vrijdag 29 oktober 2010

What did I get myself into?!

It started as a dream, then it became a plan and now... well now comes the hardest part; doing it!!
March 2010 I came back from India and again I cried on the plane home. I always do that after a long trip. I look forward to seeing my friends and family, but a little piece of me always stays behind and therefor I hate saying goodbye. This time it was the same story all over again, but  I had this strange feeling that wouldn't go away. This unfulfilled feeling as if my trip wasn't finished yet. And the weeks after I came back I did what I had to do to make this strange feeling go away. I made arrangements to go back. Back to India!
I took off six months from work. What's six months in a lifetime? That's just peanuts!! Although I have to admit that right now... 6 months sound a bit like forever! But that's just the "scared me" talking. ;-)
Several months passed since then and the "well-organized me" started to cross off things from her to-do-list. Step by step I prepared myself for this trip and now, today, I'm all done! So I guess I'm ready? Yes, I'm ready to go back to India!!

India, my God! Any God! I'll be spending three months over there. So here comes the question; 'what did I get myself into?!'
I don't even like India at times. It's the dirtiest country in the world, people are dying in front of you and no one seems to care, they rip you off every chance they get, you never get what you bargained for unless you get really angry and demanding, women are second-rate citizens in some parts and the only thing keeping them from treating me that way are my western money and looks, dogs take over the streets at night and they are not afraid to bite, cows are everywhere except on the menu (damned), monkeys and rats are the beggars biggest enemy and you never know who will win the food you just gave, there's water everywhere but you can't swim in it because there's a good chance you'll get sick and die... and yes, I look forward to going back! To THAT??!
Yes, because India is more than that. It is fascinating, interesting, challenging... It's a country of palaces, kings and queens, femininity and elegance, where women make the roads and men where skirts, it has some of the highest mountains in the world, amazing seas, jungles and backwaters, a desert, there's Hindus, Muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Catholics, Jains, Yoga was invented here, the Kama Sutra needs no more introduction, people have a smile on their face no matter how poor, they wear the most colorful saris and turbans, they can spend hours telling you about their culture and their philosophies, they ask you a million questions and you make their day if you sing them a song, really! But above all they want you to learn about India and they want you to try and understand the things they don't even understand after a lifetime of India.
And THAT's why I have to back. I don't understand India. It's like going to another planet. So me and India... we're not finished yet!
For those of you who read 'Holy Cow'; when I first arrived in India I had a major culture shock and was closer to crying than laughing. First week I went to a fortune teller and he told me I would be back (several times), and I did NOT believe him! But I guess every now and then they are right about some things... let's see if he's right about some other things too, haha! ;-)

After three months India, I'll also be going back to a great love of mine: China. Visiting the funny people. There's a lot to say about China as a nation, but I'm going back for the Chinese and their world. They are amazing people and although it's impossible to speak to them, their interaction is so pure. They try their best to explain you stuff and I've never felt more safe and at ease in a foreign country as I did in China. Some tourists say I'm just lucky that I'm tall and blond, because that's the way they like their tourists, but it doesn't matter. I know this time I'll love it like I loved it the first time!
To end my little trip I'll also be going to Tibet and Nepal. That will be the real discovery because I haven't been to either of these countries yet. I'll be going there in the spring, first time, like a virgin! So for more on that, you'll have to visit me from time to time!