India Journal Beginning

Hallo Readers! So been very busy here in Ohio, I could blabber for ever, but instead I have a grand plan. I was going to save it for November, but I can't wait. This November 11, 2012 with be my third year anniversary of going to India. Tonight as I lay in bed thinking about sleep, before giving up, I got India sick. Not actually sick, but like homesick for India. I couldn't find my India pictures anywhere and so I went to my bookshelf and pulled out my largest journal. The one I kept when I was in India, and so starting tonight I have decided to share my Journal with you dear readers, passage by passage, and let you re-experience India with me.

Eve of the Trip 

Tuesday November 10, 2009 10:59 pm

     I am writing this on the eve of what I am confident will turn out to be the three most amazing, important, and wonderful years of my life. In easy to understand words the night before my departure for India! I am going to be there for three months with my mom doing a program called LBE or Life Bliss Engineering. As of now I am still not exactly sure what we will do in the program, but I will find out soon enough. I have my main larger suitcase all packed and ready except for a pair of sandals I will slip in tomorrow morning. Plus a purse and carry on. Packed with as much DECENT entertainment a 14 year old individual American can fit into her largest backpack and sensible handbag. I will tell more about everything tomorrow, but my dear mother is threatening me NOT to go to school tomorrow, and I do want to say "good bye," so I had better behave my dear little self. OK I will definitely write tomorrow, 

         -Ursula Brogan

 Veteran's Day/ Our Departure

Wednesday November 11, 2009 9:00 am

     So I went to school today almost as usual even though I did not bring a backpack or lunch and that felt strange. Before leaving the bus I hugged my bus driver and then walked to the building, joining up with my best friend Naima. Today at school was not going to be a normal one anyway so the hundreds of teenagers walking around hallways and calling out to each other seemed more hyper then usual. Me and Naima went to our lockers, then checked in with gym (first period teacher) then off to the band room where we gathered our instruments and then went off to the gym, where we were having a Veteran's day assembly. The assembaly went well, although it was boring. Ten minutes before it ended I hugged my teachers, friends, and other important people, to me. Then I packed up my flute, wrote Naima a quick good bye note as I did not truly get to say good bye. 

10:40 am

     We are waiting at the gate for out 11:25 flight. It is pretty boring, there is a bar, and a newsstand, and a gift shop, and that's all. So now I am writing, when we said good bye it was a much better ordeal then the last time mom and I went (to India) in the summer of 2008. When we said good bye last time mom and I both burst into tears. But anyway, so I am only going to be writing in the times and dates of the places we are going to be in in the next few hours, when we are in Chicago it will be like we are going back in time. 

11:42 am (Chicago time)

     So after a pretty nice flight we arrived in O'Hare airport.  Flying over Ohio was eerie. I say this because it looked like a patchwork quilt with all the fields, houses, towns, lakes, and ponds, and patches of woods. Now we are sitting in the airport and have to go take a train to the other side of it. 

Sometime

    We made an almost large mistake, actually we made a mistake, just not as bad as it could be. Basically we where in an area with lots of shops, then mom thought we should go to terminal five, the International terminal. So we took a train all the way there. It was there that we found out our next flight didn't leave for five hours. Then we were in trouble, see right before you go into the terminal all there is are McDonald's. a sandwich shop, a bar, an ice cream stand, and two souvenir shops. I know that seems like a lot, but five hours! We got some lunch at the sandwich shop, then mom just sat and talked on her cell to various people while I looked at the two shops. Nothing of interest though.  We still have about four hours to go. Alright I am going to write about something that I am very proud of myself. Ok so for this program I made a goal to pay for my $1,270 plane ticket. Well I called people and asked if they would help me out. Well believe it or not I called 35 people, for about half an hour, and I did not suggest a price.  Well by the end I got exactly $1,207. So I feel like this is truly the right thing to do. Mom tried the same thing but she only got $125.00. One last thing, my shoulders are killing me from the weight of my backpack. Here is everything I have packed in my backpack: 1 Spanish (very large) text book, my Spanish workbook,  this large subject notebook, my Living Enlightenment book (huge), yarn and knitting needles, purse with stuff, camera, extra clothing, and a few other things. Ok I'll write later!