Thursday, March 20, 2014

Accepted

When I found out I was accepted for the India course, I was so excited that I danced around my apartment and immediately called my mom and sister to let them know.

And then...a tsunami of questions filled my brain! Is it safe to take my "big" camera? What kind of clothes can I wear there? What will the temperature be? Can I bring my medicine with me? Where will we be staying? Will we have internet access? Do we need to buy those converter plugs for our electronics? What are the best shoes to wear in India? How will we get around the city of Kolkata? How in the world do I obtain a Visa?

And literally two million other questions!

Luckily, we have a great TA, Laura, who is also going on the trip and has been before and she's kindly answered a lot of my questions. She sent us a link to a blog that a student wrote on the trip a few years ago (which inspired me to start this blog) and I think we're going to have an information session soon, too.

I'm still waiting for my passport to come in the mail. Once it comes, I can apply for my Visa! Currently I'm looking at flights...it seems like a lot of us will fly as a group, so we're trying to coordinate that. I'm thinking I don't know the next time I'll be in Asia, so I may do a bit of traveling after India. Perhaps Thailand? We'll see. It will depend on if someone wants to travel with me because I don't think I could go alone! My friend told me of an elephant rescue that is near the city of Chiang Mai in Thailand, and you can go there and volunteer! You get to help bathe the baby elephants and walk them around. Sounds like a dream. :)

I'll update soon when I know some more concrete information. Hopefully this blog can serve a few purposes - as an account of my trip so that I don't forget anything in the future, and to keep my friends and family updated while I'm halfway around the world!

2 comments:

Aunt B & Uncle B said...

Congratulations! We will be following you on your website! It sounds exciting! Know you will learn some very interesting facts.
Stay safe, of course travel in two's - sure you have heard this before! Aunt Betty loves elephants also, send many pictures!
Love, Aunt B & Uncle B

JustJude said...

According to Flight Aware, the plane has landed! They should be waiting at the airport for the next leg of the trip to Calcutta now and arrive there this afternoon.