Question #2 - What will I be doing in the motherland?

hey everyone, i hope things are going well.  i'm taking a breather from my pre-india prep to answer the 2nd question from my last post.  as you can see though, i've resorted to all lower case in an effort to save a few seconds.  i have 4 days left to get everything done before i leave, and to say that i'm feeling "aaahhhhh, so much to do, so little time! aaaahhhh!!" would be a huge understatement.


so... what will i be doing for the 6 months that i'm in india?  that's a good question, and i can honestly say that i made my decision with very little thinking, zero plan in mind (other than "go and do something"), and complete disregard for what the "outcome" will be after the 6 months.  i say "outcome" because i've come to understand that if you are unable to look into your crystal ball for life and tell people (especially those who are south asian) what you are looking to accomplish "at the end of all of it," (whether it be a 6 month trip or your whole life) it almost makes them uncomfortable; if nothing else, it at least leaves them to think of you as a desi girl who has perhaps lost her mind.


*sigh,* perhaps i have, but i guess we'll determine that "at the end of all of it."

what i know for sure - and this might be reckless or unwise considering that when i come back from this trip  it will have been almost a year and a half since i got laid off which could bode unfavorably on my resume and i'll have aged further into my 30's which equates to major minus points when looking for your south asian jeevan saathi (life partner) - is that i am going to india for a life experience.  that, instead of waiting here for the perfect job, guy, and the remainder of my life to play out as i'd originally dreamt it would, it is better to have the whole "rest of my life" be a big question mark and just travel this new path one day at a time seeing where the journey takes me.

as much as i'm not living in the future, since my original decision to simply go to india and live there for 6 months, i have figured out what i want to do when i get there.  this is a loose plan, so please don't hold me to it.  since my entire professional background has been in sales & sales management for the past 10 years (pharma & the beauty industry in case anyone was wondering), i am looking to have some experiences outside of sales and in 2 areas that i've always been interested in, so... i have one internship set at an advertising firm and am hoping to arrange one more marketing internship.

i also know for sure that at the end of my trip, i will be volunteering at an orphanage & home for destitute women in vrindavan (www.vatsalyagram.org); i met the leader of vatsalya gram, Didi Maa, on her recent trip here, and i was completely mesmerized by her whole persona and the work she is doing.  since i love bache (kids) & vice-versa (if you aren't friends with me on FB, i am the ultimate "auntie!"), i cannot wait for this experience.  if i can arrange for one more in-mumbai volunteering experience (after seeing "slumdog millionaire," i really want to see what that's all about), that would be amazing.

oh & one more thing, for those of you who read my post called, down with my south asian dating blog, i will also be completing the last part of the landmark curriculum in mumbai; i have no idea what i'm getting myself into doing the course there, but i figured that if nothing else i get to meet at least a hundred (if not much more considering that it is india!) like-minded people 12 days in to my trip.

other than that, what i plan on doing is blogging about my experiences and living it up like i've never lived it up before.  i'm excited for all the sounds, sights & smells of my beloved india and to have all my new e-friends (people that i've been connected to through friends) turn into real friends, and i'm nervous for things like having to be fashionable (yours truly wears flip flops - like the $6 kind that you get from forever 21 that people in india would balk at and call "bathroom chapal" - non-stop all summer), getting from one place to another (i'm wishing myself lots of "om shanti om" for traffic) & every now and then, i have a flash of anxiety at how this - this more being my life than my trip - will "turn out."  i know that feeling is a deeply rooted script that says that there is "a way" that it looks like when it does turn out, so i acknowledge that feeling and quickly move on to the next one... being SOOOO EXCITEDDDDDD & "Aaaahhhh so much to do, so little time!!!!"

before i go, although i plan on having a whole post dedicated to them because the kindness of friends, long lost contacts and complete strangers has completely blown me away, in the meantime... from the bottom of my heart, i'd like to give a thousand thank you's to the at least 100+ people - family, friends, friends of family & friends and so many of my readers - who have been so amazingly supportive of me going on this journey and gone above and beyond to make it the experience i'm hoping to have while i'm there.

ok, back to getting things done.  write soon (from my new time zone!) ~ smile moon :)

Sorry for the quotes overload, but I heart me some good quotes (thanks to fellow kindred spirit, SV, for posting the latter two)!

It is not where you stand, but in what direction you are moving.  Sometimes we sail with the wind, sometimes we sail against it; but sail we must, and not drift, nor lie at anchor. - Oliver Wendell Holmes

Make divine choices. This is a matter of refusing to make a choice based upon the expectations of others. Instead, you decide to act in ways consistent with your purpose & who you really are. - Dick Sutphen

What you’ve done becomes the judge of what you’re going to do...especially in other people’s minds. When you’re traveling, you are what you are right there & then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. - William Least Heat Moon