Two weeks in – Reflections

A few days ago, I realized that it has been one month since my last day at my job. Time is flying by; I’ve already been in India for two weeks, which is as long as some people get to travel in a whole year. When I realized that I’ve been “funemployed” for a month, I started to reflect back on the course of events that lead me to being here.

In the past month I quit my job, moved out of my NYC apartment, said goodbye to everyone I love most, and headed to India. Closing the chapter on my life in NYC proved to be much more difficult than I expected. Literally, it was so hard to get rid of my furniture and apartment, as all of my friends reading this already know because it’s all I could talk about for a few weeks (sorry guys!), but I also had no idea how much I’d miss it until I said goodbye. When I was living in NYC, I got lost in daydreams of traveling to anywhere and everywhere, thinking that I couldn’t wait to pack up and leave that god forsaken place. However, my last few months were filled with some of the best moments, and I really miss the city that adopted me as one of its own. I think maybe one day I’ll call it home once again.

The uncertainty around my future plans is over (for now); just a few days ago I was officially accepted into the Spanish government’s language assistant program to teach English in Madrid! I am beyond excited to head back to Spain in the fall to start that.

I have adjusted quite well to life in India. I am able to understand Hindi better than I ever have and am even starting to become more comfortable speaking it, which was no easy feat for me since I’m rather shy due to my white girl super American accent. I amuse myself because I’ve found that I speak in slightly broken English these days, and much slower than I used I to so that people can understand me. But at least the broken English works! I’ve made time to strengthen my yoga practice, volunteered at a medical clinic, visited a meditation center, and am learning acupressure from my grandmother. I am constantly observing my surroundings, trying to absorb everything that I can and wondering how I would have turned out if I grew up in this country. These past two weeks have been wonderful, and I am really looking forward to what lies ahead.