http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2976499&l=96ec6d1348&id=512136680
Hopefully everyone can view the pictures at the link so you can see the incredible things that happened to me today at Nagarahole National Park, one of the most biodiverse places in the world and home to over 64 tigers thanks to India's Project Tiger. It is one of the few successful Project Tiger areas...anyway, take a look!!!
22 August 2009
Comments...
I have heard that some people were not able to post comments, and I am pretty sure I have fixed it so that anyone can now comment (on a particular post, or at the very bottom of my page). So post away! I'd love to hear from you!
Thanks!
Thanks!
21 August 2009
some practical stuff
I keep posting about exciting things that have happened, (which will continue because I am visiting a wildlife sanctuary tomorrow, and have a city tour of Mysore on Sunday) but I guess I should fill people in about the general day-to-day stuff.
Four days a week, I have classes, starting with yoga at 6am. We practice Ashtanga yoga, which was founded here in Mysore. It is a pretty intense session, but I really like starting my day this way. I usually take my bucket bath before breakfast at 7:30...yes, I take a bath with a bucket. But it is awesome for two reasons: 1. It feels great to just dump a bucket of warm water over my head. (Or cold water, if there is no hot water.) And 2. it has made me realize how much water I waste on a regular basis by just sitting in the shower, everyday, sometimes even twice a day. Here, I can fill up less than half a bucket (it may be a 8-10 gallon bucket...) and it is more than adequate to wash my hair, entire body, and even have a little left over to dump over my head for kicks and giggles. I think this may be one habit I take with me to the states...
Anyway, breakfast at 7:30, and my first class is at 10:10am. I have classes until 1:30 (although we have been pushing it to 2pm):Culture and Civilization of India, Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development, and Environment and Health, all of which are FASCINATING and thought-provoking. I feel like all of our professors are totally over-qualified to be teaching a few American undergrads, but I am still thankful to have them.
Lunch, theoretically, at 1:30, and I have a break until 5pm, when I have either cooking or Bharatnatyum, South Indian Classical dance, during which we learn a few steps, then sit down and talk about Indian culture, music, and life in general. Our teacher is completely mesmerizing; she has this quality about her that is so soothing, I could listen to her for hours. She is short and fat (her own description), but her voice has this soft, raspy tone to it, and her eyes are very expressive (naturally, since she is an Indian dancer). I just came from this class, so I am still a little hypnotized.
6 to 7pm, I have Kannada class, which is pretty simple so far. The first thing she told us is that if you put -u(pronounced ooooo) at the end of any noun, you will be generally understood...bottle-u, English-u, fan-u, book-u, pen-u, etc. They just stole a bunch of words from the English. Oh, and my name, Elli, means "where." So Somu, who takes care of us, walks down the hall looking all around yelling "elli Elli? elli Elli?" Somu, by the way, is pretty awesome. The first thing Dr. Rao told us when we got here is that if we needed anything, just ask Somu. He pops up whenever we need him, is everywhere we are before we even get there, and even cooks for us sometimes.
Dinner, theoretically, at 7pm. Last night and tonight are actually the first nights that we are having dinner on time, because we have had so many events to attend. I have to admit, I've enjoyed having nothing to do.
I've been falling asleep at 9 or 9:30, so, basically, I'm turning into my dad (haha).
The weekends are dedicated to field trips and other events. Today, we took a field trip to an engineering college that specializes in sustainable development. We saw some very cool student projects, including a kitchen waste biogas device, meaning kitchen waste is put into a large vessel, which becomes hot and reduces, like compost, but because it is so concentrated it produces biogas, which can be used in place of methane gas. We also visited a house that utilizes this technology, as well as others the college has produced. Everything, including the water heater, is solar powered. I took a lot of pictures, but if anyone is REALLY interested, visit www.niecrest.org. It is fascinating stuff. They work closely with the Swami Vivekananda Institute to introduce these sustainable technologies to tribal villages, making things a little easier as well as environmentally friendly. Their one stipulation is that they will not produce these things on a large scale. They alter designs to make sure the materials can be bought locally (meaning, they don't have to buy all materials from China, etc.) and they train individuals how to make them, with the hope that the knowledge will be passed on, as many other Indian traditions have been passed on. I'm not sure how successful this has been, but they have good ideas.
They had one particular device I am especially interested in, which is a stationary bike (in essence) that grinds grain when pedaled....MOM.
All in all, they keep us busy, and AHH! I'm late for dinner! I have to go...more later!
