40.5 hours, 4 flights, 3 different time zones, 5 movies ( that came with lots of tears since I decide to watch "the fault in our stars" over and over again), lack of sleep, and lots of champagne (and a headache) is what I had to go through in order to finally get to New Delhi!!!
Every time I'm in one of my journeys I can't help it but think about my decisions and what I've done in order to be where I am. Most of the time they are the same thoughts: work, internship, school, friends etc. This time I looked back to the past 4 months and what has changed since I got back from my last travel adventure and how this has impacted my life.
I have an extremely busy life, working 7 days a week non stop,going from internship, to work, and school is not an easy task! Many of my friends think I'm crazy for leading this kind of life but I honestly don't mind it all. Being surrounded by kids is what I love to do the most; the more I work with children the more I realize that I prefer them more than adults. Kids are extremely funny and the younger ones are the best! Sometimes it feels silly that I'm still a babysitter at this stage of my career but I can't think of life without it! I truly enjoy playing chess with a 4 year old for an hour and talking about the moves we are making and the logic behind it, or being put on a leash and pretending to be a dog who poops Lego pieces, or the excitement of an 8 year old asking me to tell her stories at night about my travels, or kids loving going out for dinner dates with me. Being by myself is not easy and the love of children is the purest kind of love I get to experience, what warms my heart, and keeps me happy.
I always find my love for children interesting because I do not wish to have children of my own (at least at this stage but I don't see that changing any time soon), maybe is the idea of commitment with somebody that scares me, or losing my independence because I have to take care of a kid... I don't know.
A couple of weeks I had an interesting conversation with a 13 year old after I shared that we weren't going to meet for 6 weeks since I was going to be away in India. She reacted by saying "are you going with you husband?" I said "no", she added "fiancée?", I said "no", "Boyfriend?"... "Nope" I said... "Alone?" She said with a scared look on her face. I said "yes" and then she asked me if I didn't want to get married and have a family, and a boyfriend or a husband; I thought about doing the psycho babble thing and put it back on the "client" but since she is reluctant to come to counseling to begin with I decided it was best to answer her questions. We ended up having a conversation about what it meant to be alone vs being lonely since she told me "You don't want to die alone!" Haha.
The conversation got me thinking about the fact that being "alone" doesn't mean being lonely! I have chosen to be on my own, to work, to take time to travel and to live life the way I want it and not the way society is telling me it should be lived! For now it's Andrea first, Andrea second, and Andrea third... Perfect recipe for my happiness!
So I'm here... In India... Making another one of my dreams come true...
My first couple of hours have been an experience! I landed a little before midnight in Chennai and since I had no checked luggage I went straight out and they sent me to the domestic terminal for my 8 hours layover. I decided to walk to the terminal despite a guy asking me if I wanted a hotel or a shuttle to the terminal... I'm testing the grounds so I said no and kept walking. Oh my, it was hot and a long walk, I felt dirty and sweaty! Once I got to the terminal they wouldn't let me in because my flight is in 8 hours... Just great! Then I went to air India mini counter outside the terminal to try to find an earlier flight but for the money they were asking for a flight 2 hours earlier just didn't make sense money wise. The guy at the counter gave me my ticket and informed me that my flight was leaving from the international terminal... This time I took the shuttle!
I got to terminal 4 and they wouldn't let me into the airport! I wasn't even asking to get into the gates, just into the airport but no luck which meant no lounge, no A/C, no fun! Big bummer!
Well, all the seats outside were taken... All of them!!!
So I decided to get a cart, put my backpack in it and sit on the cart and wait.
I've been traveling on my own for a while now so I of course scanned the place, walked up and down to pick the safest location to park my cart like a homeless backpacker.
The first thing to look for my location were woman! I think that being surrounded by other women would keep me safe, and even better to sit next to a couple.
After some walking I decided to park myself in front of a restaurant next to the police assistance booth, lots of traffic in the area and security! Perfect!
People were sitting in the three chairs next to my cart and when one left a woman moved and made signals to let me know I could sit next to her.
I sat there for over 6 hours, reading, taking cat naps, and my favorite... People watching!!!
I loved looking at the woman's colorful dresses and the men's skirts
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