the musings of a 16 year old..

Dear Reader,

Sometimes, i still can't believe that i live in Inida. But really, India feels like my home now. Home is where the heart is, and i have made some pretty incredible friends here that have taken hold of my heart and practically stolen the whole thing for themselves. I miss my group of friends back home a lot, but i've grown up so much here surrounded by all of these people who are growing up with me, going through the same things, that i can't help but think of India as my home. My best friend Veerle is from Holland. It's pretty ironic actually because we were supposed to move to India last year, so i would have been here for my 10th and 11th grade years, and Veerle wasn't supposed to move here until next year, so we would have never even met.

the little things in life.

Dear Reader,

It's almost been a year since moving to India, and i feel like i have changed so much since being here. I've grown to appreciate all the little things that i used to take for granted. It's kind of weird to think that i won't remember these two years, but it's the moments that i'll remember. I won't remember my daily routine, or the clothes i wore, or all the things that i've seen, but i'll remember the moments that made being here in India incredible. I've gotten a pretty solid daily routine down, (not like it took about 6 months or anything...), and i have a solid group of friends whom i absolutely adore. My routine is pretty normal.. i get up aroun 6:45 in the morning, shower, do my hair, get dressed, makeup, etc. Then i go downstairs around 7:20 to get my "breakfast" (which usually consists of an orange or a granola bar), then i catch the bus at 7:35. At school, the schedule changes from day to day but it's pretty much the same idea. When i get home, i usually eat a snack, watch some tv, then get started on my hours of homework. And that's about it. But on the weekends, i usually have my best friend Veerle sleep over at my house, or i sleep over at hers. We usually go out with friends friday nights to either Skyye, or a mall, or brigad road for some dinner.

Chiang Mai, Thailand

Dear Readers,
Apologies again for the lack of posts these past few months. I have been so incredible busy i can't even explain. School has been busier than ever, and what with being a junior this year, there's even more pressure because this is the year that really counts. So i've been working hard on studying and keeping my grades up so that in about 6 monthst (ahhh so short..) i can start applying to colleges..scary thought.
So as a way to relax and get away from all the chaos, the school has a week where all the grades get to go on seperate field trips. The IB1's (juniors) got to go to Chiang Mai, Thailand for a week. I said that the field trip at the beginning of the year was the best field trip ever...i was wrong. Going to Chiang Mai Thailand with almost all the other kids my age and only two teachers was by far the best field i could ever have imagined.
It was so fun, we got to the airport really late at night, and we all just hung out together in the airport. We had a layover in Bangkok and we got to Chiang Mai really early in the morning. We went to our resort/campus and settled into our rooms and began a day packed full of activities. We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the day. Then we had a week of amazing bonding moments and fun memories together. The video below is an overview of the week. It was so much fun, and we all got so much closer. It was a trip i'll never forget.

With all my heart,

Kayla

The Life of an IB 1

Dear Readers,

I'm so sorry i haven't written in awhile, but ever since school started i've been swamped with the busyness of an IB 1. What with juggling homework, hanging out with friends, spending time with the family, traveling, staying in touch with people back home, church, seminary, oh yeah and let's not forget things like eating and sleeping. I havne't had much extra free time to update so here's a little summary of what's been going on in my life lately (apart from all the chaos listed above). I've officially entered the dreadful life as a junior, and it's pretty tough. The IB program is rigorous, the homework is lengthy, the tests are tough, but despite all that i love it. I feel like i'm learning so much, and the teachers are really nice and super helpful. I've also made a lot of friends which has been great. Also, being able to travel around on Holidays has been really fun too. A few weekends ago, the family and i went to Coorg (West of Bangalore), and just this past weekend we went to Hampi. Both were super fun and i'll update you on those later! It's really nice because i feel like i finally have a general routine figured out, which makes living here feel more like home.

16 Candles

Dear Readers,

So Friday was my birthday. My big Sweet 16. It was nothing like i imagined, but definitely not in a bad way. When i was little i had always imagined my sweet 16 being a huge party with all of my friends with music and dancing and eating and all that classic fun stuff from the movies. I never thought i'd spend it on the other side of the world! And without my family at that. But i spent it with some pretty amazing people that i had gotten to know over the past few days. I made two best friends over the week, Veerle (who's from the Netherlands) and Nikita (who's from India), and they made it really nice. They wished me happy birthday that morning, and continued to wish me happy birthday throughout the day. When i got back home, i arrived to presents and a birthday "cake" (a peanut butter dessert). It was so fun and i didn't even mind that i wasn't at home in the US to celebrate it. Because how many people get to say that they celebrated their sweet 16 in India?

With all my heart, Kayla

The Best Field Trip Ever.

Dear Readers,

Last Monday was the first day of school, and on Tuesday my entire grade got to go on a retreat for the next five days. It was SO fun! The bus was scheduled to leave at 6:30am so i had to get up at 4:50am in order to be ready on time to leave by 5:50am. So i got up, bright eyed and bushy tailed and excitedly got ready to go on my trip. Sri, not as bright eyed and bushy tailed, graciously came to our house two hours early just to take me to the school. So i said my goodbyes to my mom and dad and got in the car with my duffle bag and we were off. We got to the school around 6:15/6:20am, and he wished be an early happy birthday and then he left. I waited with some kids from school for everyone to get there and when everyone was there we all piled on the bus (all 27 of us, haha). I sat by two girls that i had kind of already become friends with from the first day of school, Veerle and Nikita. The bus took us to a different bus (a tour bus, so bigger and nicer) and we all put our duffle bags in the back and climbed on. Once we headed out i wasn't feeling as bright eyed and bushy tailed anymore, and dozed off a couple times on our way to our first destination. Here's a picture of Veerle and i on the bus:

When we got to our first destination, we were all pretty awake and excited for the week. The first place was about an hour south of Bangalore, and it was a fun little campsite in the middle of nowhere. We literally stayed in tents, which was a bit of a surprise to me because i had been told we were going to be staying in a resort. And my conceptions of a resort was a little different...but then i was told that

positive speculations

Dear Readers,
So the last few of my posts have been a bit on the pessimistic side, mostly due to the fact that i hadn't had wifi for more than a week and i was stressed and frustrated with not being able to contact any of my friends. But i think it's about time you hear my positive views of India. Back in the US, my life was pretty predictable. I had my solid group of friends, school was relatively easy, i had a weekly routine that rarely ever changed. That was the main reason why i wanted to leave. I got exactly what i wanted; a place that's erratic, random, and very unpredictable. And i absolutely love it. I love the whole feel of being on an adventure..not exactly knowing what's going to happen all the time. I feel like back in the US i could practically predict what was going to happen over the next two years. But here, i don't know what's going to happen tomorrow, let alone next week or this next year. Having been born and raised in Minnesota, never living anywhere else, it's sometimes difficult to fully enjoy the unexpected moments when my deep American core is screaming at me that 'different' is wrong. It's taken a little while to start to fully appreciate differences. I can't be critical about the differences because that's exactly what they are; different. And different is exactly what i wanted. Some of the amazing things i love about India are the busyness, the weather, the people, the food, the shopping, the clothes, and just the overall feel of being in a whole different world. It really is quite amazing.

With all my heart, Kayla