Apologies to my readers for being MIA these last two weeks.   My connectivity was mostly absent. I focused on learning my languages and catching up on reading instead of shaking my fists at the router whenever I could not connect.

I have been in India for eighty-three days now.  You might think that being a woman of Indian origin made it easier to live in India for an extended period.  Allow me to tell you otherwise. I am a brown girl, but I have spent my life in America with instant access to most of what I needed. I embrace that I am spoiled western girl but life in India is teaching me to appreciate the little things in life. Here are some of the more practical lessons.

1. Hot sunny weather is worse when 200% humidity accompanies it. Okay, it’s really only 98%, but you get my point.  Be prepared to adjust your travel  and your attitude to accommodate this.
2. No amount of sun block keeps you from getting very dark but use it anyway.
3. It’s hot at night too; your room air conditioner will be your best friend.
4. When the power goes out, then internet goes out too (even if you have a generator). Yes, I should have known this, but who really thinks about power outages in the U.S.?
5. Just because your Wi-Fi shows that it is connected does not mean that you can connect to or download anything. Take a beat to breathe. No matter how much you may want to throw your computer across the room, you will need it later when the connection gets better.
6. Your phone service may disappear as you walk from one side of the house to the other, so take your most important calls in the front yard. On the plus side, there might be a nice breeze out there.
7. Turn off the Wi-Fi on your phone before going to bed. At night, the Wi-Fi disappears and your phone will spend all night trying to search for and connect to the elusive Wi-Fi. Consequently, your phone will be dead before your alarm should go off in the morning.
8. When your laptop screen starts flickering and then goes gray, it might be really hot. You should plan lap top usage to account for this overheating.
9. Make sure to always purchase a micro-SD card for extended storage on your kindle or e-reader. This allows you to download a major portion of your videos, books, and audio files in advance for when you have inconsistent or insufficient connectivity.
10. Make sure you have back up plug converters and chargers. The converter plug I purchased from Amazon did not work after 75 days.   Thank goodness for my back up converters.
11. There is no such thing as drinking too much water in this climate, so always keep water with you.
12. When going out, no matter how much attention you give to your attire, someone will stare at you. Just let it go and enjoy your time thinking about how wonderful it is to travel in a car with a functioning air conditioner in this heat.
13. During your walks on main roads, make sure to walk in the direction of oncoming traffic. Always make sure you know if you are in a right-hand or left-hand driving country. Your life will depend on getting this correct.
14. Lastly, you cannot pet every dog, cat, chicken, or cow you see on the road.

I could go on with more of the little lessons but I think you get the picture.  Feel free to share this list with your friends or family who might be traveling abroad.    Thanks for following me.