I know, I know, I fell off the face of the earth. I'm sorry, guys, you'd be surprised how busy one can get in a very short period of time! I'm sure you're all wondering what happened and how it all ended up, so, as I sit here on one of the last days of winter break, I shall tell you. The last time I posted was a long time ago, I think it was around February or March, maybe April. Regardless, it was a really long time ago. So...I guess I'll go from there!
Miraculously enough, I finished all my schoolwork with straight A's. It was tough, and it was a ton of work, but I did it. I pushed it way too close though, I didn't finish until Monday before we left India for good on Friday. I'm really glad I finished and did so well, but I'm not gonna say it was easy, because it wasn't easy at all. Anyways, I finished school, and that was a huge relief.
We left India on 3 August 2012, and headed out to Barcelona. We spent 5 days in Barcelona, and we all loved our time there. It's an amazing place, and I got to speak a ton of Spanish, and of course, the shopping and food were freaking fabulous. I literally have dreams about this one salad that we ate there, and I usually don't even like salad. It was that good. I would go back to Barcelona for the sole purpose of eating that salad...but, for reasons aside from that salad, I fully plan on going back there someday, because I absolutely loved it. :)
After Barcelona, we went to Iceland for 6 days. We did a roadtrip in an adorable little Subaru through the southwestern part of Iceland. Out of all 16 countries that I've traveled to, I kid you not, Iceland is the most beautiful one I've been to. I raved about the Maldives, and those islands are close competition, but DANG. Iceland is immensely beautiful. The people are super friendly, the food was great, the scenery was incredible, and the sheep were adorable. We all loved it, and that's another place that I'd love to go back to one day.
After Iceland, we went to Texas for a few days to see my mom's sister and her family. It was good to see them again because it had been a while since our last visit. We got to catch up, shop on tax-free weekend, play boardgames, and have some family time, which was really nice.
Following our short stay in Texas, we finally returned home on 19 August 2012. A couple days after we got back, I cut off 11 inches of hair and donated it to an organization that makes wigs for women with cancer. I did this in honor of my grandma who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008, and it felt really good to do it. On 30 August 2012, I got all four wisdom teeth taken out. This process was quite interesting, what with me being on Percocet for a couple days and having a super swollen face and stitches in my mouth, but the healing process was relatively painless. I started school on 4 September 2012, and though my face was still pretty swollen and I couldn't eat much other than pudding and applesauce and other soft mushy things, the first day went well.
In all honesty, the repatriation process was a pretty odd one. It was slightly more difficult than anticipated. You'd expect to move back from a year abroad and slide right back into life as it was before, but that's really not how it is, in spite of the familiarity of everything at home. In some ways, it's like we never left. We moved back into the same house, we're in the same school district, my parents have the same jobs. In other ways, though, it's like we missed huge parts of our own lives. People changed, we changed, etc. India changed me as a person. It made me completely different. I feel like it made me who I should have been all along. My perspectives on so many things changed. I've seen and done so much now that I never would have seen/done otherwise, and it made me a whole new person.
People always ask me, "Oh, wow, you spent a year in India! What an experience, how was it?" And I'm always at a loss for words when people ask me that. It's such a vague question, and it really doesn't have an answer. Sometimes, I loved it. Sometimes, I hated it with a passion. It was rewarding, but painful. Good, yes, bad, yes, fun, yes, torturous, yes. All of it. So, how was India? I don't know, to be truthful. To answer about "India" as a whole is impossible, if you think about it. It's a hard question to answer. But overall, I am indeed glad that we did it, because it was quite an experience, and I learned a ton about myself, life, the Indian half of my culture, and more.
Fast forward to right now! It's the start of a new year, and I'm happy to be back in America. School is going well, it's fun, and I've made lots of new friends and gotten back in touch with some old ones as well. I started and finished drivers ed, and have been driving with my permit for a few months. Driving is fun :) We've settled back into our houses and my parents are back at work and such. I love Bellevue, it's so beautiful and quiet and it smells good and people are friendly and it's great :) I've also gotten back into viola and voice lessons, which is so awesome, because I love me some music! In addition to viola and voice private lessons, I've auditioned for and joined a women's barbershop choir, which is a ton of fun.
I miss a few things from India, though. I miss being able to volunteer every weekend and see the difference that I was making right away. I miss my best friend in the world, Kavin. I miss a couple of the foods there. Occasionally, when the Bellevue weather is particularly bad, I miss the Bangalore weather. I miss having my own bathroom. I miss a few other things, but those are the main ones. However, at the very top of the list of things that I miss is Kavin, my very best friend. I miss her more than anything :)
So, I guess that's how it all came to a close. India was definitely one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm sure I'll keep seeing this in different ways as I get older. Though it was really tough, I'm glad we did it. I love Bellevue, and I have a weird love/hate relationship with Bangalore, but I'm glad to be home and back in the swing of things.
