Ever since I started learning Hindi the summer after my freshman year in University, I’ve heard about the UW in India program. Hindi and the start of my India experience began in June of 2013 …
India
Return and Readjustment
It has been over 3 weeks since my return to the US from India, and I am long overdue for a wrap-up—which I owe to both my blogging experience and to my personal experience of …
An Auspicious Ending
Hello again! I had sort of intended my previous post to be my final post, but I think it makes sense to write the final entry from my own bed in Wisconsin, since coming home …
Bye-bye Banaras, hello Himachal
As I write this post, I am located a 24 hour journey, many sub-cultures, and countless dialects of Hindi away from Varanasi. I have returned to the Dharmshala area of Himachal Pradesh, where I spent …
Ready for Lift Off
I’m leaving India tomorrow. In a way I’ve been thinking about this day since before I left, maybe since the day I decided I would spend a year here. When I think about the moment …
The Final Countdown, and Other Cliche Study Abroad Feelings
Sometimes I wish I could start this year over, not because I have many regrets about my time, but more because I have the feeling of “if I had known then what I know now…” …
Delhi-Dallying
The Hindi/Urdu word for “journey” or “travel” is pronounced “suffer”, and my Urdu teacher likes to joke “Indian suffer is English suffer.” By this standard, I feel like I can officially say that I’ve traveled …
My Favorite Part of India
It’s getting to the point where I can see the end of this endeavor, and it goes without saying that the feeling is bittersweet. I think part of the reason I’m so nervous about going …
Spring Break: Bodh Gaya and Holi
[I realize this post may seem confusing and/or redundant if you are following the other Varanasi blogger, considering we are both named Lydia and both went on a spring break trip together] Rather than being …
Spring Break 2014
This spring break is turning in to one of those periods in my life that I will look back on and think, “Did that really happen? And how?” [But perhaps that will be how this …