Four days a week, I have classes, starting with yoga at 6am. We practice Ashtanga yoga, which was founded here in Mysore. It is a pretty intense session, but I really like starting my day this way. I usually take my bucket bath before breakfast at 7:30...yes, I take a bath with a bucket. But it is awesome for two reasons: 1. It feels great to just dump a bucket of warm water over my head. (Or cold water, if there is no hot water.) And 2. it has made me realize how much water I waste on a regular basis by just sitting in the shower, everyday, sometimes even twice a day. Here, I can fill up less than half a bucket (it may be a 8-10 gallon bucket...) and it is more than adequate to wash my hair, entire body, and even have a little left over to dump over my head for kicks and giggles. I think this may be one habit I take with me to the states...
Anyway, breakfast at 7:30, and my first class is at 10:10am. I have classes until 1:30 (although we have been pushing it to 2pm):Culture and Civilization of India, Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development, and Environment and Health, all of which are FASCINATING and thought-provoking. I feel like all of our professors are totally over-qualified to be teaching a few American undergrads, but I am still thankful to have them.
Lunch, theoretically, at 1:30, and I have a break until 5pm, when I have either cooking or Bharatnatyum, South Indian Classical dance, during which we learn a few steps, then sit down and talk about Indian culture, music, and life in general. Our teacher is completely mesmerizing; she has this quality about her that is so soothing, I could listen to her for hours. She is short and fat (her own description), but her voice has this soft, raspy tone to it, and her eyes are very expressive (naturally, since she is an Indian dancer). I just came from this class, so I am still a little hypnotized.
6 to 7pm, I have Kannada class, which is pretty simple so far. The first thing she told us is that if you put -u(pronounced ooooo) at the end of any noun, you will be generally understood...bottle-u, English-u, fan-u, book-u, pen-u, etc. They just stole a bunch of words from the English. Oh, and my name, Elli, means "where." So Somu, who takes care of us, walks down the hall looking all around yelling "elli Elli? elli Elli?" Somu, by the way, is pretty awesome. The first thing Dr. Rao told us when we got here is that if we needed anything, just ask Somu. He pops up whenever we need him, is everywhere we are before we even get there, and even cooks for us sometimes.
Dinner, theoretically, at 7pm. Last night and tonight are actually the first nights that we are having dinner on time, because we have had so many events to attend. I have to admit, I've enjoyed having nothing to do.
I've been falling asleep at 9 or 9:30, so, basically, I'm turning into my dad (haha).
The weekends are dedicated to field trips and other events. Today, we took a field trip to an engineering college that specializes in sustainable development. We saw some very cool student projects, including a kitchen waste biogas device, meaning kitchen waste is put into a large vessel, which becomes hot and reduces, like compost, but because it is so concentrated it produces biogas, which can be used in place of methane gas. We also visited a house that utilizes this technology, as well as others the college has produced. Everything, including the water heater, is solar powered. I took a lot of pictures, but if anyone is REALLY interested, visit www.niecrest.org. It is fascinating stuff. They work closely with the Swami Vivekananda Institute to introduce these sustainable technologies to tribal villages, making things a little easier as well as environmentally friendly. Their one stipulation is that they will not produce these things on a large scale. They alter designs to make sure the materials can be bought locally (meaning, they don't have to buy all materials from China, etc.) and they train individuals how to make them, with the hope that the knowledge will be passed on, as many other Indian traditions have been passed on. I'm not sure how successful this has been, but they have good ideas.
They had one particular device I am especially interested in, which is a stationary bike (in essence) that grinds grain when pedaled....MOM.
All in all, they keep us busy, and AHH! I'm late for dinner! I have to go...more later!
17 August 2009
So much to say...so little time
So much happens to me everyday here, it is getting difficult to decide what I want to write about, because there is no way I could sit here and describe everything. Here are a few highlights:
Devaraj Market
A few of us ventured to this open market on Sunday, located in the heart of Mysore, and what an adventure it was. As soon as we stepped beyond the wall the separates the market from the street, every sense was bombarded. A man was sitting at the entrance selling piles of fresh herbs (I can still smell the coriander); there are piles upon piles upon PILES of fruits (pomegranates watermelon mangoes bananas) and vegetables, dried chilies, banana leaves, jasmine flowers, marigolds, and vendors selling anything and everything you could imagine, from incense to stainless steel plates, flashing in the sunlight, to neon colored scrub brushes, all the while the shouting of vendors making the task of taking everything that much harder.
