So I have been rather sick since my last update. Last week we think my roomate Katherine got some kind of virus. We didn't think it was related to bad food or water because anything she would have eaten/ drank other people had too, furthermore she had a fever and body aches which made us think of the flu. Katherine slept for three days and was fine. This past weekend while studying for our finals, I all of a sudden started to feel weak. I came down with a high fever, among other things which I will not go into because it wasn't pretty. I ended up skipping class/ my written hindi final on Monday. While I slept for much of Sunday and Monday.
However on I have been trying to get an e-mail with JNU professor that my academic director claims to be a very difficult person to get a hold of. After some e-mail exchanges he told me to call on monday to figure out a time. So I called him and he told me without much option to come see him at 2:30. I studied and rested until then, however I started to have chills. I went to see him anyways, had a really good interview, he gave me a lot of good information. However when I returned my fever was even worse, somewhere between 101 and 102. My body was burning and I asked my homestay to give me a cold cloth. After some rounds of the cold compress I felt much better. My Mama continually informed me that I was weaker than Katherine which is why my fever was so much worse. She blamed my weaker constitution on the fact that she thinks I eat very little. Me? have a small appetite? I don't think in my entire life I have been accused of having a small appetite, but somehow Mama has gotten that concept into her head. Perhaps this gives you an idea of how much they try to feed us. Tuesday morning I felt much better, though still not 100%. I came to school to take all three of my finals to get them over with since stressing while I was trying to rest wasn't really working out for me.
When I arrived at school I was greeted by two packages, one from my mother and one from Aunt Joan. Getting these packages lifted my spirits instantaneously. It is kinda funny, being with this group for these three months. We have all bought our entire wardrobes here, so we all know all of each other's outfits, hence we all notice very small changes very quickly. Literally within moments of me putting on my new earrings from Aunt Joan people complimented me on them and asked where I got them from, students and teachers. It is very strange that I have been with these same 17 people for the whole semester and starting on saturday I will not see any of them for an entire month, more than that I will be alone for a whole month. On my journey to Jaisalmer I was away from Katherine for the first time for longer than 12 hours since literally the first day here, and it felt so strange.
Right now I am in the "nervous anticipatory phase." It is the same feeling I had before coming to coming to India, before coming to Wesleyan, before coming to UWC. It is the "oh my god am I really doing this" phase. The feeling before embarking on something completely unknown but knowing I will tackle what ever comes my and that some how I will get through it. To help ease and aide this feeling I took my first step in my pilgrimage yesterday.
A pilgrimage is a simultaneous physical and spiritual discipline. I wanted to cut my hair before India but decided to do it in India. In short I have thought about it many times but my plans kept getting postponed. I decided it would be a good idea to cut my hair for in the mountains it would be cooler while hiking to have shorter hair as well as take less resources (water and soap) to maintain. I finally decided to get my hair cut on my birthday, as a birthday gift to myself as well as a symbolic renewal of myself. However, yesterday I tried to get in the house but no one answered, so in a moment of compulsion I went to the salon across the street and got my hair cut. It is now just above shoulder length. After coming home everyone seemed to think that I in fact look better with short hair, I rather like it too though I am still getting used to it. So I have taken my first physical transformation on my spiritual journey to understand the myths of the himalayas.
As I said before, I will be leaving on Saturday for the mountains and will be there until May 5th. I should have limited internet access from april 4th-7th, and then again from April 23-May 5th. In between I will be hiking in the mountains. Wish me luck for I am currently feeling the "oh my god am I really doing this" emotion, but I should come back with at least some good stories.
Much love always
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