"Wherever you go, go with all your heart." -Confucius

So.... entry number 1. 

With five days left until I leave, it's finally is starting to hit me that I'm actually leaving the country. That may sound strange, because I've talked about India for so long, but it’s true. I guess it just hadn't seemed real before I made tangible preparations like booking my flight or getting immunization shots (btw, my phobia of needles+3 shots at a travel clinic= not a fun time).

One US dollar =
55 Indian Rupees!
Isn't that crazy?

As of now, I have a general idea of what I’ll be doing and whom I’ll be staying with. For now I guess I can write what I know. I’m staying with a lady named Mrs. Madhu Sareen who is a Hindi teacher and the wife of a doctor in Udaipur. Apparently they run a Pediatric clinic in their home and are pretty social in the community. After speaking with Sarah, my site director, I could not be more excited to be staying with them. She said they usually have a lot going on at their house and I would enjoy staying with them.

I will be working in a school for the deaf and blind, which I am also ridiculously excited about. I have a fairly well rounded background in childcare/education, having worked in jobs such as substituting part time for a Montessori school and being a camp counselor all summer… not to mention having the majority of my family in the education field. Even so, I know it will be a challenge for me to connect with these kids since I have never worked with individuals of these specific disabilities before. I am both excited and intimidated by this challenge. My plan is just to be extremely flexible and ask questions about how things are done.

There are other random tidbits of advice that I have received from both Sarah and previous travelers to India that I have been mulling over. Although I am slightly nervous for my time spent in country, I think I am most nervous about actually getting there. I have never traveled outside the US before so this will be my first time in international airports. Additionally, I will be flying alone. My connection flights are in Chicago, London, then Mumbai (which includes a 6.5 hour layover). After that comes one rough day of adjusting and from there I should be good to go. You see… I did a dumb thing. My flight arrives in Udaipur at 6:45 am (sadly, that's 9:15 'merica time) on the same day as ProWorld orientation. In retrospect, I probably should have scheduled it for a day before so I could get over 9.5 hours of jetlag… but I’m going to put on my big girl pants and try to slowly adjust in transit.  

Overall, I am just excited to finally go. I know I have lots to see and even more to learn but I trust that my time in India will be spent making me a more educated and adaptable person. I know things may get challenging (like airport chaos), but I guess that is why they call them adventures. Well, my next entry will be written from India. Till then <3