#41

Last night I had a dream. I was back at the beginning of my Semester at Sea voyage. In the dream, I was thinking about what I was about to do and where I was about to go. Now about 3 years later, I can't seem to not think about what I had done on the whirlwind journey around the world while living on a small ship. 

The above photo is one of the last pictures I took on board the USS Explorer, which I had known as my home for the previous 100 days. I didn't know if I was a changed person or what was waiting from my upon my return.

Recently, I was asked what my favorite and what was the worst places I had visited? I told that person I  had to think about it. I thought to myself, "Lauren, your trip of a lifetime was 3 years ago. You should know the answers to those questions." I have always said that the answer to those two questions are exactly the same.

My answer is INDIA. In 2007 I wrote a note on Facebook about my time in India and I thought I would share it with you:

India was amazing; it was both beautiful and heart-renching at the same time. I am still having a hard to time expressing my feelings and emotions about India. Just like every country we have visited there is a lot of poverty, but it seems India’s poverty is out in the open more. You see these beautiful women where these magnificently colored saris living in a tin building. 

I was able to see the poverty more when we rode the trains. From the train, I saw why India smelled the way it did. People used the restroom where ever they pleased. On the way back from Jaipur we rode on sleeper trains, which was another experience on its own. It was basically bunk beds. The cushion was about 2 inches thick. 

Using the restroom was an experience all by itself. In most places, the restroom was a hole in the ground, where you just squat and do what you have to do. 

The Taj Mahal was breathtaking as I pictured in my head. Pictures don’t even come close to the beauty it is in person. Seeing the Taj was the last thing I thought I would ever see. The beautiful saris seemed to be even brighter next to the beautiful white marble. 

India was an experience of a lifetime. The world right now is so worried about Africa, a place that does need all the help it can get. I just wish some of the help would go towards India, because there is just as much poverty or maybe more in India. I can’t wait to return to India and lend a helping hand.

I am so happy and thankful that I was born in the United States to two beautiful parents. When you visit a place like India, you treasure what God gave you. I am thankful to everyone in my life and those who have touched my life in so many ways.