My last day in Asia! I'm sad this trip is over but I feel more ready to come back than I did last time! I think the constant changing of friends was kind of weird to deal with; just as you get close you leave and it's weird! On my last day we had a spare day, and so a group of us planned to go to the market. The market was pretty rubbish and all I wanted was a traditional mens' top for dad which was seemingly impossible to find. After traipsing around for a while I went off on my own, finding some cheap jewellery, tops, pineapple jam and some traditional sweets to bring back. Success!
We had to check out of the hotel by 1.30pm so I tried to charge my phone and power bank but the sockets in our room were broken so I couldn't which was annoying. We left to go back to Bangalore and had a long 5 hour bus journey, saying goodbye to some people at the hotel, and stopping off at kfc again for food. We arrived at the airport and almost everyone left which was kind of sad. A lot of people were very emotional about it but perhaps I'm kind of used to this arrangement now because I didn't cry!
A few of us had flights the next day and 3 of us had booked the same hotel, with the other staying at an amazingly fancy one opposite the airport. The 3 of us got dropped off at the hotel by the bus which had driven us back from Mysore which was nice, and we all checked in and individually got room service. This was the second time with a room to myself since May so nice! I slept early ready for a 6.45am wake up the next day.
My flights home as they're pretty uneventful, but one friend I met on the course was on my flights which was nice for the stopover and airport! I've had a great 5 weeks and am even more appreciative of everything I have now, especially given the at times ungrateful/rude attitudes of people I was with. I wrote this instagram caption which kind of summarises my thoughts;
"I complain about stuff all the time, but every time I heard someone complain about an aspect of India, be it the road surfaces, the heat, the food, the wifi, whatever, I thought of these children.
Growing up in slums where temperatures reach 48°c, they spend a lot of time as a group (the oldest child being about 7) playing in the park, strolling barefoot through mud and broken glass completely fearlessly, always wanting to say hello, shake your hand and ask your name. They're always, always smiling and excited.
This love isn't just shown by children; a woman stopped me yesterday to say that I was "looking very pretty"; a complete stranger touched my arm and then took a pin out of her own dress to pin a rose into my hair; earlier this week a family insisted that a group of 27 of us spontaneously came to their house for tea and snacks; a man in the street last week smiled at me and simply said "god bless". The life you're born into isn't based on your worth, and coming from somewhere more technologically advanced doesn't make you any better or more intelligent than people whose lives are much more simple. The privilege we're born with is just down to chance.
I'd much rather have the compassion, happiness and friendliness that the people in India have shown me than any of the technology I'm lucky enough to enjoy at home. Stay humble kids"
So yeah. To anyone who read all these posts I hope they haven't been too boring!! I'm now settling back into life in england and preparing to return to work. Emirates lost my bag but it's back now thank god so time to get my sleeping pattern back to normal!
Laura x
We had to check out of the hotel by 1.30pm so I tried to charge my phone and power bank but the sockets in our room were broken so I couldn't which was annoying. We left to go back to Bangalore and had a long 5 hour bus journey, saying goodbye to some people at the hotel, and stopping off at kfc again for food. We arrived at the airport and almost everyone left which was kind of sad. A lot of people were very emotional about it but perhaps I'm kind of used to this arrangement now because I didn't cry!
A few of us had flights the next day and 3 of us had booked the same hotel, with the other staying at an amazingly fancy one opposite the airport. The 3 of us got dropped off at the hotel by the bus which had driven us back from Mysore which was nice, and we all checked in and individually got room service. This was the second time with a room to myself since May so nice! I slept early ready for a 6.45am wake up the next day.
My flights home as they're pretty uneventful, but one friend I met on the course was on my flights which was nice for the stopover and airport! I've had a great 5 weeks and am even more appreciative of everything I have now, especially given the at times ungrateful/rude attitudes of people I was with. I wrote this instagram caption which kind of summarises my thoughts;
"I complain about stuff all the time, but every time I heard someone complain about an aspect of India, be it the road surfaces, the heat, the food, the wifi, whatever, I thought of these children.
Growing up in slums where temperatures reach 48°c, they spend a lot of time as a group (the oldest child being about 7) playing in the park, strolling barefoot through mud and broken glass completely fearlessly, always wanting to say hello, shake your hand and ask your name. They're always, always smiling and excited.
This love isn't just shown by children; a woman stopped me yesterday to say that I was "looking very pretty"; a complete stranger touched my arm and then took a pin out of her own dress to pin a rose into my hair; earlier this week a family insisted that a group of 27 of us spontaneously came to their house for tea and snacks; a man in the street last week smiled at me and simply said "god bless". The life you're born into isn't based on your worth, and coming from somewhere more technologically advanced doesn't make you any better or more intelligent than people whose lives are much more simple. The privilege we're born with is just down to chance.
I'd much rather have the compassion, happiness and friendliness that the people in India have shown me than any of the technology I'm lucky enough to enjoy at home. Stay humble kids"
So yeah. To anyone who read all these posts I hope they haven't been too boring!! I'm now settling back into life in england and preparing to return to work. Emirates lost my bag but it's back now thank god so time to get my sleeping pattern back to normal!
Laura x
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