Touch down - And Go For It!

Erica, back home in Vancouver, sums up her experience in India

Mom's Kitchen
Vancouver, BC

The last week in Delhi wasn't quite what I had expected yet exactly what I thought it was going to
be: a mad dash to fill my suitcase-and the extra one I bought for the particular function of a supersized shopping bag-with as many bindis, incense, trinkets and sparkling silver jewelry as possible while dodging the rickshaw drivers and hounding shop keepers. I was doing just fine until one night I crawled into my bed and didn't get out for two days.

With a mountain of blankets piled on top of me, bones chattering cold and my face beet red with a scorching fever that overtook my entire body all I could do was surrender. Embrace the experience mentally promising myself that "this too shall pass," right? Well, after two days of this I woke up with the left side of my face brutally swollen like Mike Tyson had a go at me.
My left eye no bigger than a button hole and my smile only illuminated my right cheek, partially. Was it a nastey spider that snuck up on me in the middle of the night injecting its venom into my face? Or was it a bacterial critter that weaved its way up my left nostril and decided to set up camp in my sinus cavity?
Perhaps it was the pollution? Or maybe it was my karma? Whatever or whoever was the culprit, it was my birthday and I was mortified!

We spent my birthday morning missioning to the hospital instead of shopping for a new bikini and heading over to the posh hotel around the corner for a bit of glam time and champagne by the pool. In Varanasi, we saw all the dead bodies transforming into ash a mere 3 hours after their deaths and at this hospital in New Delhi we saw them a mere 3 hours BEFORE their deaths.

In India, like the rest of the world, people die all the time. Only in India, death is incorporated into life whereas in the West it's swept under the carpet.
In the streets in India, at times, I wondered whether that body curled up under a tree or the rows of bodies lined up like ants on a log alongside a highway saturated with pollution and psychotic honking cars and buses were either sleeping or dead.

I lasted no longer than 5 minutes before Larry turned to me asking, "Had enough yet?" Off we went but I will never forget the look on this one woman's face as her grandmother held one hand with love and a nurse took her pulse on the other. Swathed in a vibrant blue sari her breath was running away from her as her eyes rolled up.......

I was bedridden contemplating the irony of getting so unusually sick at the end of our trip and reflecting on what I had learned on this journey and why oh why?
would I intentionally place myself in such an insideout and upside down world while Larry went off to experience the magestic Taj Mahal.

The three most valuable lessons I came away with....

Lesson One: Live the dream! There really is no time like the present. Don't reserve your dreams for those late night fleeting moments between today and tomorrow. Quoting our Modern Gonzo friend who has made his way around the world and is now off once again, "You never know what's going to happen in the future, and sticking to your comfort zone is just not a feasible excuse." Get off the couch! Better yet, burn it.

Lesson Two: Focus and clarity translate into manifestation. Be clear and honest with yourself about what you want to manifest in your life and take the necessary steps to get there. Make the choice and follow through with understanding (that things take
time) and the compassion. Honor where you are in your life and trust that you're living your life exactly as you should.

Lesson Three: Every person is a reflections of yourself and each situation - no matter how bizarre - is an opportunity to learn and grow. There are 1.2 BILLION people in India and absolutely everyone we interacted with added to our experiences irregardless of our capablity to speak Hindi or their understanding of English whether they pissed us off or gave us their friendly advice or a simple smile.

A few more.....

Be open-minded. You might even find yourself liking Goat Head Soup...or maybe you won't but at least you'll know.

Listen to someone's else's opinion other than your own.

Spirulina and Vitamin C could possibly save your life- as it did for me trekking through the Himalayas where a vegetable will not be seen for days and day and days.

Life never gives you more than you can handle.

Keep mosquito repellant near you at all times.

Laugh.

And never forget to Breathe.

Well, I hope you get the picture of all the wonderful insights life, traveling and adventure has to offer.
India is exactly how you imagine it and not at all what you expect--just like life no matter who you are or where you find yourself to be.

Namaste,
Erica.