But---before begining this final post, I apologize for not putting up those pictures from my travels. After writing that initial, culturally-shocked entry in Oxford, I proceeded to spend the rest of my time in England recovering from jet lag (aka sleeping), taking snaps of geese (hey, I hadn't seen them in awhile!) watching an entire season of Friday Night Lights and getting lost in London. : )
But--before I get to that, some final thoughts on my travels. I don't feel that I've done justice to this past semester, so this is my attempt on bringing some kind of closure to what has been an indescribable experience. Literally. One of the professors that spoke to the American students during our orientation in Delhi told us, "Whatever you can say that is true of India, the opposite is also true." And it's true! My time there was amazing, and challenging, and difficult, and easy, and eye-opening, and stereotypical, and unique, and , and, and....after five months I can only say that I just barely began to learn the tiniest bit about a country and culture I was privileged to be a part of for one semester.
I'd like to say thank you with everything in my heart to the incredible family that opened their home to me. I can't imagine my semester without Aunty and Uncle, Sowmya, Bharat and Alok (see, I spelled your names right this time!!). I think you know this already, but you guys are amazing and I love you!!
Also, thank you to my own family for all of your thoughts, prayers, emails, telephone calls and the countless other ways you supported me. I definitely could not have made it through the semester without you! I love you guys, even if you didn't send me any snail mail....haha just kidding.
I'd also like everyone to know that I mailed most of you postcards from India. It was supposed to be a surprise in your mailbox, but after asking a few people if they ever got them, I am beginning to suspect that they still haven't left the desk of the post office official I handed them to in March...so, a few years from now, when you finally get that postcard, I WAS thinking of you when I was in India!! Thank YOU also for your support while I was here: emails, facebook wall messages and posts (even if it's recently turned stalker-sketchy, you must admit that it's useful for SOME things) thoughts, prayers.
And now, prepare yourself for some cheesiness--and don't say that I didn't warn you.
Even though I have left India, it still hasn't left me. And I'm not just referring to my recovering digestive system, or the parasites that might be lurking in my stomach. When my plane pulled out of the Delhi airport and into the sky the first thing I thought was--"I have to come back."
Actually, to be honest, I was crying. The very nice woman who was sitting next to me offered me tissues and mentos and pictures of her children until I stopped crying, when having to come back was the second thing I thought. I hadn't realized how much India had shaped me and changed me and how hard it would be to leave, until I left. And even now, sometimes I wake up in the morning and open my eyes expecting to see Sowmya and Brittany sleeping next to me on the floor, and the familiar landscape of Gachibowli outside my bedroom window...okay now I'm think I'm waxing a little TOO sentimental. So let me just say that I expect to, no I WILL go back. Not just because I have worlds left to learn, but also for the friendships that became so much more than friendships with everyone there. And of course, for Sowmya's wedding and our Munnar reunion in twelve years when the hills turn blue!!
First day in Munnar: we climb a mountain!
It took us about an hour and a half to get to where we're taking these photos from.
Now I'll end with the really exciting part of these posts, and probably the only part that people actually look at: pictures!
I've scattered them throughout the next few paragraphs, while I explain my travels and where I went: I left on the 4th of May after my last final for Munnar, as mentioned in an earlier post. Munnar was AMAZING. I think those were some of the best days I've spent in India!! There is no way any photo can capture how beautiful it was. My time there was spent trekking up mountains, swimming in "Pandey's pool," 
a natural waterfall created pool discovered by Ashok Pandey himself, (group pic below) 
trekking in Ervikalum, a huge national park (about a twenty mile all-day trek that included stumbling upon a herd of wild elephants, 
making lunch plates out of leaves, and getting eaten by multitudes of leeches) and in the words of Viroop, "just chilling."
But it wasn't only about what I did, it was also about who I was with: a group of (most) of the people I have come to know and love best while in India: Sowmya, Bharat, Alok, Andrew, Viroop, Shriya and Steve. And of course, new friends: Alok's brother Ashok, his wife Pinky, and her brother. It was so good to be with them, and in our words, lots of "good fun!!" I was there from the 4th to the 9th, when I left again to return to Hyderabad. Below: group pic (minus Alok taking the photo) of us before starting our epic Trek, above Andrew and Viroop look out over a valley in Ervi.
On the 11th I left from Hyderabad for Mumbai (Bombay) to meet up with fellow travelers/co-international students Allyson and Megan to spend what we expected would be three days relaxing at a beach on the Konkan Coast (the coast of Maharashtra),
(above, Ashok fishing, below, the clouds come in over the mountains in Munnar)
but what actually turned into 24 hours on the beach followed by a frantic five hour speed-trip back to Mumbai to take Allyson to the emergency room of the Breach Candy Hospital because of a serious infection in her foot. We spent the next six or seven hours in the hospital getting Allyson treated....and then the next two nights crashing on the floor in the apartment of Allyson's generous friends in Mumbai. (I know you don't read this, but THANK YOU!!!)
(above: hills, trees, and tea bushes in Munnar)
(to the right, view from the hills of Ashok's house where I stayed in Munnar)On the 17th of May we parted ways: Allyson and Meg (Allyson mostly recovered) went north together to Varanasi and I traveled solo to Aurangabad, home to the nearby world-famous, world-heritage sights of the Ellora and Ajanta caves. My solo travels were quite exciting in both good and bad ways. The caves were amazing, but as most of you know, but while I was there Hyderabad suffered from a bomb blast in a mosque. Because I was staying in a budget hostel with no television access I found out much later than the actual event occurred, but thankfully, everyone I knew was okay.
(to the side: my host brother and me at Pandey's Pool)
As fewer of you know, I also fell quite sick. However aside from a night of hell in which I supposed myself to be suffering from every possible illness: malaria, parasites, dengue, yellow fever, etc etc I battled through it to the end and came out feeling stronger--what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?
On the 21st I returned to Mumbai to spend a few days with my good friend Avanti, from Columbia. That was fun, I had more exciting adventures there of b0th the good/bad sort, and ate lots of wonderful food! By the way, Avanti has co-edited an amazing book which I think all of you should check out--proceeds go to CRY (Child Rights and You).
(to the side again: Alok and me on the Trek through Ervi)
On the 26th I arrived in Hyderabad to spend a last, few, precious days at home before I flew out to Delhi on the morning of the 28th. On the 29th I flew out of Delhi to England. And that's all of my post-semester travels! And that's also it for India. Or not...because, in the words of The Terminator: "I'll be BACK." Namaste!
