Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

Aqueous Transmission - Incubus

I'm floating down a river, oars freed from their holes long ago

Lying face-up on the floor of my vessel

I marvel at the stars and feel my heart overflow

Further down the river, further down the river

Further down the river, further down the river

Two weeks without my lover, I'm in this boat alone

Floating down a river named emotion

Will I make it back to shore, or drift into the unknown?

Leaving the school was tragic to say the least. Two of my friends from the orphanage, Dhivya and Kalai, helped me pack all night since I was an emotional wreck. We spent the next few hours sorting through what stuff I needed for the next three weeks and what stuff had to stay in Chennai. Her and Kalai sniffed and oggled at all of my beauty products and tried on just about every single one. They were shocked at my tampons, I don't think they're very common in India. Especially the little OB ones. Dhivya gave me a ring, so I decided to whip up a friendship bracelet for her. She made one for me, too. Both of our tears went into making the bracelets, it was so bittersweet. I tried to explain to her, despite the language barrier, that even though I'll probably never meet her again and our friendship was short, we should be grateful that our paths crossed. Like my momma always says, "It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."

Here's Dhivya trying to walk around with my monstrous backpack on once I had it filled with crap for the next three weeks. She's got the bracelet on.

Shillong is such a pleasant place. I daresay that I enjoy this city more than I liked Chennai. My bias may be because I have family here, and I was introduced to the town by my dad and Brandon. It's an interesting mix of local tribes, Southeast Asian, and Western cultures. The Northeast is quite unique compared to the rest of India. They actually aren't very nationalistic, and the people don't really associate with being Indian. They do not celebrate India's independence day, and the local governments have a "ban" where they close off roads and shops so people don't celebrate. The predominant religion in this area is Christianity, and second is tribal religion. I acquired a book of Khasi legends from a professor at the local university. The weather is quite nice, between 70-80 degrees Farenheit, and rains on and off throughout the day and night. Mosquitoes aren't half as bad as they were in Chennai. The people speak mostly Khasi, English, and Hindi. It's been good practice for my Hindi.

My funkle Urdy took us tobeautiful  Cherrapunjee a few days ago. Waterfalls at Sohra (Cherrapunjee), several hours outside of Shillong

I'm going through cycles of elation and depression again, and I know it's from my life's imbalance. My digestion is always askew for one reason or another, and my eating habits are unlike any way they would be at home. I'm struggling to live by this mantra: Do not seek satisfaction in external sources. True happiness can only come from within. And this is true for every aspect of life. For me, it's food. Intoxicants. And especially people. I'm well aware that nobody can save me from this mental imbalance but me.

Blergh. My writing has turned to shit pretty quickly. Perhaps all of this emotion is because I'm hungover from drinking a few too many rounds with the King of Tripura last night at his castle. Yeah. No biggie. A lot's been going on that I haven't written about, but my brain is too dead now. Time for some Malarone dreams.