We were eventually lured into a tiny booth with the promise of seeing how incense was made. I have to admit, these two young men were excellent salesmen. There were also selling essential oils, and if we told them a problem, whether it be migraines or insomnia or a stuffed up noise, they had a remedy. Their prices were excellent, and everyone ended up buying a few oils, and they even gave everyone a bundle of free incense. The only problem was that as we stood there talking to these guys, the street vendors (guys selling things from their pockets) picked us out and decided to follow us throughout the market. There was one point where the seven of us were all huddled together trying to decide how to shake these guys off, and there were about 7 or more surrounding us, shouting over each other, "Six bracelets, 200 rupees!" "Coral necklace, for your sister, your mother!" "EIGHT BRACELETS, 200 RUPEES!" We ended up leaving the market as quickly as possible, shaking all except one off, so we ducked into a store and waited for him to leave. Once he was gone, we had the chance to regroup and realized we were in KR Circle, a major shopping mecca of Mysore (lucky us!) The crowds seemed less crowded since we were no longer being assaulted by salesmen, and we happily dodged motorbikes and rickshaws as we made our way to Indra Cafe to enjoy a wonderfully delicious and cheap meal of South Indian thalis.
After lunch, the four girls headed off to Badsha's to splurge on some new salwar kameezes. I hadn't planned on purchasing anything, but of course I fell in love with a gorgeous pink and brown and gold, silk, salwar kameez. After having the store torn apart for our benefit (that is how you shop here: go into a store, and they pull everything off the shelves a pile it in front of you until you are so hypnotized by the beauty you can no longer resist), we all decided to head back to the hostel before we went broke.
I'll add one more thing before I head off to class: Bharatanatyam, South Indian dance.
Wow. We went to a performance last night, put on by our future teacher, and it was mesmerizing. I would suggest that you look it up on YouTube, but I doubt it would do it justice. The woman performed the story of the Ramayanam, playing all the parts (Rama, Sita, a tons of other characters, my favorite being Hanuman, the god who looks like a monkey). Her use of her eyebrows alone was enough to send me into a trance.
Anyway, if I don't stop now, I'm going to be late for class.
If you click on the slide show to the right, it should take you to my flickr account, where the photos can be viewed larger.
Devaraj Market
A few of us ventured to this open market on Sunday, located in the heart of Mysore, and what an adventure it was. As soon as we stepped beyond the wall the separates the market from the street, every sense was bombarded. A man was sitting at the entrance selling piles of fresh herbs (I can still smell the coriander); there are piles upon piles upon PILES of fruits (pomegranates watermelon mangoes bananas) and vegetables, dried chilies, banana leaves, jasmine flowers, marigolds, and vendors selling anything and everything you could imagine, from incense to stainless steel plates, flashing in the sunlight, to neon colored scrub brushes, all the while the shouting of vendors making the task of taking everything that much harder.
We were eventually lured into a tiny booth with the promise of seeing how incense was made. I have to admit, these two young men were excellent salesmen. There were also selling essential oils, and if we told them a problem, whether it be migraines or insomnia or a stuffed up noise, they had a remedy. Their prices were excellent, and everyone ended up buying a few oils, and they even gave everyone a bundle of free incense. The only problem was that as we stood there talking to these guys, the street vendors (guys selling things from their pockets) picked us out and decided to follow us throughout the market. There was one point where the seven of us were all huddled together trying to decide how to shake these guys off, and there were about 7 or more surrounding us, shouting over each other, "Six bracelets, 200 rupees!" "Coral necklace, for your sister, your mother!" "EIGHT BRACELETS, 200 RUPEES!" We ended up leaving the market as quickly as possible, shaking all except one off, so we ducked into a store and waited for him to leave. Once he was gone, we had the chance to regroup and realized we were in KR Circle, a major shopping mecca of Mysore (lucky us!) The crowds seemed less crowded since we were no longer being assaulted by salesmen, and we happily dodged motorbikes and rickshaws as we made our way to Indra Cafe to enjoy a wonderfully delicious and cheap meal of South Indian thalis.
After lunch, the four girls headed off to Badsha's to splurge on some new salwar kameezes. I hadn't planned on purchasing anything, but of course I fell in love with a gorgeous pink and brown and gold, silk, salwar kameez. After having the store torn apart for our benefit (that is how you shop here: go into a store, and they pull everything off the shelves a pile it in front of you until you are so hypnotized by the beauty you can no longer resist), we all decided to head back to the hostel before we went broke.
