INDIA, 5.20.08

5.20.08

St. Paul, MN

In four days, I will be on one of the world's longest non-stop flights, half way around the world from Chicago to New Delhi. I am traveling to India for three weeks with 19 other students and 2 professors for a class called "The Global Search for Justice," one of the core requirements at St. Kate's. The title of this course is "Spiritual Voices of Dissent," so we will be studying Gandhi, the Dalai Lama, Tibet, Mother Theresa, religious pluralism, and various other enlightening issues. In addition to Delhi, we will be visiting Dharmasala (where the Lama kicks it), Kausani (a tiny village I had trouble finding on Google...), and Agra (where the Taj Mahal is).

So far, most everyone has seemed to have some sort of advice or request for me while I'm gone: "Take a ride around Old Delhi in a rickshaw," "Don't get malaria," "Say Hello to the Dalai Lama for me," etc. My favorite piece of advice came from my sister's best friend, Brian: "Don't' get lost. There are a lot of people in India. It's purple on the population map, you know."

I flew back to St. Paul this morning after kissing the fam adieu. Mum didn't even get teary-eyed. I guess she is finally growing up. I took the bus back to St. Kate's, checked back in to my old room, now with bare walls, empty cupboards, and no more roommates, and started writing my Gandhi reflection paper that was due at our class meeting later this evening. For lunch, Katie and I went to our favorite restaurant, Shiish, where we eat nearly once a week. I'm afraid I'm going to go through withdrawal over the summer.

This evening, I had my first of two pre-classes in preparation for our departure. We each received a monstrous binder of readings for our trip. This, in addition to the 4 books we supposed to read, is rather daunting. I just hope I don't end up missing everything else on our trip because my head is stuck in some book. Even after tonight, though, I'm not entirely sure what to expect. I know it will be completely abberant from anything I've ever experienced. Nonetheless, I'm feeling fairly well prepared. I finally received my visa, I've been poked in the arm with various vaccines (and have the band-aid tan to prove it), I packed some TP, per my father's suggestion, and my suitcase closes easily without having to sit on it. I guess I won't really know, though, until I get off that plane in New Delhi...