On My Way Out Already...
by Anna Ferguson (JD '08),
I can't get on the internet to find out how much the Sri Lankan government spent on healthcare over the past fifteen years!!!
Sorry I have been neglecting my journal. Crunch time with my project now. My supervisor informed me today, the day before what is supposed to be my last, that he would like my report to be publishable so I need to make it polished. He says this two seconds after I explain to him that the topic is so broad and the information so vast that I have struggled just to get a comprehensive overview planned out. It didn't seem to bother him, he said I could just come in Saturday and Sunday too. Indian business culture has been one of the most difficult things to which I have tried to adjust. They expect miracles and set unattainable goals for everyone. But then I have also noticed that its not that big of a deal if something doesn't actually get done. I'm used to being more realistic about what I can accomplish and then actually meeting my goals when I say I will. So, yes, I'm spending time writing this instead of working on my project because the internet is down and I'm stuck. At least the electricity is on today.
Boy do I have some stories to tell! I'm thinking London will not be quite so exciting so I should be able to write everything out once I am there. A quick run down of my last couple of weeks: Went to Udaipur "the most romantic city in India" with Rosie and Marie. We took a romantic boat ride and discussed why men can be such idiots. Met the friendliest people in the world and had our pictures taken my multitudes of Indian tourists. The next weekend went to Jaisalmer (the desert). Missed three trains and took three busses for thirty hours, got stuck in a storm in the desert on camels and had to spend the night on the floor of a hut in some village. Met a man under the stars on the dunes, discussed gods and cultures, and left him love sick for me. Couldn't get back to Delhi due to the rain and cell phone didn't work so had friends and family very worried, but made it back moments before the office dispatched a search party.
This weekend I am staying in the relative safety of Delhi. Hopefully I will get my project finished to my satisfaction and can just stay local.
Overall, India has been an amazing experience. I wish I was better with words so I could describe it. It has been more real, and raw, and deep than anything else I have ever experienced. For every unbelievably wonderfully amazing mind-blowing thing there is something equally horrible, heartbreaking, and scary. I'm already getting nostalgic and I haven't even left yet. I read somewhere that once you go to India it will always try to call you back. Right now, even though I'm homesick and looking forward to London civilization, I know I will come back. I just can't imagine not experiencing these things again.