I'll add one more thing before I head off to class: Bharatanatyam, South Indian dance.
Wow. We went to a performance last night, put on by our future teacher, and it was mesmerizing. I would suggest that you look it up on YouTube, but I doubt it would do it justice. The woman performed the story of the Ramayanam, playing all the parts (Rama, Sita, a tons of other characters, my favorite being Hanuman, the god who looks like a monkey). Her use of her eyebrows alone was enough to send me into a trance.
Anyway, if I don't stop now, I'm going to be late for class.
If you click on the slide show to the right, it should take you to my flickr account, where the photos can be viewed larger.
15 August 2009
Our group
courtesy of Janis Perkins, who is actually the head of the Study Abroad office of U of Iowa, and visiting us until Tuesday. She has been out in the jungle visiting a hospital for the past week, a potential future study abroad opportunity. Anyway...
Happy Independence Day
I'm still very jet-lagged, so please forgive me for not putting up pictures yet. They will come soon, perhaps tomorrow, when I no longer feel like collapsing on my bed.
Yesterday was our orientation, and we officially met the director of our program and the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Dr. Nagaraja Rao, who is the former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. We also met all of our professors and program coordinators, all of whom made speeches. There was also a lecture on Swami Vivekananda (Swamiji) by Dr. Prabhu Shankara, a very accomplished scholar of both Indian and English literature.
(Phew...if there is one thing I've learned about educated Indians, it is that they are very gracious, formal, and patient people, meaning they love to make very long speeches thanking every person there, and every person not there, and expounding upon their accomplishments.)
Despite a lot of sitting and listening, I am very excited about starting classes on Monday. It is funny because when I was signing up for classes, it was stressed to me that I should sign up for very little so that I could enjoy my time here. But now that I am here, Dr. Rao has insisted everyone attend every core class for the first week, (Environment and Health, Gender in India, Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development) so we can officially decide what we want to take. I know for sure that I am taking yoga (I had signed up already, but Dr. Rao decided this morning that everyone will take it, 6am-7 Mon-Thurs), Kannada (the language spoken locally), Culture and Civilization of India, and South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam.
Today was India's celebration of its 64th year of Independence. We walked up the road to the classroom building, V-LEAD, for an hour of celebrations (aka speeches of thanks haha), some beautiful Karnactic singing, traditional Mysore sweets, and the raising of the Indian flag. I am beginning to understand how revered we are as guests here; we are included in these ceremonies of great importance to Indians, and yet in each speech, we are mentioned and thanked first; we are always served first; anything we want, according to Dr. Rao, can be arranged. (We just have to ask Somu, his go-to man, who lives in the hostel where we are staying. Somu literally takes care of everything and everyone. Today he introduced some of us to his friend Ravi, a dependable rickshaw driver, and took us into town for errands, helping us pick up some necessities.)
I'm getting off track...evidence of my exhausted mind. Anyway, later, we all went out to lunch together, and then split off into smaller groups to explore Hebbal a little bit. Hebbal is the "town" we are technically staying in, though it is really just a section of Mysore. It is a bustling place, though much calmer than the heart of Mysore, which is almost unbearably overstimulating. We encountered much of what we have come to expect in our few days here: a lot of stares, a lot of children screaming "HI HI HI HI," lots of free-roaming cows, lots of trash, and the most beautiful colors I've ever seen. I want to ask all the women where they buy their clothes.
This evening, in honor of Independence Day, our group attended a play put on by Dr. Rao's friend Prof. Vijay Padaki, which was about the correspondence between Gandhi and Tagore. I'd never heard of Tagore before, so it was very interesting to hear this view point on Gandhi's life, but I must admit it was not a very stimulating play (it was purposefully minimalist), and so I think it was a little lost on those of us still recovering from jet-lag.
Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned until the evening, when we go to a puppet show (I have no idea), and the next evening, we are invited to a "Cultural Evening" (I have no idea), and the following evening we are attending a performance by students from the University of Michigan who have been studying musical traditions of India for the past three weeks. They are actually staying on our floor at the hostel, but both groups have been kept so busy, there hasn't been much time for interaction.
Although there is tons tons tons more to say, I'm going to cut myself off here. I will post again soon, hopefully with pictures.
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I have gotten a couple of Salwar kameezes (very casual ones) and they are extremely comfortable and fun to wear. Again, pictures soon.
