Great Big News, typed with cold fingers

First off, I have to say IT'S COLD!!!! But I have not yet broken down and taken out my heaters. Damn close to it though.

Secondly, I have a big announcement to make - I am going to INDIA over winter break! For two weeks, I'll be part of a volunteer group heading to the Southeast coast to build houses for villagers that lost theirs in the 2004 Tsunami. The people we'll be working with are Dalit - formerly known as Untouchables when the caste system was still officially in place - and because of their low status, they received little or no government help after the tsunami.

The decision to go on this trip was sort of a long way in coming, and I almost backed out actually. I knew I would travel over winter break, but mostly had been considering places like Indonesia or the Philippines because they were relatively close and very affordable. But at the Tokyo orientation I picked up a brochure from a group called GoMad (Go Make A Difference) - a volunteering organization created and run by JETs. And it struck me then - for the past year or so I have been thinking that I should be doing some volunteering in all this traveling of mine - but I had never gotten my shit together and found the right opportunity. And here was an opportunity staring me right in the face.

So I checked out their website a few weeks ago and saw the different projects being organized. There were a lot on there - an orphanage in Bali, secretarial school in Ghana, street kids in the Philippines, English teaching in Thailand .... I quickly ruled out the ones in places I had already been, as well as anything involving teaching (I actually want it to feel somewhat like a vacation!) And of course I was attracted to the Ghana trip because, .... AFRICA!!! But that one was canceled because flights were too hard too expensive. And the next thing that stood out to me the most was a trip to India to build houses. As I read the description, I was overcome by this wave of feeling like "this is the trip!"

I think there were 3 reasons why it felt so right --
1. I really enjoy physical labor, especially since I have such a non-physical job. When I am at home, there is nothing that makes me happier than a day of yard work that leaves me with a sore back and dirty nails. When you don't get to use your body to accomplish a job very often, it is the most satisfying feeling.
2. I have always wanted to go to India.
3. When the tsunami happened 3 years ago, I was one of those people who read about it in the papers, felt the pain of the tragedy, marveled at the generous outpouring of assistance from all over the world, and DID NOTHING. And it even struck me at some point - one of the biggest natural disasters of modern times, and I didn't make any contribution to the relief effort. So yea, you could say I felt guilty.

In a way, I felt as if this trip presented a second chance on two major missed opportunities. First, to make a contribution to the tsunami relief. And secondly, to visit India. I passed up a very good opportunity to go to India last year, right around this same time actually. Given that India is not exactly the easiest country in the world to make it to, I felt that it was pretty significant that I should be presented with not one, but TWO very good chances to go to there, within a year of each other. I guess you could say that I took it as a sign.

But after the initial rush of excitement, I started to get cold feet, and would wake up in the morning feeling overwhelmed by the fact that I didn't want to go. But I wasn't quite sure why. I suspect it was most likely because I am sort of burned out by travel right now -- I have pretty much been traveling for 2.5 years at this point, and I started craving some regularity a long time ago! And I knew that India would be in intense trip. After finally getting over the culture shock of my new life in Japan and actually managing to feel settled again, the idea of making it to India seemed damn daunting! (Not to mention freaking expensive...)

I probably would have just forgotten about the whole thing, but luckily I had already gotten my my friend Kate on board, and she was still gung-ho. But she didn't pressure me, just let me know that she still was excited to go. And then I had a long talk with my coworker Micah, all about why I was having cold feet. We talked about India, living the travel life, and the fact that opportunities like this don't come along everyday. It was one of those powerful conversations that sort of jolts you out of the rut you've been stuck in, and puts the gears back in their proper places. And suddenly, I was excited again.

So now I have bought my ticket, sent for my visa, and started the huge task of fund raising. There is a lot of work to be done to get ready, and I am so wrapped up in it that I am barely thinking about the work I will be doing once I get there!

Fund raising .... that is my big job right now! And I'll be using my blog to help do it! So expect this space to pretty much become an advertising space for my project in the next couple of weeks. But for now, it is bedtime .... lots more to write about this later :-)