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I still know very little about where I'm going to be and what I'm going to do. I am trying not to get too stressed about it. I have a few more final exams to grade for my TA class today (UPDATE: Grading is done!), and then I will be able to spend the rest of my time here preparing to leave.

It's scary to think of going because I know so little. Rather than thinking that I'm going to India, in my head I'm just going away. Since I haven't experienced India, it's kind of a blank to me. I'm excited to find out what it's like, but preparing to leave feels like preparing to jump into a void. Which is cool, I guess, but it's also pretty scary.

As I'm writing this I'm remembering what it was like to prepare to leave for Senegal. That was a much more dramatic kind of departure: I knew even less about Senegal than I do about India, I was going to be gone for more than twice as long, I was breaking up with my then-boyfriend of a year when I got on the plane, my college gave me tons of information that I didn't feel like I could absorb, and I really didn't know what kinds of amenities I would have in terms of privacy, plumbing, internet, and power. So when I was packing for Senegal, I felt like I was shoving things in a suitcase and mentally preparing for the end of my life (dramatic, I know).

It is comforting to know that when I come back, I will still have my family (albeit a bit far away), my friends, my relationship, a place to live, and all that good stuff. None of that seemed like a sure thing when I was leaving for Senegal (except the family part).

[I was about to type, "So I'm counting my blessings," and then I thought about how silly that phrase seems. If you have blessings worth counting, you probably have too many to count, so that would be an exercise in futility. Why don't we say, "appreciating" or "acknowledging" our blessings?]

So, I'm appreciating my rich, full life and getting ready to add another adventure to the books.

One week to departure.