Well everybody, here I go. I’m off to Chennai, India to
study at TANUVAS Veterinary College.
It would be just like me to travel internationally for the first time to
a place that is 10,000 miles, or half of a world, away from everything that I’m
familiar with. I do have to say,
however, that although it is scary, it is extremely fulfilling at the same time
to think that I can survive on my own, without any help from mom and dad, in a
place that is completely foreign to my entire nature. I guess you could say that I’m living a primal urge for
independence or something, who knows?
Yesterday, June 4th, 2012 was D-Day. I showed up at the airport with my mom,
dad, and boyfriend Eric around 3:30 p.m.
When I got into my parent’s Ford Escape and left my driveway it hit me
that I would be on my own in about 45 minutes left to face the fear of not only
travelling internationally, but travelling internationally alone. Tears began to well in my eyes when I
arrived at the airport, and said goodbye to the people that probably mean the
absolute most to me in the entire world, but as I said goodbye and headed for
security, I became excited and brave at the same time.
We left Detroit Metro Airport at 6:15 p.m. on a massive
Delta jet. Somehow I always become
subconsciously nervous when flying, and am not able to sleep. Instead I turn into a restless ball of
energy, however this leg of the flight I was able to keep my anxiety
subdued. I read my kindle, watched
TV, completed a Sudoku puzzle, and walked around. The first meal we were served was really good. It was chicken with some sort of sauce,
salad, a roll, cheese and crackers (they serve those with pretty much every
meal on a flight I’ve come to realize), and a brownie. After I finished eating that at an
extremely slow rate of speed because I’m trying to learn to eat right handed
(apparently the left hand to which I am most familiar is only used for bodily
functions in India), I felt as if no time had passed and breakfast was being
served. That meal was not as good
as the first, but breakfast is never my favorite meal of the day anyway.
Shortly after finishing my frozen banana and orange juice,
and tossing the questionable southwestern style egg mcmuffin we arrived in
Amsterdam. The landing was smooth,
and our layover went quickly.
Before I knew it we were on yet another jet to Delhi, India. It was an ok flight, however my seat
partners were not the most ideal, there was a screaming child for the first
hour, and there happened to be an 8 year old soccer player behind my seat. Needless to say, I was happy when we
arrived safely. Our next part of
our journey included a 10 hour layover in Delhi before boarding a plane to our
final destination in Chennai. Right
now as I write, the time here is 3:32 a.m., and the time back at home is 6:02
p.m. Truth is, I haven’t slept in over 24 hours, I’m not tired, I’m excited as
heck, and I can’t wait to get started working. We will see how I feel tomorrow when the jet lag sets in,
but for right now, I’m feeling great!
I’m also really enjoying making new friends. Everybody that
I am on the trip with seems to be really awesome, and I think we are going to
have a great 6 weeks. After
playing Taboo for 3 hours in an Indian airport at 2 in the morning, I can’t
really think of a better bonding experience.
Right now as I write this, I’m sitting in a lounge area
shower thing that they have in this airport. You pay 1,000 rupees (the equivalent of about 20 bucks), and
you get 2 hours to take a really nice hot shower, and just relax. It feels really good to be able to
stretch my legs out and just sit in the quiet with no turbulence, and not a
care in the world.
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