The End

(Audrey) This is my final blog post. My travels continue for another month or so—I’m in London until mid-August, then Paris for two weeks before returning home to America—but I feel that my blog has run its course. I’ve posted rather infrequently since arriving in London a few weeks ago. In closing, let me offer a few final reflections on life and my place in it: East vs West.

I haven’t been posting much since coming to London (and even when I do post, it tends to be India related) for a few reasons. One is that I feel my life here is not different than usual and so deserves no particular comment. I live in an average apartment, go a nice, quiet library during the day, in the evening I often go to the theater (or theatre) and occasionally a reasonably-priced restaurant, and on weekends I’m prone to exploring new neighborhoods, playing tennis, and frequenting museums. This is basically my life at home in the US. There are none of the struggles in Europe that marked my life in India—heat, lack of infrastructure, road rage involving baseball bats, not being able to communicate, frequent sexual harassment, and getting in screaming fights with strangers. My life in London also lacks the unique experiences that peppered my time in India—gliding along the backwaters of Kerala in a houseboat, touring the Bombay slums, climbing thousands of steps up Satrunjaya to a holy Jain pilgrimage spot, and going to the best restaurants in Delhi (here, here, and here). Don’t get me wrong—I prefer life in the West on a regular basis, but that’s partly because it is easy and predictable. It requires no blog to record my experiences, share different perspectives with others, and think through what is going on around me. In the West, I simply live whereas in India, every day is truly an experience.

In addition to my life lacking uniqueness in London, I lack uniqueness here. This city has no shortage of Americans experiencing it, and certainly doesn’t want for English speakers that can communicate what life is all about here. India continues to lack both, and so I had a kind of in regarding India. Here, in London, frankly, I’ve got little to say.

And so I move on to live life to its fullest, enjoying the ease of my current situation. In a sense, you might say that my adventures are over for now, certainly my Indian Adventures. Europe is great and I am loving London, but this is more or less close enough to home for me. So namaste, khudahafez, and good-bye. Thanks for reading to all.

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Tags: blog, good-bye, India, London