Thanks, guys, for being loyal followers while I was posting more frequently, and I hope this gives yall a sense of closure as to how our year abroad came to an end. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer :)
I guess from here on out I'll just write about new places that we travel to, because traveling is fun and interesting and whatnot :)
Bye for now, my lovelies :)
Miraculously enough, I finished all my schoolwork with straight A's. It was tough, and it was a ton of work, but I did it. I pushed it way too close though, I didn't finish until Monday before we left India for good on Friday. I'm really glad I finished and did so well, but I'm not gonna say it was easy, because it wasn't easy at all. Anyways, I finished school, and that was a huge relief.
We left India on 3 August 2012, and headed out to Barcelona. We spent 5 days in Barcelona, and we all loved our time there. It's an amazing place, and I got to speak a ton of Spanish, and of course, the shopping and food were freaking fabulous. I literally have dreams about this one salad that we ate there, and I usually don't even like salad. It was that good. I would go back to Barcelona for the sole purpose of eating that salad...but, for reasons aside from that salad, I fully plan on going back there someday, because I absolutely loved it. :)
After Barcelona, we went to Iceland for 6 days. We did a roadtrip in an adorable little Subaru through the southwestern part of Iceland. Out of all 16 countries that I've traveled to, I kid you not, Iceland is the most beautiful one I've been to. I raved about the Maldives, and those islands are close competition, but DANG. Iceland is immensely beautiful. The people are super friendly, the food was great, the scenery was incredible, and the sheep were adorable. We all loved it, and that's another place that I'd love to go back to one day.
After Iceland, we went to Texas for a few days to see my mom's sister and her family. It was good to see them again because it had been a while since our last visit. We got to catch up, shop on tax-free weekend, play boardgames, and have some family time, which was really nice.
Following our short stay in Texas, we finally returned home on 19 August 2012. A couple days after we got back, I cut off 11 inches of hair and donated it to an organization that makes wigs for women with cancer. I did this in honor of my grandma who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008, and it felt really good to do it. On 30 August 2012, I got all four wisdom teeth taken out. This process was quite interesting, what with me being on Percocet for a couple days and having a super swollen face and stitches in my mouth, but the healing process was relatively painless. I started school on 4 September 2012, and though my face was still pretty swollen and I couldn't eat much other than pudding and applesauce and other soft mushy things, the first day went well.
In all honesty, the repatriation process was a pretty odd one. It was slightly more difficult than anticipated. You'd expect to move back from a year abroad and slide right back into life as it was before, but that's really not how it is, in spite of the familiarity of everything at home. In some ways, it's like we never left. We moved back into the same house, we're in the same school district, my parents have the same jobs. In other ways, though, it's like we missed huge parts of our own lives. People changed, we changed, etc. India changed me as a person. It made me completely different. I feel like it made me who I should have been all along. My perspectives on so many things changed. I've seen and done so much now that I never would have seen/done otherwise, and it made me a whole new person.
People always ask me, "Oh, wow, you spent a year in India! What an experience, how was it?" And I'm always at a loss for words when people ask me that. It's such a vague question, and it really doesn't have an answer. Sometimes, I loved it. Sometimes, I hated it with a passion. It was rewarding, but painful. Good, yes, bad, yes, fun, yes, torturous, yes. All of it. So, how was India? I don't know, to be truthful. To answer about "India" as a whole is impossible, if you think about it. It's a hard question to answer. But overall, I am indeed glad that we did it, because it was quite an experience, and I learned a ton about myself, life, the Indian half of my culture, and more.
Fast forward to right now! It's the start of a new year, and I'm happy to be back in America. School is going well, it's fun, and I've made lots of new friends and gotten back in touch with some old ones as well. I started and finished drivers ed, and have been driving with my permit for a few months. Driving is fun :) We've settled back into our houses and my parents are back at work and such. I love Bellevue, it's so beautiful and quiet and it smells good and people are friendly and it's great :) I've also gotten back into viola and voice lessons, which is so awesome, because I love me some music! In addition to viola and voice private lessons, I've auditioned for and joined a women's barbershop choir, which is a ton of fun.
I miss a few things from India, though. I miss being able to volunteer every weekend and see the difference that I was making right away. I miss my best friend in the world, Kavin. I miss a couple of the foods there. Occasionally, when the Bellevue weather is particularly bad, I miss the Bangalore weather. I miss having my own bathroom. I miss a few other things, but those are the main ones. However, at the very top of the list of things that I miss is Kavin, my very best friend. I miss her more than anything :)
So, I guess that's how it all came to a close. India was definitely one of the best experiences of my life, and I'm sure I'll keep seeing this in different ways as I get older. Though it was really tough, I'm glad we did it. I love Bellevue, and I have a weird love/hate relationship with Bangalore, but I'm glad to be home and back in the swing of things.
Thanks, guys, for being loyal followers while I was posting more frequently, and I hope this gives yall a sense of closure as to how our year abroad came to an end. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask, and I'll try to answer :)
I guess from here on out I'll just write about new places that we travel to, because traveling is fun and interesting and whatnot :)
Bye for now, my lovelies :)
