The beginning of May marked the end of my time at Manipal, and the start of my Indian adventure's final chapter.
I spent my last week in rural South India saying my goodbyes to everyone and everything that had helped me make a strange place into a home for the past 5 months, not knowing if I would ever see any of them again. Over that time I had formed a makeshift Indian family out of all the people who had taken this clueless American girl under their wing - from Darshan, Siddharth, Amardeep, Naman, and Nitesh (the engineering boys that became like brothers), to Sushma and Swathi (the beautiful dance-party-throwing yoga instructors), to Hitesh and Akshay (the suave Delhi party boys), and finally to Nidhi and Sahiba (my crazy pre-med floormates turned partners-in-crime and friends for life). I can only hope that our paths will cross again someday.
It wasn't until I was in the car heading back to the Mangalore airport that it really hit me I was leaving - for good this time. By then I was pretty familiar with the rough, dirt-road drive from my hostel to the airport, but I couldn't help remembering the first time I made the drive back in January. I spent the entire two hour journey with my face pressed up against the window and my jaw on the floor, completely overwhelmed and unable to process anything I was seeing.
Now all those same sights were sources of comfort and familiarity.
The only thing keeping me from really losing it was knowing that I was headed towards something even more familiar. My dad was flying over to meet me for my final weeks of traveling, and I couldn't wait to see him and show off all my newly acquired Indian street smarts. I had planned out a series of adventures for us working our way from Nepal to Kolkata, and we wasted no time in getting started. Our first morning in Kathmandu, Nepal we woke up at 5:30 am to go fly a small charter plane over the nine highest Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest. Because you can't go to Nepal and not see Mount Everest, I mean really. That flight was easily one of the most surreal experiences in my entire life. We were literally on top of the world, and there are no words that can give that feeling justice - a video is the best I can do.
Now all those same sights were sources of comfort and familiarity.
The only thing keeping me from really losing it was knowing that I was headed towards something even more familiar. My dad was flying over to meet me for my final weeks of traveling, and I couldn't wait to see him and show off all my newly acquired Indian street smarts. I had planned out a series of adventures for us working our way from Nepal to Kolkata, and we wasted no time in getting started. Our first morning in Kathmandu, Nepal we woke up at 5:30 am to go fly a small charter plane over the nine highest Himalayan peaks, including Mount Everest. Because you can't go to Nepal and not see Mount Everest, I mean really. That flight was easily one of the most surreal experiences in my entire life. We were literally on top of the world, and there are no words that can give that feeling justice - a video is the best I can do.
When you fly a charter plane over the highest mountains in the world and live to tell the tale, you get to treat yourself to some Limited Edition Sherpa beer.