| The GOOD NEWS! with a side of curry

day in the life

it's pretty normal, y'all

malviya nagar, south delhi

It has, once again, been a loooong time since my last post. I think part of the reason why I have been struggling with motivation as of late, is that my days really do feel normal at this point.

I live in a great little neighborhood called Malviya Nagar in South Delhi.

From my front door it takes me about 5 minutes to walk to the park, 15 to the Malviya Nagar metro stop, and about 20 to get to the post office, which is about the end of the neighborhood. We are within a 50 rupee auto ride to most important places around the whole of Delhi - though we almost never pay that little. The metro is even better, it only costs about 17 rupees to get as far as Old Delhi.

My normal day consists of waking up, running (sometimes), eating, reading, getting ready for work and then walking out my front door, down my front steps and into our office which is in the basement. There is actually an interior staircase that leads from our flat directly to the office but it has been closed off to encourage 'healthy boundaries.'

We have devotion at 8:30 until usually about 9:15 and then we start working! If I don't have any errands to run that day, I stay in the basement from 8:30 until about 5:30 and then walk back up my stairs to my home. The day-to-day is probably less eventful than the life I will lead when I get back to Dallas!

(Not to downplay in any way how much fun we have or how much I love being here,

just to paint you a picture of how things usually work!)

We do a good job of thinking up errands to run and getting out of the flat every day. Running has also been a really wonderful addition to life here. I think I have briefly mentioned the park situation here. It is absolutely beautiful and especially early in the morning - the weather is fantastic and it draws out a specific crowd. The park people are focused on fitness and are unafraid to look silly in the process! It is so liberating because sometimes when I run, I get caught up in the music (I have to or else I will never make it through) which leads to some wiggly running, twirling or even brief dance breaks. Don't get me wrong, I never full-out stop running to bust a move, but every now and then I just need to put my hands up or to some head bobs... especially when Jay-Z tells me it's 'on to the next.' He's got a million ways to get it, y'all... choose one.

Anyways, the park people are comfortable in their own skin and I just know deep down, they're glad that I can be, too. If I were bolder and had brown hair, I would let myself do what I really want to do: join them for group yoga or group laughing. There's no way I could infiltrate the group without calling some attention.

There were a couple of weeks when almost all of the staff and other interns and my roommate Amy and upstairs neighbors were all out of town. It was restful but lonely. Culture shock started setting in about this same time and I was making some tough decisions about the future after India... I was a bit of a mess, really. I started realizing at this time, too, that it can be pretty tough to be cheerful in India. Especially when I was alone, I felt like I needed to be extra hard. I would walk from place to place, errand to errand with my very best don't-mess-with-me face on. I didn't want anyone to see me smiling and think I was nuts, promiscuous or dumb enough to fall for anything. What I started to realize is that I was starting to feel on the inside the way I was trying to look on the outside. It's easier in a group or with another person. I don't feel like I have to be quite so on-guard. But going to work and not talking to anyone except for lunch with Jonathan and then walking to the home I was taking care of with my mean mug and not talking to anyone again all evening was rough.

The running in the mornings or even evenings totally saved my mood. Not to mention, since then I have reevaluated my place in India. I have gotten over trying to fit in - anyone could have told me that would never happened. I have what my mom calls 'porcelain' skin and blonde hair and eyebrows. I'm also at least a head taller than most Indian women... and men. It's just never going to happen. So I'm done trying and I'm done mean-mugging... unless a man tries to take my picture. Then I just give him a death stare and tell him NO PHOTO. But I'm walking around now with a song in my heart and a slight smile on my lips. And you know what, sometimes I even sing. It's so loud on the streets with all the honking.. I'm fairly certain no one can hear me. And if they do, lucky them!

I have gotten to run in some really great places in Delhi and see some really cool and strange things. My roommate, Christine and I signed up a while ago for a 10k in Gurgaon on December 1st. I think that may have been a bit premature but I'm excited even if I have to walk it! Our roommate Amy is running the half marathon - go Amy!! (My training has slowed a touch because with the cooler weather, Delhi has become a smoky, smoggy mess)

I just thought I'd share some of the things I've encountered while working on my fitness!