Last night in Ulloor?!?!

Well, as the title suggests, tonight will be my final night at my home stay here in India. It's been a crazy few weeks for me in Ulloor (the neighborhood my family lives in) but ultimately I think living with this family has been such a wonderful and formative experience. They have shared their home, their food and their wacky Indian soap operas with me and for that I will be eternally grateful. These past 4 weeks have gone by so quickly! I cannot believe that in less than two weeks I will be on a plane flying to Beijing. This is crazy.

This week's highlight has to be when the program set up an awesome scavenger hunt for the group on Wednesday. They gave us a list of challenges we needed to complete and we dispersed around the city in groups of five attempting to finish the tasks. Let's just say that by the end of the day I had driven a rickshaw, asked a man to show me how to wrap a sari (they are traditionally worn by women FYI), and sent a haphazardly written letter to South Africa (don't ask.) All in all I would say it was a pretty successful day.

Right now, most of us are feverishly working on our country papers that are due today. The topic of my paper is on waste disposal in Trivandrum and its implications on health and the community at large. The pollution here struck me as being one of this city's most potent health indicators and I knew I needed to pursue this topic further. Wish me luck!

Tonight is our final farewell dinner here in Trivandrum. Our home stay families will join us as we say goodbye to them and all of the country coordinators. We are then free for our 10 day vacation. I leave for the ashram on Sunday and I am a little nervous because I have never meditated for more than 10 minutes, let alone the multiple hour long sessions I am expected to do everyday starting Sunday. Maybe I should start practicing...ohmmmmmmmmmmmmm.