The Closing Chapter

Monday December Thirteenth was a day filled with a sublime feeling of completion. Finals are finished after the long semester. I brought conclusion to a tumultuous, tormenting and misunderstood relationship over a cup of coffee from my favorite coffee house. And a big thanks must be given to all my great friends who showed up to make my going away party just as sublime; especially Jacqui B, Anastasia, and Kristen for letting my friends hang out in their home welcoming them like family. I will miss all of you and you all have come to mean more to me than I realize. The tug on my heart when I hugged each one of you, potentially for the last time till April was very therapeutic for me. All said I'm ridiculously excited about the cruise which I packed for today, and four long months in south India. While I'm abroad I will have pretty regular internet and I would appreciate your skype calls. My name will be posted at the bottom of this entry. Thank you all for making Tulsa, my home and yours, such a lovely place. There's no place like home.

Grobison8246

A Solemn and Exciting Pre-Goodbye.

So as most of you friends of mine know. I'm leaving all of you from New Years Eve until April 16th. My wanderings will take me off to mythical India, specifically the town which Piscine Molitor Patel (Life of Pi) is from, Pondicherry. My arms are sore from my vaccinations, my suitcase is getting full, and I am getting anxious. The travels will take me to the Andaman Islands near Burma, Goa, Chennai and the field work will take me to many beaches, estuaries and the bottom of the Indian Ocean. If you're really curious, the link to my program will be attached at the end of the entry.

India is one of the most pluralistic societies on earth. Even to call India a single society is a bit of an understatement. It differs south to north, east to west, center to coast; and even on a more microscopic level. Pondicherry alone has a large Catholic presence as well as Orthodox Christians, Hindu, Seikh, and Sufi temples and a few Sunni Mosques. As well, India is the birthplace of most major non-abrahamic religions, and Holi, the festival of colors, happens while I am there. Throughout this trip I will be posting most of my photos and other musings here on this blog, and hopefully have the time update regularly.

With all the technicalities taken care of I have to say I will miss everyone. I feel like I'm cheating Tyler and Seth. Their lives seem to be changing very rapidly and only accelerating and I won't be around when they hit critical mass. The internal life seems to go through periods of tumult and settling, it's important not to disrupt the natural order. I've got a lot of loose ends in Tulsa, many unresolved emotions, and this trip comes right at the point where things might be settling. I'm kind of afraid that this will prolong my tumult phase but maybe the distance will be good. I'll just have to see.

http://bcaabroad.org/programs/detail.aspx?pid=19&name=Pondicherry-India-