Episode 15

With the blink of an eye, over a week has passed by since I last wrote. I can’t believe I have been here for over a month, and been out of the states for almost 6 weeks. It’s really quite odd, the transition that happens between about the 3rd week and the first month. A place that once seemed so foreign, so different from than anything you could ever imagine, starts feeling familiar and more and more like a home. Two weeks ago the excessive honking, odd smells, and chaotic nature of India made my days long and difficult, and left me exhausted at the end of the week. But now, I seem to be deaf to the honking and instead, look forward to the smell of spices simmering and that comforting scent of chapatti being warmed over the open flame. You still value and miss all that reminds you of home, but you also begin to love and appreciate the new place more and more and worn out by it less and less.

So what have I done for the past 10 days…

Last weekend, I went with 2 of the other students to Goa, which was absolutely a mid-20’s traveler’s beach paradise. Complete with beautiful beaches, fabulous night clubs, and tons of other travelers, Goa was such a nice break from all that we had experienced in the past weeks. We stayed at the Taj in Panaji, which definitely put any American 5-star hotel to the test, but for the price of a Holiday Inn. None of us wanted to leave, and we even tried to change our flight to stay an extra day. However, the travel gods did not grant us another day in our new-found oasis, so we sadly boarded the plane and went back to Delhi. Although it was a very relaxing weekend, Goan night clubs and bars tend to keep the music going until after the sun comes up, and so we arrived in Delhi sleepless and sun burnt.

As bummed as we were to leave Goa, we got back to Delhi for one of the best holidays of the year, Holi. Holi is the festival of colors and a fantastic spring holiday. The colors reminded me of Easter, but instead of painting eggs with messy bright colors, Indians paint each other. Holi is essentially a full day of eating, drinking, and massive amounts of the messiest, most permanent colors they can find. And let me tell you, we made excellent targets. We spent the holiday with Natalie’s family, and the minute we stepped outside their house we were attacked with buckets of blue and bags full of red, green, and yellow powders. All of us resembled a mix between an avatar and a Jackson Pollock print. Despite being blue for about a week, we had such a lovely time with Natalie’s kind and welcoming family and felt like we had truly experienced something that was uniquely India.