It's taking me forever to write this post.
Quite literally forever.
And then.
Jay-Z.
Thank you.
Now I've only got 98 problems.
Also I made banana bread. And my banana bread solves all of life's problems.
Or maybe that's just writing problems.
My last month in Delhi starts soon.
For the past four years, this has been my space of happiness. This has been the place I went to to escape. This has been the place where I found my voice.
And, at the risk of sound like a total cliché, I discovered more about who I am.
(I even colored my hair red).
I love this country, with all its faults and trepidations, this place has been my refuge.
Each time I needed to get away because life was getting too tough, it's been there.
The people, the food, the streetpuppies.
You know the feeling you get when you go home and everything just becomes easier? Your sense of security, safety, surety skyrockets.
That.
That's what I feel every time I go home.
That's not to say I feel uncomfortable in Belgium.
That's not to say I feel distressed in Belgium.
That's to say, I sometimes feel a sense of belonging which I don't necessarily always feel elsewhere.
My parents, of course, played a large role in making my time in India the best it could possibly be. If it wasn't for them, I'd never have discovered India like I have.
The first time I visited them, back in September of 2014, we went to Jaipur.
It was hot.
It was the desert.
We went to the desert when it was hot.
Makes sense.
I.
Rode. An. Elephant.
Quite literally the best day of my life (until I did it again a year later and the year after that.)
In Delhi, my dad took me to visit Qutb Minar and we asked the guard to take a picture.
And.
He asked for a tip (the guard, not my dad cause that'd just be weird), thinking we were unknowing foreigners.
But little did he know, my dad speaks Hindi.
So. You know. Hah. Take that guard.
(We gave him a tip cause the picture was alright).
In the winter of 2014 we made our way down (up? to the left? to the left? everything you own in a box to the left?) to Bhubaneswar.
And we went to the zoo. And if I were an orangutang, I'd be this guy.
After Colombo, we went back to Delhi and to the Taj Mahal for the second time.
Cause once is not enough.
Clearly.
Yeah. That's not the Taj Mahal.
But.
It's two monkeys driving on a motorbike.
...
Delhi is coolbeans.
Cause there's places like this:
And this
And if you don't agree, please let me refer you to this.
ANYWAY.
Winter 2015 we spent in Belgium.
So.
Okay.
Spring break 2016!
That's waddup.
In a nutshell:
Actually I probably should.
Delhi:
And it's also this:
Goa has pretty sunsets.
*To any future employers, I'm not actually lazy
Quite literally forever.
And then.
Jay-Z.
Thank you.
Now I've only got 98 problems.
Also I made banana bread. And my banana bread solves all of life's problems.
Or maybe that's just writing problems.
My last month in Delhi starts soon.
 |
| Don't be fooled. I'm genuinely upset about saying "bye." |
For the past four years, this has been my space of happiness. This has been the place I went to to escape. This has been the place where I found my voice.
And, at the risk of sound like a total cliché, I discovered more about who I am.
(I even colored my hair red).
I love this country, with all its faults and trepidations, this place has been my refuge.
Each time I needed to get away because life was getting too tough, it's been there.
The people, the food, the streetpuppies.
 |
| James knocked me over after this picture. He wanted a hug. |
You know the feeling you get when you go home and everything just becomes easier? Your sense of security, safety, surety skyrockets.
That.
That's what I feel every time I go home.
That's not to say I feel uncomfortable in Belgium.
That's not to say I feel distressed in Belgium.
That's to say, I sometimes feel a sense of belonging which I don't necessarily always feel elsewhere.
My parents, of course, played a large role in making my time in India the best it could possibly be. If it wasn't for them, I'd never have discovered India like I have.
The first time I visited them, back in September of 2014, we went to Jaipur.
It was hot.
It was the desert.
We went to the desert when it was hot.
Makes sense.
 |
| General distaste for the ridiculously warm weather. |
I.
Rode. An. Elephant.
