Thoughts, and afterthoughts.

It's the night before I leave... everything's packed (well, ok, that's a lie, of course half my stuff is still on the living room floor... but 'everything' is a pretty relative term anyway... right?). I wasn't sure what kind of a mood i'd be in tonight - if I would be apprehensive or nostalgic, excited or just sleepy... and, I have to say, it's all been rather anti-climactic... i'm sitting here, reading the NYT, certain that nothing has sunk in yet. Between squeezing in extra pairs of socks and convincing Susan that I will not be needing a tazer, the reality - the enormity - of this entire thing has gotten a little lost.

When I started planning this, arguing with the dean and my family, researching locations and trying to figure out how to get it all approved and paid for, I don't think I ever fully believed that, in fact, I would eventually be going. There was just so much to do, so many hoops to jump through, so much chaos in my personal life... but the days and months went by... applications were filled out, tests taken, essays written, interviews survived... and here I am, partly packed, passport and benadryl in hand, ready to move to India. A lot of people travel these days; it's not uncommon for the middle-class set to take a year here or there, between jobs or after college, and travel abroad, teach english in some chinese village, wash dishes in paris, or get lost in machu picchu... but as anyone Russian would tell you, it's different for us. Being 'well traveled' means you've gone to Italy AND France, and the best vacations involve five-star hotels at exclusive carribean islands. Backpacking in Cambodia? Just ask a Russian mother, and watch for the shrug, the blank look, the questioning glance. Why would you go to Cambodia to eat rice and live with monkeys (are there monkeys?) when you have a nice house and job right here in NJ? What do you mean, you don't want to live in NJ? Why would anyone not want to stay in NJ??

But, of course, it isn't just about that. I've been dreaming of doing something like this, taking a year off to travel, and not just as a tourist (i always get this weird european colonialist vibe whenever i travel as a tourist and have natives carrying my bag...). I've waited, since high school really, for the opportunity to go as a professional, to study and work abroad. Actually, to be honest, it's the entire reason that I went into medicine. For a while, I was either going to be a foreign correspondent or working on something with the environment (clearly, travel and nature have been in my blood for quite some time). Then, senior year of high school (I was already volunteering as an EMT - it's pretty much the biggest adrenaline rush a little suburban girl could get those days), I randomly came across a book at the library. It was a beautiful, colorfully illustrated work called "Touched By Fire". I remember staying at the library all afternoon, reading the entire book in that one day, not being able to get my eyes off the photographs. It was a book about Doctors Without Borders, and my introduction to a very different life, with very different possibilities; for the first time, I saw that there were options beyond cubicles and late-night runs to the local diner... if I worked hard and played my cards right, I could become a doctor, traveling the world, taking part in major events instead of just reading about them. The caffeinated travel bug bit me years ago... but suddenly, it had a path to fly.

Here I am, sitting on the same bed, with my copy of "Touched by Fire" laying by an open suitcase, travel itinerary, passport, and spare underwear stewn about. Eight years of hard work, sacrificing, staring at world maps and skimming alertnet... and this is it. Anti-climactic, maybe... but, my god, i'm going to India!!

My first stop is New Delhi. I fly out tomorrow evening and will finally land on the evening of the 28th... my god this is going to be a long flight! I'm all set with books and benadryl; I recently finished reading Mehta's "Maximum City" (amazing book, if anyone gets a chance to pick it up), so I feel incredibely prepared to deal with gangsters and bar girls. And, of course, i'm geared up with all the med-touristy essentials: large Lonely Planet guide, Hindi-English dictionary, sunscreen, some medical books (I'm hoping i'll be able to bore myself to death with a guide to infectious diseases and actually get some sleep during the flight).

The plan is to be in Delhi for about 5 days, and then fly to Leh (the capital of Ladakh) on the morning of the 2nd. It's supposed to be a spectacular flight... from there, i'll be starting off on the first part of my international medical work, as part of a medical team with Himalayan Health Exchange (more on that later, but check out the link to our project here: http://www.himalayanhealth.com/lingshed/lingshed.htm )

Here are the maps below:






Well, for now, i'm off to sleep, to pack, hoping not to forget anything critical... I'll be writing again soon... from elsewhere, from India...