My best friend in the US introduced me to a song called “Let Go” by Frou Frou before I left for India. It’s about letting go and giving in when life seems to stressful. It says there’s “beauty int he breakdown.” As I starting stressing about coming home from my adventure, I listened to that song and tried to find the beauty in this experience ending. I am having such mixed feelings!
On the one hand, I am very excited to get back home to my family, neighborhood, and the feeling of belonging associated with coming home after living in a foreign land, but on the other hand I will quite literally never see my friends here again. I am starting to appreciate all the random things about India like petting cows on the street, riding bike rickshaws, eating street food without washing my hands, and even Indian toilets! Everyone who has made a similiar journey to mine has told me that coming home is even harder than adjusting to India because you will get reverse culture shock: while you were gone you forgot many things about America and about our culture which may shock or disturb you upon return. It makes me feel uneasy to know that though I am going home, there are many thigns which are going to feel foreign to me.
My mom was talking about putting something in the microwave last night when I spoe with her, and I remembered that sometimes when I was at home I could just take leftovers out of the refrigerator and place them directly in the microwave, wait 30 seconds and then have a meal ready!!! The thought blew me away… it’s just so easy that from this far away it seems nearly imporssible! I know it’s possible because I’ve done it my whole life, but I haven’t had either of those things for so long now that it seems magical that soon I will have both at my disposal 24/7! The scary thing to me is that I don’t know how either of those contraptions work… like how does a refrigerator make that cold air? What kind of waves are heating my food? We rely so much on these gadgets at home, but does anyone really understand how they work? That to me is a little scary, but at least I know I can survive happily without them if need be.
I’m also really excited about coming home because I get to be a Resident Assistant at UCF when I come home again. I love being an RA, and I have a lot of ideas about how to make my floor the best one ever next year! In fact, I am already planning programs in my head, and I hope to help my new freshmen have a great first year at college by giving them support and challenging them to build community where they live.
On an unrelated note, it got chilly here today and it was even raining! The wind was not pleasant either! I can’t wait for springtime to come around, and I hope the sun is shining when I get home!
