn about the places I will be visiting. While some people are much more "go with the flow" when traveling, I am stressed. I do not want to be late and I do not want anything to go wrong, especially in a country like India where I will be very unfamiliar with just about everything. Typically when traveling I like to think of myself as a chameleon, I do what I can to blend in with everyone else, an attitude which has been successful up until now. However, I am pretty convinced, as is my friend Kateri, that there is NO way we will blend in. Being taller than the majority of Indians, having pale skin and blonde hair is not going to go overlooked. I am not looking forward to what kind of attention we will draw... Regardless, so you can have an idea of the intensity of this trip here is the tentative plan: Kateri and I land on November 25 (Thanksgiving) in Mumbai from there we will grab a plane to Varanasi, a city located close to the banks of the Ganges river. It is the holiest place in the world in Hinduism, Hindus believe that dying in Varanasi will release the soul from its cycle of trans migrations. From Varanasi we take a train to Agra, city of the Taj Mahal. After visiting one of the most beautiful structures in the world we will go on to Jaipur also known as the Pink City. Finally we will finish our first week in Delhi the capital of India. In a nutshell we are visiting four cities in five days. Keep in mind India is a much larger country than you might realize, these trips are not going to be short... And so I am worrying about sleeping on trains, missing planes, and finding hotels. After expressing these concerns to our study abroad director one night in class he responded... "Claire, you are worrying about useless things!"
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