{ Overwhelmed. Emotional. }

Tonight, I found myself sobbing. To the point where I couldn't breathe. 

Let's be real.

I have pretty thick skin.
I've hiked mountains,
climbed large trees,
paddled through raging rivers,
really though, I've conquered a lot in life.

I never would have thought that I would be so overwhelmed coming to India.
never, ever, ever.
I've read lots of stories, watched movies, read the paper, seen photos,
I've been involved with combatting sex trafficking.
But nothing compares to real life.
And I've been in a third world country before.


Today was the most overwhelming, and the most incredible, day!
And the most emotional.
Walking the streets of Old Delhi and Chandni Chowk,
wandering into paper shops in the back streets,
trying on Sarees with a-little-too-friendly Indians,
shoes in Janpath market.
All with some of my greatest friends Sarah and Anita-ji :)

It's hard to even accurately describe everything I saw -
from the day laborers carrying heavy loads down the street,
to the nasty, splattering floors of the public restroom,
and learning to pee indian style.
to the begging children by the metro and naked babies in the middle of the walkway.
to the older men laying around along the side of the road,
to the heaps and heaps of trash in the niche of a building right by the road,
to the old tangled cables that hang from one building to another,
to the men spitting
to....everything.


It's all so overwhelming.


And as much as I feel overwhelmed, cynical, and emotional right now,
It was worth it.
I wouldn't change today for anything.
I'm more humbled, more grateful,
and more understanding.


I don't know who's right or wrong anymore.
Are we just lazy, entitled Americans? Should we be living more like the Indians?
I have so many thoughts that I could share but I will wait for another time.

Regardless, my life has already been changed forever.

Now, hang tight and soon I'll share with you some fun photos from our beautiful adventure today!

{ First day, Riots, Indian Gate, and my favorites }

My favorite.

I know I have posted so many times already. And I certainly did not expect to write this much so soon but I’m sure my writings will taper off as time passes. I just have to share a little about my day here. It was very eventful!

Today was such a crazy day - our first day at the office (we didn't do much) but we met Winnie Ma'am and the General and Sonal (their daughter) and discussed what we want to be doing here and our purpose. It was good. We were so tired mid-day - we didn't realize just how jet lagged we still are! We got through the afternoon, spent some time with the doctor from the Delhi Women's Association for the weekly health clinic, and then met the slum children that we will be tutoring every afternoon from 3-5 pm. We also met the other interns that are here for two more weeks – Marta and Veronique. Marta is from Poland and Veronique is from the Netherlands. They are beautiful, intelligent, vibrant girls! We chatted away about our education, our countries and cultures, etc.

At 4:30, we left to go visit the demonstrations by the Delhi Gate - what an experience!!! It was me and Sarah (my awesome roomie!); Anita, our new best friend from the office :) She is always checking up on us!; Marta (from Poland) and Veronique (from the Netherlands); and Mr. Jolley, one of our bosses of Maitri and the sweetest Indian man you will ever meet – he said that Sarah and I could join him at the end of the month to travel parts of India!

BACKGROUND

On Monday, August 16, Anna Hazarre, an Indian politician, began an indefinite hunger strike after the anti-corruption Lokpal bill (to create an ombudsman in their government) was not passed in the Indian government by his August 15 deadline. Anna Hazarre is considered a Ghandian and he has proclaimed intentions for a second war for independence (since the war for independence in 1947). He is currently in jail, arrested for not agreeing to a permit that was issued to him by the police, but the people are still taking a stand against corruption (check out an article here at India Live). Check out this article from the New York Times about what is going on here in Delhi with the riots. The protests started yesterday morning but the group is slowly getting a bigger group and tonight at 7:00, everyone officially gathered after their work was finished for the day - for the evening candlelight ceremony and the protests. They will continue all through the night - there is so many people! They're comparing it to what has been happening in the Middle East but it's not violent (yet?)

This is one of my FAVORITE photos. We asked a guy to borrow his flag for a picture and before we knew it, someone handed us this large cloth flag and we had a MASSIVE group of demonstrators surrounded us as a random Indian guy took millions of pictures of us. Famous.

It's incredible to see the power of the people. Mr. Jolley Sir took us in his car to see everything - history in the making!!! It was so fascinating. People were chanting "Vande Mataram" (meaning one day mother country!). So powerful. We moved with the crowd as people held up signs of "Long live Anna" and "Combat corruption! Save India!" Anna Hazarre is their hero. The people were so passionate! And we all stood out there in the sweltering, humid, nasty heat. We spent all night there. But, at about 6:30, we took a quick break and went to a restaurant called the "Bikaner House" - they weren't serving dinner anymore (can't figure out why) but Mr. Jolly Sir bought us drinks (cold coffee for some, mango juice for me!) and some chicken and vegetable sandwiches and vegetable pokara to share. It was all pretty yummy but...I definitely won't be trying any meat again (talk about a massive stomachache!) 