Yesterday was our orientation, and we officially met the director of our program and the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement, Dr. Nagaraja Rao, who is the former Director General of the Archaeological Survey of India. We also met all of our professors and program coordinators, all of whom made speeches. There was also a lecture on Swami Vivekananda (Swamiji) by Dr. Prabhu Shankara, a very accomplished scholar of both Indian and English literature.
(Phew...if there is one thing I've learned about educated Indians, it is that they are very gracious, formal, and patient people, meaning they love to make very long speeches thanking every person there, and every person not there, and expounding upon their accomplishments.)
Despite a lot of sitting and listening, I am very excited about starting classes on Monday. It is funny because when I was signing up for classes, it was stressed to me that I should sign up for very little so that I could enjoy my time here. But now that I am here, Dr. Rao has insisted everyone attend every core class for the first week, (Environment and Health, Gender in India, Science, Technology, and Sustainable Development) so we can officially decide what we want to take. I know for sure that I am taking yoga (I had signed up already, but Dr. Rao decided this morning that everyone will take it, 6am-7 Mon-Thurs), Kannada (the language spoken locally), Culture and Civilization of India, and South Indian dance, Bharatanatyam.
Today was India's celebration of its 64th year of Independence. We walked up the road to the classroom building, V-LEAD, for an hour of celebrations (aka speeches of thanks haha), some beautiful Karnactic singing, traditional Mysore sweets, and the raising of the Indian flag. I am beginning to understand how revered we are as guests here; we are included in these ceremonies of great importance to Indians, and yet in each speech, we are mentioned and thanked first; we are always served first; anything we want, according to Dr. Rao, can be arranged. (We just have to ask Somu, his go-to man, who lives in the hostel where we are staying. Somu literally takes care of everything and everyone. Today he introduced some of us to his friend Ravi, a dependable rickshaw driver, and took us into town for errands, helping us pick up some necessities.)
I'm getting off track...evidence of my exhausted mind. Anyway, later, we all went out to lunch together, and then split off into smaller groups to explore Hebbal a little bit. Hebbal is the "town" we are technically staying in, though it is really just a section of Mysore. It is a bustling place, though much calmer than the heart of Mysore, which is almost unbearably overstimulating. We encountered much of what we have come to expect in our few days here: a lot of stares, a lot of children screaming "HI HI HI HI," lots of free-roaming cows, lots of trash, and the most beautiful colors I've ever seen. I want to ask all the women where they buy their clothes.
This evening, in honor of Independence Day, our group attended a play put on by Dr. Rao's friend Prof. Vijay Padaki, which was about the correspondence between Gandhi and Tagore. I'd never heard of Tagore before, so it was very interesting to hear this view point on Gandhi's life, but I must admit it was not a very stimulating play (it was purposefully minimalist), and so I think it was a little lost on those of us still recovering from jet-lag.
Tomorrow, we don't have anything planned until the evening, when we go to a puppet show (I have no idea), and the next evening, we are invited to a "Cultural Evening" (I have no idea), and the following evening we are attending a performance by students from the University of Michigan who have been studying musical traditions of India for the past three weeks. They are actually staying on our floor at the hostel, but both groups have been kept so busy, there hasn't been much time for interaction.
Although there is tons tons tons more to say, I'm going to cut myself off here. I will post again soon, hopefully with pictures.
Oh, and for those of you who are wondering, I have gotten a couple of Salwar kameezes (very casual ones) and they are extremely comfortable and fun to wear. Again, pictures soon.
12 August 2009
I made it!
I made it to India! After days of traveling I am finally sitting here in my room in Mysore. I slept for about 11 hours last night, but I am still exhausted. The whole group went for a walk after we got here yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon to try and stay awake until a normal hour so that we could adjust better, but we just ended up getting lost, which exhausted me even more. So I ended up falling asleep literally the minute we got back, which was around 6pm. I sat down on my bed and that is the last thing I remember. But, anyway, a few things I've experienced so far:
- The ride from the airport to Mysore took about four hours, which is all I could handle: the driving is INSANE here. The dotted white line on the roads is merely a suggestion. If our van driver felt like he had space to squeeze between a huge truck and a car that were side by side, he would blare on his horn and go right ahead. The horn is everything: "Move...I'm right behind you...I'm passing you...I'm going to hit you if you move over more than two inches..." The backs of the trucks here even say "Sound OK Horn." There were so many times I was convinced we were going to run someone over, but no one was even fazed. I wonder how many times a day the average person almost gets hit by a vehicle...
