Welcome to my life!

Welcome to my blog! I'm going through Planworld withdrawal (I know, I know, I am still allowed to use it, but its just not the same, being an alum and all...), and I figure this is as good a forum as any through which you can keep track of me! Besides, lots of you people have blogs, and I read them, so why not contribute to the growing blog world?

Anyway, I'm living in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, South India, at the moment, working for SITA, the program I studied abroad on here two years ago. It is beyond good to be back. And it is so easy this time! When I traveled back to India over winter break this past year, I was struck at how easily I was able to move between worlds - it is as though once you have done this once, once you have had the rug ripped out from under you and your world turned upside down by being thrown into life in a completely different world - once you have done it once, you can do it countless times again, anywhere. It is a pretty incredible feeling, knowing you could go anywhere, and you could make it.

But back to Madurai. This place isn't just anywhere to me - it is a second home. And it feels just as good to return here as it would anywhere else I've thought of as home. I have a second family here, and friends, and a whole lot of Indian mothers who insist on making sure I've had enough to eat, making sure I'm doing ok, telling me I have "increased" or "reduced," depending on the day.

I'm on my own this time, living in an apartment as oppossed to with a family. Well, not on my own - I live with Lauren, the other Program Assistant, who is beyond fantastic. Together we're negotiating the parts of Indian life we never dealt with as a daughter in a Tamil family - buying vegetables at the market, eggs from the egg seller, milk at the corner shop. Trying our best to cook dosai on our own. We have help, of course - from our host moms, and other women we know, and our housekeeper, Tamilarsi. But we are learning - and even the smallest accomplishments leave me feeling like I have just achieved something great.

There are 17 students on the program this semester (18 began, but 1 had to go home sick.) And I love them all - I love watching them take it all in. I love remembering, through their inquisitive eyes, how different this place is from the place I grew up. I love watching them learn how to wobble their head, how to speak Tamil phrases to the local rickshaw drivers and fruit sellers, how to eat with their hands, how to live in a Tamil family. I love watching them reel from the challenges and find solid footing again on a ground they didn't even know existed. It is really somewhat magical.

I hope that all of you are doing well. x's and o's!