Out there, there's a world outside of Yonkers, way out there beyond this hick town, Barneby, there's a slick town, Barneby. Out there, full of shine and full of sparkle, close your eyes and see it glisten, Barneby, glisten, Barneby!
Put on your Sunday clothes, there's lots of world out there...
We are going to find adventure in the evening air.
- Hello, Dolly!
I currently know people studying absolutely all over the world!!
And I am making friends here, from all over the world
I am an international student.
And how amazing is that?
I am truly a part of the world, and I have connections and friends all over the world who are taking advantage of what this earth has to offer.
I am glad I am not being left behind to wonder what the world has to offer.
More than being glad, I am thankful.
I talked with some local high school students over the weekend and we asked them that if they could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be? Struggling to communicate, full of blushes and half smilesAnd it made me think, when I was 10th grader, where did I think I would be, if I could travel anywhere in the world? If international students came to my school, told me about their country, and then asked me where I would go, what would I have said? I certainly never believed I would be in India a mere 4 years later.
Costa Rica, Africa, Ireland, Denmark, London, China, Spain, France, Israel...
and hahaha
sometimes, I think
"I am so jealous that they are there!! I want to... go explore a jungle and look at exotic animals, dance in a tribal dance and paint myself with shamans during a trance, explore castles, visit early Christian sites, see a play at Shakespeare's The Globe Theater, walk the Great Wall..."
etc.etc.etc.
I read every blog I come across, of these world traveling acquaintances, living "vicariously" through them.
Who am I kidding? I get jealous listening to musicals on iTunes that I'm not on Broadway, or thinking about the Batsheva Dance Company auditions coming up and all of the people that will be going.
And then I remember
that they are there.
And I am here.
I am here.
and if I were there, I wouldn't be here.
I AM IN INDIA.
Holy shit.
I am having so many adventures here, and experiencing new things every single day. Hah, no, India doesn't have parrots or ziplines, or castles and fortresses of my beloved kings and queens of Europe, Shakespeare or double decker red buses, or pandas, or even small cobblestone streets, and I'm certainly not getting to see any Broadways or attend dance auditions.
But India... India has so many other things to offer that are beyond amazing and absolutely mindblowing.
Haha when I think about the things I have learned in India, I'm even jealous of India for being so full of life!!
India is a toddler, a baby that needs to be nurtured and led along and taught, yet is full of history.
India has a thriving community full of what I can really only call acceptance, even though I know from being here that acceptance is not the correct term at all. I have never seem the comradeship in the US that I see among every person here in India. Reading the history books, India has had its far share of national, religious, language based, land, cultural identity strife and yet I can't think of another place where visitors are welcome to come, explore, learn and not be asked for a single thing in return, but are left to digest everything that India has set out for them.
India is honest, laying everything out for everyone to see. You can form your own opinions and you make judgments, be ethnocentric - India doesn't care. India is improving for India, and at India pace, and not for you or for me.
And just like India has left itself open for all to see - the hardships, the mistakes, the triumphs, the poverty, the wealth, the devotion, the help - India leaves one open, and India exposes weaknesses and strengths. India makes you doubt what you know, what you thought you knew, or what you have decided to do and learn.
No, India does not have the comfort and stability of other places I could have chosen to visit, to study, to learn.
I have been here a little over a month - I am still marveling over the things that I have seen.
And I might be able to do just as exciting, foreign activities that I do here, elsewhere.
But I'm here.
I'm in India.
There are two wise comments that I received during my time at CofC:
"Live here, in this moment, Allyn. You can't be in both places at once. You are here."
(this was followed up with "Your mother has this same problem." But I hate to blame my desire to be everywhere experiencing everything on my mother and genetics, it just doesn't seem right. It is certainly a personal problem.)
"Stop being so jealous of everything else."
(this was followed up with solid contemplation and a small bit of resentment for my flaws being pointed out so blatantly when I wanted it to come across as something I longed to do, and was damn determined to do, not complaining, or mentioning something I was "jealous" of and appearing ungracious for what I had. I am learning the differences.)
I refuse to let these comments, and my time here, pass me by.
