One Week//Everyday Life//RAMBLE//reflection

So with my time in Manipal wrapping up, I've suddenly became frustrated with how little I've focused on my real life here on my blog. Instead, I've posted only about my exciting travels, which are awesome and important, but traveling is certainly not how I spend the majority of my time. In fact, sitting here at my desk procrastinating my very last fifteen page paper, is how I've spent the majority of the last week. I'm generally over-caffeinated, due primarily to the coffee maker I purchased at the beginning of the semester, but also with the help of the brand new fresh & honest just built into the bottom of my lobby. Fresh & honest are these tiny booths scattered about campus that sell machine brewed coffees that aren't terrible. Usually I just go for the "black coffee" for rs 9 (18 cents) or, if I'm feeling snazzy, the "cappucino" for rs 12 (24 cents). Mind you, they are quite small (see below), and, it shouldn't surprise you that, instead of doing homework, I took it upon myself to determine whether this coffee was cheaper, by ounce, than a small dav coffee. So, let's do this math, alright! Nerd time! 18 cents for 100ml means 18 cents for 3.333 oz means 65 cents for 12 oz. (A small dav coffee is 12 ounces and a dollar if you bring your own mug). So factoring in quality, atmosphere and good looking/friendly staff, they're basically the same price. Great. Now where was I? Oh yea, environmentalism & Indian philosophy. Because we've all become terribly sick of the mess, we've been eating a majority of our meals at local canteens and restaurants. I've been eating a whole lot of maggi (indian ramen, sort of), egg cheese sandwiches, dosa and paneer butter masala. Not complaining! ...though I'm getting increasingly psyched for my favorite americano food.

aka dixie cup coffee

I leave Manipal in five days, if it weren't for this whirlwind of work, I might be sad, but instead, I'm more excited than I have been in SO long. Primarily because my Manipal departure in no way means leaving India, as I have ten days of traveling (with Ari!) to look forward, not to mention reunification with many of my favorite people in the world. My last week will be a flurry of last minute make-up classes,  presentations and a closing ceremony, at some point. This weekend is devoted to finishing papers and this coming week I'll be frantically packing and going crazy with excitement. Hopefully I'll squeeze in meals at all my favorite Manipal haunts and, perhaps, even hit up the ever-wild blue waters club once more (for the second time ever). Manipal's been good to me and I'll be sad to say goodbye to a few of my professors and classmates, but this semesster has tested me and, while I feel like I've met the challenges, I'm ready to sit on my couch in front of the fireplace sipping hot cocoa.

So here I am, getting ready to pack, trying to conduct a cost/benefit analysis of whether or not I should bring my full Indian wardrobe home. Will I be back to India? certainly, but will I ever be living here again? I really do hope so. Despite difficulties and a moderate skin tone difference, there's a part of me that thinks I fit in here. I love the lax attitude about time, disorganization doesn't usually get to me and I really admire the generally warm & hospitable nature of everybody here. That being said, there's a whole lot of things I'm looking forward to when I get back. I have not the time nor the desire to list, but to put it simply, the Christmas music I've begun listening to in the last few days has started to make me emotional and I yearn for boots and scarves. I'm going to look like a fool getting off the plane in flip flops.

I do have a few trips to breeze over in another post or two, maybe I'll get to that next week amidst the work I won't want to do. alll my looove.