December 8th: Mumbai

I’m happy that I got to visit Mumbai before. I got to see much more last time.  We only have the day to roam around before our tour is over.  The day was spent just shopping.  Not much to report on the activities of today.

 Nice colonelism leaving its mark on the architecture.

From afar, in the early morning haze. 

A view of India's New York

The Taj Hotel which tragically was attacked a year ago.  It's crazy how life continues as if nothing happened.

The world famous Gateway of India

And we got to go to a Islamic mosque. Woooop. 

We pack up on our bus and say goodbye to South India and South Tour.  The last 25 days were...there's no one word to describe them, and my vocabulary doesn't have the right words to describe them.  I guess the words I'll use are exhausting and crazy.  Those are the only two words that I know are the right words.

Of course it was exhausting.  The longest we stayed anywhere was three days.  More often than not we were sleeping on trains overnight.  All of us got sick at least once, either from a cold that got passed around, or food poisoning.  We had a lot of early mornings and a lot of late nights.  Sometimes we were squeezed into a non A/C bus sitting in each others sweat.  And though I feel like I was tired the entire 25 days, I tried to sleep as little as possible.  

"But Nisha, if you had slept better, you would have enjoyed everything much better, and you probably wouldn't have gotten sick either!"

Yeah, but I'm hoping my explanation for crazy will justify my lack of sleep.  (This is the best transition line we're getting.)

It was crazy because what I just did was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  At the age of 18 I got to travel all around south India.  I got to see ancient temples and ruins, sandy beaches that put Grand Bend to so much shame, and cold mountains so green that I can't compare it to any other green I've seen in my life.  Not only that, but I did it with an extraordinary group of people who I first called my exchange students friends, then called my friends, and now call my family.  I cannot express properly how important these people are to me.  I've tried multiple times, and I can never find the right words.  In short, they're important to me because...

They're my friends.  As simple as that.  Well, it's not as simple as that.

They're friends that I would never have met otherwise.  Let's skip the obvious about living in different ends of the world.  Let's say we all were in the same country and high school... we all have different interests and probably wouldn't have meshed in school.  I'm a music geek, Serenity's into hiphop and dance, Chris loves sports, Sebastian loves outdoor photography, etc. etc.  Though we're all really different, we managed to become mega friends, in the short span on 25 days. 

They're my friends.  Yes.  That's established.  But, they're super awesome because they're helping me through a rough time.  It's no lie, My exchange year isn't all flowers and rainbows and happiness all day (I don't think any exchange is...).  I'm going through culture shock, my homesickness is growing stronger, and I'm having difficulties finding a healthy way to deal with certain things in Indian culture.  It's all a process.  And though I didn't take a full on break from learning about India and how I function in it... being around my exchange student family helped me not take tension*.  They were there to listen to my new thoughts, share some jokes and laughs, and lend an ear...ya know...stuff friends do.

  

HOLY DIGRESSION BATMAN. 

 "The Pillar of Friendship" Awwwww. 

When we got on the bus to go to the station to take us home, our tour guide, RK announced that the other district is leaving in 5 minutes.  What?  How could that be that I’m leaving Jordan, Sebastian, Amanda, Hannah, Nikolas and Kelsey?  It’ll be two months until I see them again, but I probably won’t see Sebastian**…ever again.  It doesn't hit me even while we’re hugging each other and saying goodbye, even while the tears starting to form in my eyes.  Even when we got on our train about 45 minutes later when everyone is sad - it doesn't hit me.  Our bus was empty and quiet.  The energy and togetherness was gone.  And the train ride got worse.  All of our seats are in different places, which means that we don’t even get to spend the last night together.

Bye-Bye South Tour, you were a party.  I'm sorry you had to end on such a sour note. 

* One of my favourite Indian phrases "Don't take tension".  AKA "Don't worry, be happy"

**Sebastian’s exchange started in February, which means he’s going home in January.  This means that he won’t be around for North Tour which starts in March.