I thought a useful time of a study break would be to do a little blog post. A lot has happened within this past week! I finally made it to India, my amazing boyfriend flew to meet me, and it was my 21st birthday!!! Thank you for everyone who wished me a very happy birthdayJ I unfortunately cant get to Facebook to see them all but I definitely felt the love from the middle of the sea.
India was absolutely amazing!! As you saw I participated in the cooking demonstration, I went on a boat ride through the backwaters of Kerala which were beautiful and so relaxing, visited a Mother Teresa Orphanage for severely mentally and physically disabled people which was very eye opening. And then I got to fly to Mumbai to meet Will, my amazing boyfriend and his dad. He is the craziest guy in the world for traveling all of that time across the world for a little over 48 hours of time with me. But I am so grateful and thankful that he was able to make the trip and help celebrate my 21st birthday and make this birthday a very memorable and special dayJ
The first day in Mumbai we took a tour of the city. Visited a few churches as well as a temple. We saw where the washmen work and clean the clothes, which is their livelihood. I visited one of Gandhi's house, which was made into a museum as well as visited the slums of Mumbai, which was a place where I definitely felt out of place and out of my comfort zone. I was so uncomfortable and felt very humbled to be there and to be fortunate for the life I have. But I the great thing is that I got to interact with a group of boys who loved saying hello, how are you, asked my name and then I would ask what their name was and they were obsessed with that! I got a picture with them and then showed them the picture on my camera and their faces just lit up!
I learned so much about India and was trying to absorb everything that I was learning because I am so fascinated with the country. Within India there are I believe 28 different states and within each state they speak a different native language and have completely different food and customs and no matter where you go you see a different India.
Begging was much greater in India than in any other country I have been to thus far. The beggars were also much more aggressive. I was walking in one area and a woman grabs my wrist to tie a flower bracelet and I was resisting and then she said "no money, no money" so I let her put the flower on but then she wanted me to buy her things for here baby, tricking me with the whole no money statement. I tried to give her money to just leave me alone but she refused so thankfully I got out of the situation. But when the beggars ask someone to get them items, once the beggar receives the item, they return them to the store and get the money back. It's a whole system these people have which was fascinating to learn about.
At first I was really upset that this was my first birthday that I wasn't celebrating with my friends and family at home with. But then I realized how thankful I am to be on this journey and to have the extremely supportive people in my life. Plus I have met an amazing group of friends on this ship that I really and truly believe I will be able to continue a great friendship with them. They decorated my door, which I have never had done before at college because I never lived in a normal dorm setting. We also went to Special Dining on the ship where I got to have my favorite meal, Salmon!! My friends, family, and boyfriend really made this birthday so special, THANK YOU!!!
I am now going to get back to studying for my exam that I have tomorrow. School on the ship is not easy because it is hard to make a routine for yourself with going in and out of countries and plus your focus is really taking the opportunity of the traveling and school really does come second. I will be pulling an all nighter tonight…
No comments:
Post a Comment