Well I am off again!! And it’s about time!
So let’s back track – Around September-ish I was on the phone with my father. He randomly mentioned that they are going to India in November. Back then I had in my mind that November will be a good time for me to jet off somewhere, since it’s been a few months. When he told me they were going to India, my first thoughts were OMG! I need to get my shopping list started!! My second thought was that I needed to figure out how to go on vacation somewhere and then go home to see them and collect my gifts from the motherland. A few hours later the light bulb clicked and I thought why don’t I just join them! Two stones in one hit.
So that was that! Honestly, India hasn’t been on my list. I always figured I could go whenever and I had no plans to go anytime soon. Now that I think about it, I like the idea of joining them and having them show me their city, their country, our roots, our heritage, our culture and all the places they used to go to, work at, live in, pray at ect. It will be nice to see family I have not met since I was 5 yrs old as well. I think it will make India a lot more meaningful than if I go on my own or with other people. I’m thankful that my parents taught me my culture and I was raised around a nice sized Indian community growing up to appreciate it. I was heavily involved in Indian/bollywood/bhangra dance growing up and I know and understand it is not the same back in the motherland, so it will be such a great experience!
The first job I had to do for this trip was get a visa. A quick 2 page form filled with some really strange questions, followed by a trip to the Indian embassy – Cox & Kings!
Upon arrival to the embassy, I was pretty nervous because all these people had all these forms and documents and were taking really long and here I was walking in with my 2 forms and I.D./passport. When it was my turn at the window, she took my papers and sent me to the next line. Once I was called, she again took my forms, I paid the fee and done! I would get a message in a few days to pick up my visa! I was pretty surprised it was that easy! I happily called my parents afterwards and my dad was like “It is because you are a citizen by birth!” – he repeated that phrase while laughing happily about 3 times and indicated how lucky they have made my life by giving birth to me in this country lol.
This trip just seems so last minute and like I said above, I feel so happy to be able to join my parents and see their homeland with them and have them be my tour guide! Part of me was thinking earlier how much it may suck to spend 3 weeks (I only wanted to go for 1 week, but my parents insisted I go for 3!) out there with no cousins that I know of my age. All my cousins my age who are from India are all now in the U.S. now. I can always go out and party with my friends. I can always go travel with people my age and hang out the way young people do, but this probably will be the only opportunity I will have for an experience like this, and it’s not gonna be about partying.
Anyways! Tomorrow is the day. It will be a long journey with two very long layovers. I don’t really mind layovers. They are like a trip within a trip! I intend on updating with pictures and stories throughout my trip so hope you enjoy!
karenskaleidoscope 