Adios, India!

As I write this, I am waiting to board my flight from Mumbai to Milan, with a layover in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I spent last week in Sydney and I will spend this upcoming week in Milan. How did I get so lucky?

Sydney was pretty awesome. The city is super clean, has amazing food, and is full of very friendly citizens. The only con I can come up with is that I decided to visit during winter and it was relatively cold during my visit (about 55-60 degrees during the day). Despite this, I had a great time. I spent one afternoon walking around the botanical gardens. I spent another exploring the art gallery of New South Wales. I spent a full day at the Taronga zoo, seeing Kangaroos and Koalas (so cute!). I had breakfast on my last day at Bondi beach and then walked along the coast. It was a much-needed summer vacation.

I never considered that I would visit Australia before I made it to Europe, but I am so glad that I made the trip.  I spent a little over a week in Sydney, and I could have easily spent another few if I had the opportunity. The more I travel, the more I realize how difficult it is to truly experience a city in a short period of time. 8 days is by no means a short time, yet I still feel like there is so much of Sydney that I have yet to see. Luckily, I have another 60-ish years to make my way back!

Coming back to Mumbai involved a 9 ½ hour flight to Kuala Lumpur, a 3 ½ hour layover, then a 3 ½ hour flight to Chennai, a 4-hour layover, then a 2-hour flight to Mumbai and a 2 ½ hour drive to Virar. I landed at the Mumbai Airport at 2:30 yesterday and returned today at 6:30 today. Barely 24 hours back in India.

This summer had its ups and downs, and unfortunately it ended on a low note. This morning, I went to pack up my bag, only to discover that several items (shoes, an iPad, a watch, designer cologne) had been taken from my bag that I left in my apartment. The apartment was cleaned, and a few people had access to it, but it was a really negative way to start the morning. I am very thankful that my boss helped me replace several of the items, which shows the hospitality of most of the people here.

I fly to Milan tonight. Tomorrow I meet my host family and my fellow students. Then on Tuesday, I start Italian language classes. I am really being thrown into things, but I am ready for the next chapter, and I am very ready to see why Italy is loved by people all around the world.