Departure Day

Today is the day that I have long been awaiting- The Day I Leave for India. Earlier this summer when I thought about this day, I imagined that I would be nervous, scared, and very sad to leave. As it turns out, I am excited and quite happy to be starting my adventure! It's been delayed for so long with all of the visa issues, that I guess I'm at the point where I've done all of the preparation I can do and there's nothing left but to go!

So here's the plan. From Boston at 7:10pm I fly to Amsterdam, and from Amsterdam to Delhi. Yay Amsterdam. I'm excited to see a new airport along the way. I arrive in Delhi at 11pm. My aunt Lucy's friend from Brooklyn, Briar, who recently moved to Delhi with her husband and children, has offered to pick me up at the airport and take me back to her house for first few nights. Yay for Briar and her family. They are my new patron saints.

Then on Friday or Saturday, I will take a train to Mussoorie which is about a 6 hour journey from Delhi. Mussoorie, "the Queen of Hill Stations," is a former British Raj summer resort at the foothills of the Himalayas. There happens to be a famous language school there, the Landour Language School, where I will be taking Hindi classes for the next few weeks. I'm not 100% sure that there is a space for me at this language school, or that I will be able to find a seat on a train for this coming weekend, so those issues are slightly worrying. But it looks as if things will work out. And if they don't, I'll find another plan, right?