Signing Out

I’m normally not a super emotional person – I mean I only even managed a few tears at the Notebook, - but I have to admit I’m totally feeling it as I sit in my room packing up all my stuff and saying goodbye to all my coworkers and friends. I was just looking over my first blog entry, and it’s hard for me to imagine I’ve been in India for almost a year now, how on earth did that happen? Part of me is definitely eager to get back to the US, but I’m really going to miss India. I love this place for its crazyness and the fact that I can’t seem to make it through a single day without being surprised by something in some way. I’ll admit that at times it has been a love-hate relationship, but I’m so glad I came here and India will always have a special place in my heart.

In retrospect our bosses took a bit of a gamble by having Monisha, Aakash, Jack and me live in the same apartment and work on the same project day after day. Clearly they have never seen an episode of Real World. And yet, the four of us have seriously become a little family – we spend way too much time together and have a pathetically small circle of other friends in Delhi, and yet we all love it that way. I’m really going to miss them next year!

On the plus side, I have a pretty epic summer ahead of me. First, I’m off to Sweden to see my host family from my semester abroad five years ago. My host sisters are now 14 and 17, which makes me feel so old! After that I return to the US of A – nearly a year to the day after I left. I’ve got a few weeks on the east coast visiting friends and family and a sweet beach trip with my favorite Fed gals. Then I’m heading down to Bolivia and Peru for some good old fashioned backpacking with some fellow Bowdoin grads. Then it’s back to the Golden State in August. Rather than sit still for even a moment, I’m planning on road-tripping it down to SoCal to visit friends – and Tig, Mickey skyped me the other day and is wondering where the hell we’ve been these past few years so we definitely owe him a trip to Disneyland. Plus I’m hoping to watch all 64 World Cup games, so yeah, to say I’m looking forward to the summer would be a huge understatement. Even with all those plans, I got a call the other day that makes me wonder if I’m leaving India prematurely. Mr. Star Model/Actor (not Zoolander, but the one with the McDreamy hair and at least a few brain cells) from the Nokia ad called and asked me out in his adorably accented English. It gets better. For said date he suggested we could meet up for coffee or McDonalds. He clearly knows the way to my heart. So now I’m thinking maybe I should tell him I don’t date but I can do an arranged marriage, and then we can become a Bollywood power couple! So much for economics, this is my true calling!!!

Alas, I think I’ll take the nerdy route instead and go for a PhD. I’ve heard so many Hollywood stars say they wish they could give up the fame and money to write a dissertation, and I just can’t let myself make the same mistake they all did. I decided to go with Agricultural Economics, because it will allow me to do more world-saving economics and less theoretical-mathematical-torturetical economics. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how I’m feeling at the moment, of all the cities in all the states, one of the top programs in the field is none other than UC Davis. So, after 7 years away from the land of bikes and cows, I’m heading back to the homestead to pursue higher education. Woopeee!

If you’re reading this you are my hero, because I figured by month 11.5 my readership would be down to just mom and dad, who let’s face it pretty much have to read. I hope I’ve managed to keep you entertained, and seriously thank you so much for taking the time to read about my escapades. India has been a wild ride, but I can absolutely say that I am going to miss it. The good news is that by pursing a PhD in development economics, I can pretty much guarantee that I will be spending a lot of time in developing countries in the future, so who knows – SoozinKenya? SoozinNepal? Soozin Azerbaijan? We’ll see!

I also realize that some of you may count on this blog to waste time in your first 10 minutes at the office. To prevent you from having to work an extra few minutes every week, I’ve created a blog entry that you can use to keep tabs on me for the next 5 to 7 years. It is sort of like Mad Libs – each time you read it you can cycle through the different options in the brackets to get some variety. Otherwise you might think my life is boring!

Right now I am [studying / reading / doing math / TAing]. I am in [the library / Peet’s Coffee / a classroom]. I wish I were [on a beach in Sri Lanka / on top of a bus in Nepal / chillin’ with some Indian villagers / dancing on a Bollywood set]. I am eating [a Southwest Rice and Bean Burrito from Dos Coyotes restaurant].