India

Welp, it's that time again. In less than two days I will again be boarding a plane to a distant land. This time, the destination is HD Kote, India. I am spending three months volunteering in a school/orphanage and imparting my vast knowledge of the English language unto eager children. The volunteer company I signed up with is called Volunteers for Peace (http://www.vfp.org/). I will be living in a district called Mysore in the Karnataka state just outside of the capital city called Mysore. It's a few hours south of Mumbai (Bombay). I am beyond excited to embark on this new adventure. I first started becoming interested in Indian culture after reading The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri and have since been obsessed with learning more. It's such a diverse and culturally rich country. I'm hoping to do a lot of traveling within India and will be sure to take lots of pictures with my new fancy camera (thanks Mom and Mommom). Here's some information about Mysore: http://www.mysore.nic.in/district_profile.htm

Mysore Palace

Hunger

Last week I turned 23. My main thought/fear was that I haven't done or seen nearly enough. I put myself under tremendous pressure to do as much as possible as soon as possible. But that's just the thing... it's not possible to do everything and go everywhere. I have to continually remind myself that I have my whole life to fulfill my goals and ambitions. Yesterday I had a conversation with my friends about when our lives are going to start. But who says they haven't already started? Though my life is not orthodox, I am doing what I am passionate about, and I intend to remain loyal to my inclinations. So instead of feeling old and trapped in an unfulfilling career at 23, I am able to relate with Robbie Turner in Ian McEwan's Atonement, who is also 23 and has just finished his undergraduate education.

"He had never before felt so self-conciously young, nor experienced such appetite, such impatience for the story to begin."

Outer Banks, NC

Within two hours of disembarking my plane from CR, I was en route to Rodanthe, North Carolina to spend a week camping with my family. Going from a month of having my own room in a foreign country with no familial obligations to living in a camper with six full grown people was a bit trying to say the least. But after some initial adjustments the week turned out to be enjoyable. One day was spent surfing (or trying to), another charter fishing and another on our favorite island, Ocracoke. The Outer Banks is one of the prettiest places in the world and it luckily is far less touristy than most beach destinations.

sunset on the beach

our fishless fishing trip

gotta love 'em

Ocracoke Island

Language Woes

Well, after spending an entire month in CR, and taking five hours of Spanish a day... I am not fluent in Spanish. Alas, I have had to accept the fact that 6 total months of studying Spanish is simply not enough. Disregarding this obvious fact, I spent the last few days in CR extremely frustrated with myself for not knowing more. But learning a new language, especially at 22, just isn't easy! Don't worry, though, I have no intention of giving up. If anything I am more determined to add this skill to my agglomeration of resources. Upon perusing my Nat Geo Traveler magazine, I have found extra encouragement:

"A basic knowledge of at least one other language is a handy item to have in your travel tool kit, for it levels the playing field... I believe every traveler should speak other languages." - Daisann McLane