“One’s destination is never a place...

... but a new way of seeing things” – Henry Miller

Tomorrow I will walk barefoot on the Taj Mahal… the Taj Mahal… the universal representation of eternal love. As I lay here wanting to fall asleep I can’t help but let my mind wonder into the thought of just that ‘eternal romantic love’…

Since we are little girls we’ve been told one day a prince in shining armor will come; we’ve watched movies, read stories, fantasized about our future and witnessed as our friends find their princes. With more heartbreaks than I care to count, I can’t help but wonder how much of this whole eternal love and prince charming are just another Santa Claus that we are made to believe as children. Maybe there will never be a prince charming, much less eternal love.

I’m still young and have many years ahead of me, but Im learning Im ready to meet ‘the one’. Im not saying Im ready for marriage just to find the one who will bare witness to my life and I to his. But the truth is I don’t believe there is “one”, and therefore I don’t believe there is “the one”. Is it then fair to believe there a right match and a wrong match? Isn’t it more realistic to believe there are acceptable matches and not-as-acceptable matches?

One of my greatest mentors once told me timing played a much bigger role than anyone ever thought and that honestly timing was often the ultimate deciding factor as to whether 2 people would work out.

The brat in me things that timing has come and until life decides it is so I’ve gone ahead and also made a list of qualities I’d like my life partner/husband to have… I made this list a few years ago, revisit it often but the more time passes the shorter that list gets.. not because I am compromising but because I am learning to distinguish what matters and what doesn’t.

But as I lay here thinking of the building I will see tomorrow and how much love it represents I also can’t help but remember a lesson I learned from a new friend… maybe the list, the timing, and the Taj are all inconsequential. Maybe I need to start from scratch… basically my travel friend asked me a few simple questions…
• Do you have an ordinary life? And by ordinary she meant for the most part you are born, live and die in the same general zip code. So for me the answer is no, I don’t have an ordinary life.
• Do you want your future to include living overseas, being mobile, flexible, international? Anyone that knows me also knows the answer is yes, I want that life.
So her last point was simple…
• if my life has been not ordinary, and I want my future to be extra-ordinary, then why do I illusion myself by looking for average or ordinary relationships? Shouldn’t my expectations and plans be different as well?...

I thought she made a great point. I realized that today I already expect my friendships (the real friendships) to be flexible and different… I don’t expect my best friends to live where I live – I know they cant meet me after work to celebrate a raise, or come over and share a tub of ice cream amidst emotional tears – instead I expect friends that understand, support, and adapt to my extra-ordinary life.
If that is the case with friendships, shouldn’t my expectations of a life partner be different as well?

So if that is the case… I definitely need to toss out all the fantasizes I’ve been fed about prince cahrmings, I need to probably tear up my current list of qualities for a guy and start from scratch… the problem is, I don’t even know where to begin.

Maybe being at the Taj will bring me answers… or bring me clarity…
For now… Im off to sleep in the city of Agra.

First 72 hours: Lessons, observations and priceless moments

Lessons and Observations

- just because you have an address and directions and phone number, doesn't mean your cab drivers will find the places you need to go to
- best description of traffic in mumbai: trying to drive out of super bowl parking lot right after the game ( non stop loud honking, people crossing in all directions amidst cars, something that should take 10 mins takes 60)
- I've been to NYC but Mumbai is a city that REALLY never sleeps
- reminded that people in my life stage, regardless of color creed or location, are experiencing what I'm experiencing.
- we have too much in America and not only take it for granted but waste too much.
- the street is an integral part of many Indians' lives - from down right living, to eating, dressing, marrying, you name it.
- the variety and experience is just as much for my nose as it is for my eyes (but to stay healthy keep your hands away from it all)
- anti-malaria pills mixed with lunch and followed by shaky cab drive can make you super queezy.
- you can almost train yourself like a dog: going to the bathroom on the few times you are "let out"(or you find a restroom that you can realistically access)
- reminded how selective my memory is: while I love to travel I somehow forget every time all these really not pleasant aspects of it (being in high alert,.being target of scammers and beggers, being lost for hours more than I'm comfortable with, paranoid about getting my passport stolen, missing ' normalcy')

Now for the top moments and bloopers of the same hours...
* siting in a cab, in a random busy street at 1 am, lost with my only contact in india not answering the last 25 calls to give directions to the cab who had been driving me around for almost two hours( oh..did I mention he basically didn't speak english?!)
* my face, thoughts and pallet as I ate street food - especially paan (this "energizing"leaf stuffed and coated with too many things and textures I can't begin to describe... )
* being pooped on by a bird...and finding the poop not only when it happened but also remnants hours later
* chatting about last weeks episode of Glee with new friends who live in mumbai
* being questioned by immigration officer if I was really Brazilian because I looked Punjabi
* telling some indian people I couldn't understand if they talked to me in hindi when in reality they were speaking english but with an accent
* geeking out in Gandhi museum: saw a hand written letter from Einstein to Gandhi and one from Gandhi to Hitler
* listening to someone play the guitar in the patio at the hostel with five other nationalities gathering around at the end of a long but fun day

Alright.... Eight am. To hunt for breakfast and then head to the beach...
Pree

Day one - in the plane headed to mumbai

"Day one - in the plane still"
Alright... I'm a bit behind on posting this but typed it on the plane on the way over...

Gosh, twenty minutes in and I'm already looking like an out of place tourist... diner served on plane... Plane food, how hard to decipher can it be? Alright, usually a little...anyhow... I figured out what was rice and I figured out the panir (ricotta cheese that I had eaten before), but then there were other things... Thank god for labels! But What is this mango and chilli thing? More importantly.. Does it go into the plain yogurt? Or maybe into this yellow milky thing? How do you eat the seeds... The packaging is all confusing... And gosh, that is the biggest chili in such a tiny salad... Oh hey parmesan creamy dressing! I know that one!
After being puzzled and determined to eat I ask my small airplane seating area neighbor if I should mix the mango mix with yogurt or milk... Turns out it goes with the rice, it is extra spicy! Oh and the milk thing... It was sweet sweet desert.
I tried a little of everything... Passed on the seeds... My neighbors stashed their seeds in their purse... Maybe it's a snack for later?! No idea....
Survived my first unsupervised, non english menu, indian dinner.'>Day one

India Bound

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~ Mark Twain

December 15, 2010 – Newark International Airport, terminal C

So I kicked off the decade and the year in Turkey… now, just shy of a year later, I am on my way to another fantastic, full of history, spice and fervor place... across the globe from home. Oh India! For a whole month! One month is certainly a long time. I am excited and scared. This time for some reason I think I am more anxious than I usually am… I barely prepared but then again everyone says no matter how much you prepare you are never ready for India. It hits you like no other place… we’ll see… I hope to keep you posted on how it goes.

Thousands of dollars spent and now the time is here… across the world for Christmas, New Years, 27^th Birthday… beaches, canyoning, sightseeing, safaris, volunteering, competitions, shopping… it is just now hitting me. I think it’s fair to say I am about to rediscover and redefine myself by experiencing with all my senses a world that is is truly foreign to me.

15 hour flight… bring it on!