Our last week

Our last week in Manali was a bit hectic so it was difficult to find the time to write about it.
We had this week to focus on our own personal research which, in my case, was nutrition in the school systems. I was able to set up interviews with the principals at both a government funded public school and a tuition based private school on tuesday. Wednesday I visited a children's home and had an interview with the dietician at Lady Willingdon. She invited me to sit with her in the Antenatal clinic so I was able to watch her write meal plans for the pregnant women which was really exciting and made me want to do dietetics even more.

In the evenings we attempted to use our last bit of time wisely by spending time with the staff at the hospital, going to dinner, watching movies together, and such.

I believe it was wednesday night that Sunny invited us to a family party. It was AMAZING! What an experience. We sat on the floor in rows facing one another and were served several dishes on banana leaves. The food was delicious but we had to eat with our hands. Took some getting used to but I think it's all part of the experience.

Afterward we had desserts and danced for hours. The girls all really enjoyed themselves.

Thursday, we held a party for the hospital staff at our hotel. Sunny arranged everything. We had a buffet style meal with sooo many good foods and a dance floor with a DJ! It took a little while for people to get into the dancing but it was a wonderful time. Makes me sad looking back on it now actually. But I'm glad so many of them came, it meant a lot.

Friday we presented our research projects to the staff and students which was really interesting. Everyone picked very different topics from one another and they all did an excellent job! They were all topics that we had experienced at least once if not more on the trip so it was really neat to learn more about each of them. And I think, for the most part, everyone really enjoyed learning about their own topic as well.

The next two days were filled with long walks, shopping, wonderful food, and saying goodbyes. Nishant at Drifters, hosted a going away party for us. There was music, some bollywood dancing, and too many pictures. Going to miss that place and it's epic karaoke..

It turned out that our short flight from Kullu to Delhi had been cancelled due to weather so we found out saturday that we would actually be leaving late that night and taking a 12 hour drive to Delhi to taxis.

Saturday night is hard to think back on because I wasn't ready to leave at all and I was extremely sad to say goodbye. I walked Reena and Kirti back to their room after dinner but none of us wanted to say bye so we continued walking for a while. Dr. Parvesh joined and they walked me back to MY room haha. Then we actually did have to say bye, since I had yet to pack :/
It was really hard. Saying goodbye for me normally, is knowing that I can see them again shortly. But this was my first time knowing that goodbye may mean for a very very long time.

The ride home wasn't all that bad. We had a good time. Slept for most of it, but talked and sang while we were awake.
We stopped at Milli's parents's house, who were nice to enough to host us and give us yummy foods. They were all so nice and welcoming and it was wonderful to sit down and relax with them.

Back on the road, finally made it to Delhi airport, boarded, and slept for the 13 hour plane ride to Newark. Then 40 minutes to Baltimore where my heart was racing because I knew in less than an hour my dad would be waiting for me.

Saying goodbye to all my friends wasn't too hard because I know I'll be seeing them frequently. They're all so close and I can call them anytime :)
But I do miss living with them very much.