February 12, 2024

A Good Weekend is the Best Medicine

To be blunt, for a good portion of the last couple of weeks I was straight up not having a good time. Like many of my comrades, I fell sick. I knew it was bad when I got effectively no sleep one night and told my roommate, “I think I need to go to the hospital”. I did not in fact need to go to the hospital. I was being dramatic. But I spent the following weekend feeling like I was dying before returning to health again. While the physical challenge of being sick is never fun, I was going through some mental challenges as well. I’m not sure if my physical or mental well being went down the drain first, but it was a two hit total knock out I was not prepared for. As many of the other GCILer’s have said, it is hard to deal with these things when you are far from home and your usual support systems. It’s also difficult when things like calling your parents make you feel good while talking to them, but even sadder when you have to hang up.

During this battle for my physical and mental health, I only started to feel like I was on the winning side last week. I looked forward to one silver bullet: the weekend. I read something about a study done recently that giving yourself a ‘day off’ to lay around or just do what you want at least once a week improves mental health. This really does not seem like Earth-breaking news, but it was something I hung onto when I was in a troubled place myself.

All week, I was looking forward to the weekend when I could do the activities I wanted to do and really allow myself to relax. The weekend started Friday night, when some of my friends and I watched the newer Little Women movie. A great first step as it is a fantastic piece of
cinema and Florence Pugh delivers a knockout performance. Saturday morning, I slept in and some of us went to the Indian music experience museum. The name doesn’t lie; what an experience! The museum had everything from instruments we could play outside to big goofy headphones we could use to listen to India’s musical history inside. We even got to spend some time in a recording studio where we made some fire beats.

After the museum, we went to Hakuna Matata. It was a carefree, no worries restaurant and its airy vibes and spicy wonton soup further soothed my throat and my soul. After that, it was off to commercial street to do some shopping. I wasn’t really planning on getting anything, so naturally I ended up in a shop getting a tailor-made dress. What my friend and I thought were dresses on mannequins were actually showings of cloth that dresses could be made out of. After a bit of deliberation, we decided when else are we going to have the opportunity to get a unique dress in India at this price and went for it. I am so happy we did because just the back and forth with the tailor trying to describe what we wanted made it worth it. It was a funny interaction to say the least, and I got to live out my childhood dream of being a fashion designer for about ten minutes. After that, we spent ample time in a shop with beautiful wood works and great gifts for friends.

When we returned home, there was another great present waiting for us: the laundry had finally returned! I could change out of the same three outfits I had been wearing for the past week into some new clothes. What a glorious feeling. To finish the lovely Saturday, I went to
dinner with friends where we had a great time laughing and playing games at the table.

Today, Sunday, I also had a lovely day. My friend gave me the last piece of her absolutely amazing French toast before we returned to the fabric shop to pick up our new dresses! For lunch, I had a lovely conversation in our dining hall over my delicious leftovers from
the night before. After that, I rested up before going to play soccer with some locals and a few other GCIL students. It is always so fun connecting with others over sports, and I appreciated the immediate comradery. On our way home, we stopped and got some food. The restaurants were busy and the wait times were long, but the servers were very kind, and it was a nice night to be hanging about. Sunday night makes for a great time to call parents and get caught up with them. After dinner, I enjoyed a nice conversation with my Dad and had the added joy of calling my oldest brother on his 27th birthday. I’ll know I’m old when I’m going to IKEA for my birthday.

Sadly, at the end of the night, I remembered I had to write this blog. I was quick to complain, but I appreciate the reflection it has forced me to do. It is always a pleasant surprise to sit and realize that you are quite content with your situation. This weekend may not be the best weekend of my life, but it was exactly the kind of medicine I needed.

By Elena