A Whole New World: Reflections

Well, I’m home in Kenya. I thought I would do one more blog post on my reflections on India. We debriefed a little bit while we were still in India, but I knew it would take me leaving the country to realize how it had changed and affected me.

At our Candlelight goodbye ceremony

Immediately, when I got home I found myself greeting people with a slight bow and folded hands! I kept catching myself doing a head bobble as I was listening to someone! I wished for butter naan and butter chicken msala. I’m finding ordinary life somewhat dull without the crossing of streets or bartering for a better price. I am constantly amazed to find the power on and to not be sweating! I am constantly struck at how clean everything is, and remember, I'm still in a third-world nation.

My favorite Backy

India was a great experience for me and I learned so much about myself, God, and the world. The program I went with was called ‘Best Semester’ and I truly believe it was the best semester of my life. While India will always have a special place in my heart, it was the people in my group that made it such a rich and fulfilling experience. They challenged me, laughed with me, encouraged me, and loved me. We experienced the culture shock together and dealt with the hard stuff like seeing the poverty and the strong hold of Hinduism together.

Valentines party where we dressed up as things that go together. I was 'Power Off' and Julianna was 'Power On'!

While I am very sad that it is over and I do miss India and my life there, I enjoy going back over my photos, videos, and journal entries to remember the most fantastic experiences such as riding an elephant, playing Holi on the roof, going white water rafting on the Ganges, exploring Varanasi, riding bicycle rickshaws, squeezing 9 people into an auto, cooking class, being a model, watching exercisers on the street, times at the girls hostel, apartment talks, visiting temples, seeing the Taj Mahal, making up new dance moves like ‘tie the dhoti’, ‘pass the tracts’, and ‘kill the mosquito’, Valentines day party, swimming in the Arabian Sea in a full salwar kameez, group stretching after a 21 hour train ride, greeting our guards every day, and sing-along times with Kirk Ji.