Circle of Life

So it's been eons since I blogged. Been extremely busy trying to adjust to my new life. So I had been working hard all of 2012 so I could get a decent score for my GRE test and get myself to the United States of America! And guess what, I actually managed to do that. Well, that happened like last year in August of 2013. I'm halfway through pursuing my master's degree. 2 more semesters and I'll be a master's degree holder. Studying abroad was something that was always on my agenda, like ever since I was a young impressionable girl (not saying I'm not impressionable now). When I finally got here it was completely different from what I had imagined. First of all, I have moved to one of the smaller cities or rather town in the US. Far far slow paced a life than I was leading in Mumbai. I thought I would be living the American dream and blah blah. But after I stepped here, I realized the amount of responsibilities I'd have to undertake now that I was no longer under my parents wings. It's a tough life juggling between grad school, cooking, laundry, grocery shopping, paying bills, cleaning the apartment and whatever little social life time permits. I entered my 20's three years ago but I felt like an adult only last year. I have become more independent. I'm trying to stick to my priorities. I'm not saying its a bad life, its actually changed my perspective towards life. I realized how attached I am to my parents, how precious it was to always have my sister around and have become more vigilant about how to value every relationship that you leave behind in your homeland. I must tell you that life abroad can tend to get monotonous and lonely. You may make tons of friends but they still can't fill the void you feel from being on the foreign land; because at the end of the day everyone is here to fulfill a dream and achieve something.I don't blame them, I've come here for the same. On several occasions you question yourself, why did you ever decide to leave your oh-so-comfortable a nest you were living in. You'll have these thoughts when the only way you can see your family is through a Skype conversation, you can longer be a part of your baby sibling's adolescent years when they need you the most (or at least I feel that way), when you miss that special someone who is still in your home country, when your circle of friends decide about meeting up and send you pictures from that day, when you have to make your own food even though you are dead-beat from juggling between class and work the entire day and mommy isn't around to serve you hot dinner and so many instances that I could go on narrating. The list is pretty long! The worst is when someone in your family is sick and there's nothing you can do. You're far away and in a different time zone so your family doesn't want you to panic so they try to mellow down the situation and tell you everything is okay and you shouldn't worry. I mean, obviously you'll worry! How can you not? You're not physically present, when you're sleeping they're awake and vice verse so communication is pretty jilted. But in truth there is nothing you can do so they're kinda right in their way to not tell you. It's not like you can hop on the next flight and land there. The rest of the family will take care of it. So think hard before you decide to pack your bags and leave. Its definitely an experience of a lifetime, I'd suggest everybody should do it but try and pick a country that's closer to your homeland ;). More will come up soon from my adventures abroad!

Until then,
Adios!