thirty --

Tomorrow, we'll be on a plane to India. The thought is so foreign and far away, yet familiar and soon at the same time. I only wonder how all my many cousins have changed, if we will all still get along, if I will still fall in love with India. I am very excited to see that brief glimpse of Bangalore and Mysore, two places that aren't Bombay and Calcutta. (I realize I haven't explored either of these cities to the fullest -- too young when I last went -- but it will be really wondrous to see a new part of India, sans relatives who may be bored with it all.)

I am excited, exhausted, and full of too many thoughts tonight. That would be what I get for not meditating today...

India, India, India: here I come.

twenty-nine -- what's in Nina's backpack?

some photo of a guy backpacking.

(no, this is not what i will be doing in india.)

I guess I'm blogging like crazy these last few days I know I'll have regular Internet access. It's been three years since I have last been to India and I am still not sure if, a) our relatives have computers they'd share, b) my mother will let me go to an internet cafe. Heaven forbid something happens, right?

Anyway, I'm almost done with packing. Going to Indonesia for a month helped me realize what I did and did not need - and that I could have gone with a smaller suitcase. Thus, my small carry-on suitcase which I am forced to bring carries many gifts for the relatives and my larger suitcase holds the bulk of my clothing. Sigh. That is the problem of traveling to India after a few years: gifts are necessary for all the relatives and my mother likes to get lot of her saris and salwars specially cleaned in India. (And that, my friends, is why the three of us will probably have six to eight suitcases. Sigh, again.)

Still, I love packing my backpack carry-on -- that's what this post is about. Unfortunately, this trip isn't going to be about volunteering or exercising my brain or anything like that... mostly chillaxing and visiting with gazillion family members. (ahhh, I am really excited to see them, though!) Our only strictly touristy exercise will be going to Mysore when we stop in Bangalore. This means I have lots of time to read, walk, reflect, choreo that IASA dance. LOVE IT.

Nina's Backpack
Books (starred are the ones in my backpack, rest in suitcase)

• Right Thinking, Swami Tejomayanandaji, pamphlet*
  
• Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru
• Blindness, Jose Saramago
• Undoing: Returning to Simplicity, Rudite Emir*
  
• Self-Unfoldment, Swami Chinmayanandaji
• The Art of Living, Swami Chinmayanandaji
• Secret of Action, Swami Chinmayanandaji, pamphlet*
  
• Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin*
• The Brain That Changes Itself, Dr. Norman Doidge*
• My Hindi textbook -- to brush up while there and also good practice for this coming year!*

Writing

• Two notebooks (1 for Hindi, 1 for note-taking)
• Journal
• Spare journal (I think I may run out of pages while there, the amount I write)
• Pens, pencils...

Miscellaneous

• toothbrush-paste
• set of clothing
• chocolate, mints, gum, chapstick
  
• neosporin and band-aid magnet set
• hand sanitizer
• large, foldable, batik cloth purse
  
• electronics (iPod, camera, chargers, converter plug)
• earrings, japa-mala
  
• empty water bottle
• knee bandage
• wallet

Yes. All of that fits in my backpack. And not too heavy, either! I'm such an organization freak.

three -- and what i will miss the most...

I went on a picture-taking spree on my walk today.

The flowering trees are blossoming and it is absolutely gorgeous.

What is it now? Four days? I've caved in and done most of my packing. By Friday, I hope all the loose ends will be tied up. Interesting fact: I'll be taking cash and my debit card with me. In Indonesia, however, they are very particular about things. They will only take $100 or $20 bills -- and crispy, new ones at that. $100 bills cannot be from 1996 or 1997... banks just won't exchange them even if it is real. Apparently there was a counterfeiting ring that had counterfeited those bills. Also, bills with series A, B, and a lot of the alphabet are not recommended. H and F series bills are suitable. Never thought a country would be so particular... But there is my random Indonesia fact, yup.

Since the days are winding down until I leave, I feel it would be appropriate for me to make a list of what I will from home... other than people, of course. Because I will miss my family and friends (that's all of YOU reading!) without a doubt. But hey, I lasted through a year of college.. a month should be a piece of cake. I hope.

• quiet: Unusual, but so true. I'm sure the traffic is going to be crazy. I know this is what surprised me coming back from India to the US.... it was so quiet here, even on the road. At the same time, I do love the noise -- there is a certain comfort in the hustle and bustle of the city. (Of course, we aren't going to be in the city the whole time.)
• milk: If I have to watch my water, my bets are that the milk would have to be boiled if I wanted to drink it too. That's what I missed in India as well.. My milk, dang it. Milk in India comes in sealed bags; I wonder what it comes in Indonesia?!
  
• laptop: Self-explanatory. As I mentioned earlier, my laptop is a beast of a thing and I don't really want to drag it with me to Indonesia. Still... the convenience of having a computer readily available without having to hit up an Internet cafe is going to suck.

Okay. This is a very lame, lame list. But it's a start, so stop judging. It's a ... "work in progress."

In my last post I gypped Chelsea with my lack of swimsuit details after devoting such space to my new Tevas. (And BTW: good job for using gypped versus jibbed. I am so proud of you. SO PROUD!) Anyway, I guess I used to be really picky with swimsuits so I stuck with a black one piece for forever and a day... except now it's showing some wear, meaning that I'd have to give in and get another one, as painful as the process would be. But surprisingly enough, it wasn't that bad.

It looks like the one to the left, except the top part is a sky blue and from under the chest onwards it's black. The suit not only ties around the neck, but ties around the back. (It's almost like a two-piece... that's a one-piece, what do you know?)

Okay. Now I feel extra lame for writing about a swimsuit. Whatever, though. It's late and I'm a bit bored.

Tomorrow I'll talk about the places we're going in Indonesia! (That'll force me to read about them, too! I love educational blupdates.)