sayin bye to India

HEYYY

India is coming to a close. I am very torn-sad to leave yet excited to continue. This was expected, but still sucks. My Indian family has just been incredible. My roommate Sarah and I went to see the palaces and temples in Mysore last weekend. Mysore was very different from Bangalore, the air had much less pollution and it was a lot cleaner. The sidewalks were just as bad- I guess that is just an Indian thing. Ha, its annoying bc. I stared so much at sidewalks to preventing tripping I missed out on looking around. Finally after 2 weeks I decided tripping now and then would be fine.. which happened. Its been very interesting getting to know the group of students I am with. Seeing how the different personalities come out in various circumstances has been surprising. There are many people that I get along with very well, but I am praying not to be their roommate! There is only one other Christian girl on this trip, her name is Abbie, and she is very fun. I thank God for her. Its hard not being around people that I can always talk to about what I am experiencing spiritually here. It is so amazing having God here though. We always know in our heads that God is everywhere. But before I left He and I were talking and I was worried about missing all my close friends and family and it kinda hit me that I am always gonna have my God to pour my heart out too.. its a comfort that I am so grateful for. This past week we went to a place called Navardarshanam. Its about an hour outside the city. Its an alternate way of living community. Its about a 100 acer community that as started 18years ago by a group of scholars- mostly engineers- who wanted to live differently in a completely sustainable environment. They grow all their own foods, use local materials to build their buildings, conserve and sanitize their own water, and use solar panels and wind for energy. It was so beautiful there. I really enjoy city life and its always surprising to me how I forget how peaceful and relaxing it is being away from everything and being surrounded by nature-- of course I am not a fan of the crawling things.. but its all good. A weekend to chill in awesome scenery is worth it. This next week we are going to an Ashram for 3 days to rest/reflect/and prepare for South Africa, we will fly out of India thursday at 4am. South Africa is gonna fly, we will have 2 home-stay families so we can experience 2 different parts of Cape Town and the culture. Plus, we have 1 week of vacation there. So it being split up will probably cause it to fly by.. which is kind of okay with me right now bc i am reallllly looking fwd to Argentina. I hope things back home are good, I hear there is a lot of drama with hurricanes. Sarah and I are making dinner for our family this evening so I better get going.. Mexican and root-beer floats, haha.

Que Dios le Bendiga!