February 1, 2024

An Ice Cream a Day

It has been an abrupt transition going from the first three weeks of days jam packed with activities to a practically clear schedule now that we have started working with our organizations. Other teams come back to UTC campus around 6 pm looking exhausted, as if they actually accomplished something that day, and I can not help but feel slightly jealous my team has not been given much to do.

I cannot remember the last time in my life I had so much downtime. Back in Seattle, school, clubs, jobs, and research keep me wishing for just a moment where I can do absolutely nothing. But now that I have so little to do, I think it might be driving me crazy.

While I know this lack of work is temporary and a silly thing to complain about, it has made me question what I am doing half way across the world from the life I left at home. In contrast to going from one thing to the next, I am in a situation where if I am unintentional with my time, I let the whole day slip away.

So as the Swasti team awaits further instruction on our project, I find myself desperately searching for activities to fill my time with. Activities I would never have predicted to be partaking in while on a study abroad program in India. To name a few, I have rock climbed, bet on horse races, solved my way through an escape room, spent more time than I would like to admit at the arcade, and of course getting my daily ice cream.

While I can’t currently report to my friends and family that I am working on some earth-shattering project here in Bangalore, I can say I’ve weirdly learned a lot about myself and how I want to spend my time as I walk the streets aimlessly with Adam searching for what to do next. And I know I’ll look back on our map of all the ice cream spots of Bangalore with our critical reviews written out and be thankful for the small moments I’ve had here.

By Phoebe