- There are advertisements EVERYWHERE. People's houses, WHOLE houses, have been painted with Virgin Mobile and Sprite logos, I guess to make some money. It is an odd thing to see a Sprite shack on the side of the road with children sitting in the doorway and clothes hanging out to dry.
- The food, so far, has been amazing. On our way from the airport, yesterday, we stopped and got dosas for breakfast, and had lunch here (I missed dinner because I fell asleep, so now I am starving but I have to wait until 7:30).
- Our rooms are much better than I anticipated. Each one has two single beds, two desks, two large dressers, which have room for hanging things, and a bathroom. We actually have a shower head, but we quickly discovered it does not work very well because when we turned it on the water went every which way except down. So I think we will stick to the bucket method for now, which really is not that bad. There is one large bucket on the floor underneath the water spouts, and a smaller one for pouring water over yourself. I had one yesterday, and it was very pleasant.
- We have wireless Internet throughout the entire building.
- For those you who were concerned about the toilet paper situation: first of all, I have plenty of toilet paper. They gave us two rolls per room, I brought three, and my roommate brought three as well. But beside the toilet is a water spigot and a little bucket to wash yourself whenever you go to the bathroom. I've tried it once and it is actually refreshing. (At least it was yesterday, when I was so tired.)
- Today, I think I am going on a city tour (no more getting lost, I hope!), tomorrow is orientation, Saturday we are going to a play, and on Monday we start classes.
09 August 2009
Take-off
So, tomorrow is the big day. The summer went by so quickly, and I can't stop thinking about how much I will miss the Fall. But I guess I have many seasons to look forward to. Trading a trip to India for one Fall probably won't kill me.
Though I leave tomorrow, I won't actually get to Bangalore until the 12th. I will post as soon as I can after that, but it might be a little bit before I can get a converter. Until then, join me in savoring the last bits of summer...
Though I leave tomorrow, I won't actually get to Bangalore until the 12th. I will post as soon as I can after that, but it might be a little bit before I can get a converter. Until then, join me in savoring the last bits of summer...
Top to bottom:
Sunflower from my garden
My garden: I grew watermelon, spaghetti squash, basil, marigolds, nasturtiums, and tomatoes.
Giggs
pollinator
Sunflower from my garden
My garden: I grew watermelon, spaghetti squash, basil, marigolds, nasturtiums, and tomatoes.
Giggs
pollinator
04 August 2009
For those of you who were wondering...
I will be spending the majority of my time in Mysore, indicated by the misshapen red dot towards the south. (Click on the map to enlarge)I will travel to other places, all of which are currently a mystery to me.
02 August 2009
Too close for comfort
With my departure date rapidly approaching, it seems only natural that my mind constantly strays to that far off place I will call home for a few months...but I find I have nothing to grasp hold of. No matter how many articles or books I read, pictures I gloss over, or movies I watch, India seems no closer than the day I decided to travel there.
The nerves have definitely set in, but the excitement cannot be beat. I know I will miss America (it is a pretty cool place, all in all) but I am thankful for this chance I have to get acquainted with a culture so incredibly different than my own.
The worst part about leaving is everyone I leave behind, but I comfort myself with the reminder of all the experiences I will share when I get back.
My goal with this travel blog is to share some of my experiences with everyone all at once. I would love the occasional e-mail, but this is the best way for me to keep in touch (comments, also, would be greatly appreciated!). I will (hopefully) post and upload photos on a regular basis...depending on the internet and down time. Once again, I don't really have any prediction of the conditions.
ONE WEEK TIL TAKE OFF
Love to all! Wish me luck!!
The nerves have definitely set in, but the excitement cannot be beat. I know I will miss America (it is a pretty cool place, all in all) but I am thankful for this chance I have to get acquainted with a culture so incredibly different than my own.
The worst part about leaving is everyone I leave behind, but I comfort myself with the reminder of all the experiences I will share when I get back.
My goal with this travel blog is to share some of my experiences with everyone all at once. I would love the occasional e-mail, but this is the best way for me to keep in touch (comments, also, would be greatly appreciated!). I will (hopefully) post and upload photos on a regular basis...depending on the internet and down time. Once again, I don't really have any prediction of the conditions.
ONE WEEK TIL TAKE OFF
Love to all! Wish me luck!!
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