4 days

That's about how much longer I will be in Jaipur. It's weird to think about. Somehow I've felt very at home in this city; everything - the lifestyle, the people, the occasional monkey tearing down our electric wires - all of it seems to be part of my daily life now. And while I'm definitely excited to go home to non-stale cereals and drinkable tap water, my main thoughts right now are about how much this summer has changed me.

Was it a tough choice? Of course. Making the decision to leave friends and family for 10 weeks is one that I can never take lightly. Choosing to miss out on people's birthdays, my brother getting his license, the first two weeks of preseason football, accepting the fact that I will have 3 days with my family before heading back up to school - these are all opportunities that I decided to leave behind when I came to Jaipur. But do I regret the choice? Not in the slightest.

Being by myself this summer taught me a lot. Discovering my own India let me find my own connections to the country I love. It showed me that my parents' relationship with India doesn't have to be (nor should it be) mine. And that was a huge step - seeing my own relationship with my mother country change and mature. I titled this blog "Adventures in the Motherland" as something of a joke, but I think the last 10 weeks made me fully appreciate what the motherland really is.

The connection between a second generation kid and their ancestral home is one that's difficult to describe. I had always consciously accepted the fact that I was Indian American, tied to both cultures in different ways. But this summer really taught me what it means to be an NRI. It means feeling at home in two cultures. It means loving what both your nationality and your ethnicity have to offer. And, more than anything, it means uniting the part of you that will always be Indian with the part of you that will never fully be. And that's why I think the description of us second generation kids as being "caught between two cultures" is flawed. We're not caught between the two, as if forced to make a choice and accept one culture as our full identity. If the summer has taught me anything, it's the opposite. No matter what I do, I will always be a cross of dosas and doughnuts, papadam and pasta -- India and America. So I guess I should end this post with a thanks to my parents for uprooting themselves and coming alone to a new country, all to give me the amazingly unique cultural experience I have now. Thanks, Amma and Achan. I don't know if I have the courage to do what you did.

Thanks to all my readers who have laughed at my bad jokes, cared about my summer, and in general read the musings of this wandering 20 year old. You all are the best.