I left off just as I was beginning to tell my tale of a month in India, and now I’m headed to India– again. Literally two years (almost to the day) later.

I know I’m a terrible blogger. Lately, I’ve found myself making a list in my planner of all the blog posts I will write “someday” when I have time. But, I never actually get around to making that time. Sooo… whether or not I ever start updating this blog regularly, and whether or not I am the only person who ever reads it… it still makes me smile when I visit it because it chronicles so many of the stories and adventures of my life. Not enough of them. But some of them.

And today it gets to house another one! I’m mentally prepping myself right now… Because I like to think I have learned a thing or two since the last time I touched down in this beautiful country I grew to have a complicated relationship with.

Oh, India. Where I got robbed upon arrival (via airport scam, not via dramatic mugging) and I was lied to (repeatedly and much more dramatically). Where there were tears (both mine and from those who lied to me) and there were triumphs (I’d never been able to do a handstand before). Where I switched yoga schools (another scam), switched houses (a third scam), and switched my beverage choices (giving up all alcohol for tea and lemon sodas). Hell, by the end of the first month- I’d even switched my career (more on that later).

The trip was… long and difficult, and I had an indescribable peace the whole time I was there. I knew without question it was where God wanted me to be. It stretched me in ways I hadn’t imagined before (not a yoga pun- although that is too, is true). I learned how to stand up for myself when things were uncomfortable. I learned how to stand on my head and have it not be uncomfortable. I learned how to disappoint someone without feeling guilty, and I learned how to recover from having my feelings hurt without resenting the people who had hurt them. I also learned to love Goa for all it offered me and forgive experiences that might have negatively colored my perspective. I made friendships that will stand the test of time, and … have I mentioned I learned to do a headstand? So for all of its challenges, India remains on my list of favorite places. The vibrancy, the energy, the colors, the smell, the food, the cows… and in less than a week- I’ get to experience them all again.

Oh, and this time, after I land in Goa, I will be smart and not lose a bunch of money when someone tries to distract me by saying I look like a movie star and asking if she can touch my eye lashes (ummm… no!) while someone else is counting out bills at the currency exchange. No no. Not this time. I am exchanging money here, before I leave this time. And when I arrive on that beach that I fell so in love with last time- I will avoid the Capital Grille… not because the food isn’t lovely, but because… well, you know… memories.