I left the travel clinic this
afternoon with my arms sore and completely covered in American flag styled
Band-Aids protecting the areas I’d just received vaccine shots. The nurse who was administering my shots
whole heartedly recommended that I get a rabies vaccine to ‘protect against all
the monkeys flying around the Taj Mahal.’
I tried to hold back a slight
chuckle as I imagined myself as Dorothy stepping into the Land of Oz, or I
suppose in this case India, and having to deal with all of the unexpected
interruptions such as flying monkeys.
When
I tell people I’m preparing to study abroad in India for the next four months
I’m met with reactions placed on either side of the spectrum and nowhere in
between. On the one side are the India
and travel enthusiasts who A) have been to India, B) want to go to India, C)
are from India, or D) have a neighbor who’s cousins friend went on a mission
trip there once and quite enjoyed it. If I’m
not met with an enthusiastic reaction from one of the above mentioned
possibilities, the person is replaying scenes from Slumdog Millionaire in their
head wondering why in the world I would ever choose to go to India of all
places.
I
chose to study abroad in India in the same manner anyone chooses anything, it
appeals to me. The culture, the history,
the lifestyle; it’s exotic enough to excite me yet I understand it enough not to feel
intimidated. Like many people who travel
to India, I’ve always had a deep interest in yogic and Indian philosophy which
I hope to gain a stronger understanding of through living in India. Throughout history prominent artists, authors
and philosophers such as Mark Twain, Thoreau and the Beatles have looked to
India to lead them to spiritual reawakening.
Some choose to travel to lose themselves and some travel to find
themselves and I consider myself in the latter.
India is not a country to run away from your life and problems, it’s a
country based on principles of finding fulfillment in yourself to face the
obstacles life throws at you.
Leaving my home, family, friends and comfort zone for 4 months is definitely going to be a very large obstacle where India has the unique position of being the problem and the solution. I'm leaving for India in 3 days. In 4 days I will be in India. I've been well aware for months that I will be traveling to study abroad in India. However, there's a certain disconnect that occurs in the brain between thinking of doing something so big and full of uncertainty and then realizing you're the one who's doing it and it's actually happening. I’m not expecting my entire time in
India to be fun and easy. I’m prepared
for the poverty, crowdedness, sickness, loneliness, confusion, (possible flying
monkeys) and headaches that inevitably accompany traveling and living amongst
another culture. Even though my
excitement far excels my concern of future worries, I often think of this quote
by Mark Twain which makes me feel undoubtedly certain that India is the right
fit for me:
“So far as I am able to
judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the
most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to
have been forgotten, nothing overlooked.”