Quite literally the best day of my life (until I did it again a year later and the year after that.)
 |
| Elieeees |
In Delhi, my dad took me to visit Qutb Minar and we asked the guard to take a picture.
And.
He asked for a tip (the guard, not my dad cause that'd just be weird), thinking we were unknowing foreigners.
But little did he know, my dad speaks Hindi.
So. You know. Hah. Take that guard.
(We gave him a tip cause the picture was alright).
This was also around the time when Frizz decided to just not care anymore.
He quite literally told some very important people:
He quite literally told some very important people:
"Oh, was this your seat? Well. No. It's mine now."
He stared them down.
And won.
He stared them down.
And won.
And I also forever lost my seat to a 9kg dog.
 |
| Baaee |
Sorry, but have you seen his beard?
He'd put some of you guys to shame.
Seriously.
Anywho!
And we went to the zoo. And if I were an orangutang, I'd be this guy.
We also went on a safari through the lion enclosures.
So. Here's a little story about that.
We were safe, happy, going about our business on the little safari bus.
We see lions.
The guide opens the door of the bus.
He feeds the lion meat.
The guide does not close the door of the bus.
We see our lives flashing before our eyes.
.........
Moving on!
In April of 2015 we visited my grandparents in Lucknow.
Lucknow in April is.
Hot.
Nearing 40's hot.
HOT.
Also bugbites.
I was stung 18 times on my face.
No. I'm not exaggerating. I counted.
I looked like the Grand-Canyon.
It was a beautiful sight.
 |
| Clearly not my face. |
When we were back in Delhi I did what any hard-working Delhiite would do.
I ate and drank.
And.
Ate.
But look how cool this picture is!
Fast forward to summer 2015 and we're back in India! (Starting to see the trend?)
This summer was rather intense.
We started with this:
And then we went to this:
Seriously. Life was SO tough.
Oh right.
The first image was in Delhi.
The second was in Sri Lanka. Cause we went to a wedding. In Sri Lanka. As you do.
But were weddings whatever then cause LOOK:
 |
| This turtle was deceptively heavy. Also. I have no muscle. |
We saw turtles!
And baby turtles!
 |
| No turtles were harmed. Promised. |
Cause once is not enough.
Clearly.
Yeah. That's not the Taj Mahal.
But.
It's two monkeys driving on a motorbike.
...
Delhi is coolbeans.
Cause there's places like this:
And this
And if you don't agree, please let me refer you to this.
ANYWAY.
Winter 2015 we spent in Belgium.
So.
Okay.
Spring break 2016!
That's waddup.
In a nutshell:
- Delhi
- Lucknow
- Goa
Actually I probably should.
Delhi:
Lucknow:
Side note, this monkey scared the crap out of me. He was ruthless. The monkeys by my grandparents place have figured out how to open the doors and know exactly where the kitchen is.
This means that if we (fine, I) don't properly close the door to the kitchen, our banananananas are gone.
MY banananananas.
They stole my bananas.
Besides that, Lucknow is also this:
 |
| Bara Imambara |
And it's also this:
Aaaaand then there's Goa!
Gooaaaa.
Goa.
Goa is pretty.
Goa has even prettier elephants.
My heart explodes every time I see an elephant.
If you ever need inspiration for a gift, just get me an elephant.
I never had a rabbit as a kid so I'll settle for an elephant.
MOVING ON!
Summer 2016 was when I started my seven month "sabbatical" in India.
I'm incredibly lazy so I'm not going to write about that.*
You can read about it instead!
Read.
It.
And just incase you didn't click on the links above, here's the link again: https://sixthousandfourhundredkm.blogspot.be/2017/02/adje-out.html
Folks, that's about all I can manage for this post!
The next three months are going to be intense. And by that I mean I'm going to do my utmost to be as little in Belgium as possible. Well. I mean. Unless I need to be.
Here's whats going on travel wise:
- Delhi
- Amnor
- Mumbai
- Jammu and Kashmir
- Bali
- England
Excited doesn't even begin to cover the way I'm feeling.
*To any future employers, I'm not actually lazy
