WWOOF

Something crazy happened to me this week: I got the NSLI. This is a full scholarship to study Hindi in India for a year. Last year only six people in America received it; I'm not sure what the numbers are this year, but in any case, it's pretty competitive. Here's the thing: I'm about to turn it down.

When I first got the letter, the thought that ran through my head was: How can I turn an opportunity like this down? This is amazing, learning a language like Hindi is perfect for me, and it's an award, affiliated with the State Department, where I (forgive me, I guess I'm "the man") may want to work someday. But I have thought about it a lot, and I think that working for a few months and WWOOFing in India from January to June is going to work better for me. I am no longer sure the exchange experience is the right thing for me to do right now, for my gap year, and I am so excited to travel somewhere as an adult, learn about farming, see everything I want to, etc. It's simply a different kind of experience, but I kind of feel I've done the exchange in Germany and I'd like to try something new -- being a worker, not a student, and an adult tourist, not a child. The other piece of this plan is that I'm going to go with Max. He has wanted to go to India for a long time as well, appreciates a good dosa, and knows an incredible amount about farming. I think we will travel together well, and without meaning to sound at all anti-feminist, I feel better knowing that I'll be traveling with a male person. I've heard that this diminishes the harassment that western women often experience in India significantly. We are beginning to plan things out a bit.

It's Sunday, my least favorite day of the week, but tomorrow there's no homework due (other than many IR readings) and I'm having lunch with my English teacher, who I love, so things are good. Also, tonight=pomegranate-ginger cupcakes. I will let you know how they turn out.