Anita and I at the Bikaner House :) My new BFF <3 

Sandwiches and Pokora.

This is their breath freshener - a little sugar and a kind of leaf - tastes like licorice! Pretty yummy!

After a quick dinner, we headed back to the gate - it was so pretty at night! The Indian Gate is a lot like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, built as a memorial to the Indian soldiers that died in WWII. It is heavily guarded by the police and military and you can't go anywhere near it. It's beautiful, though! We met Mr. Jolly's wife, took lots of beautiful pictures in front of the shimmering, nighttime gate, walked in a circle around the gate gardens and headed home! Mr. Jolley, as a convenience, dropped us off on the side of the road with our next best friend Anita and we took a rickshaw home. Anita is soooo sweet and absolutely gorgeous. She didn't go all the way to our apartment with us but she called us within minutes of our arrival home to make sure we were safe - love her! We are so well taken care of at Maitri - everyone looks after us! Especially at the riots, Mr. Jolley treated us like his children and held us close and Anita always held our hand or had her arm around us.

My bff roomie :) the oh-so-FABULOUS and GORGEOUS Sarah Patton.

Interviewed by a local paper

Candlelight ceremony.

Our lovely Mr. Jolley

This morning, I completed my first run in India - just around the complex. It was about 8am. I was very safe, got lots of weird stares, but lets just say I came home DRENCHED - soaked in my sweat! And I only ran 3 miles. It's so humid but my skin is loving it :) I have almost 0 motivation to run here - but I love doing yoga :) Maybe it's just the jet lag still? We'll have to see how this works itself out over the next couple of weeks!

See all the sweat!

And I tried lassi today - a sort of flavored yogurt/milk drink. It's yummy but gave me the worst tummy ache (I didn't really want to try it but Mr. Jolley Sir made me because I had mentioned it earlier...you can't refuse anything here!)

Okay, I forgot one more thing...I've never felt so famous in my life!!! Seriously, everyone wants pictures with us (especially at the riot - it was insane! We would have one Indian man come up to us and ask for a picture and then a huge group of Indian men would run and jump in the picture) I also interviewed with about 5 different Indian television stations :) And out of our group, I was the one to do most of the talking. I shared my thoughts about demonstrations and their role in the democratic process. Are they important? What are your thoughts about Anna Hazarre? What does this mean to you? After seeing the passion in their eyes, their desire for change, and their motivation to do whatever it takes to carry it out, I am more motivated to get more involved in the political process and stand for what I feel is important. In America, we certainly take our freedoms and our government (no matter how corrupt or dishonest we think it to be) for granted. America is such a wonderful place to live. As we began to interview with each station, HUGE groups of people would begin to surround us and we had to fight our way out. So I am now famous – I like to think one of the most famous Americans here in Delhi - it was pretty awesome for the time being :) But let’s just say, that was enough limelight for my entire political career! I don’t ever want to be famous.

I have now been a part of my first demonstration against the government, seen the beautiful and very majestic Indian gate, and met my new best friends, Anita and Mr. Jolley Sir.

Vande Mataram!!!

:)

{ MAITRI in focus: kind-loving }

Maitri.
{Check out their website here!}

A flame for good.

Mission: "Promote primary health, education, and restore human rights to empower India's most vulnerable populations."

This is what I am here for. Maitri is an incredible organization. Their office is located in the Heart of Delhi. The office is small, but quaint and the people are all so sweet and gentle. They all having loving hearts. I am so proud to be a part of something so worthwhile.


On their website, I would particularly encourage everyone to check out their videos on this page. Although we can't read the Hindi script, it helps to highlight their purpose and what they are fighting for. 


Some of Maitri's projects include:

• Project Samvedana {Compassion} - addresses issues of domestic abuse and sexual violence towards women, particularly in families of military, paramilitary, and police personnel through workshops with self-defense and self-help training, education and financial independence encouragement, and health awareness workshops.

• Project Jeevan {Life} - restoring respect and dignity to the widows of Vrindivadan through improved nutrition, activities (like mid-day meals), health clinics and health education, legal advocacy, counseling, and skill training workshops. 

• Project Rakshak {Protector} - provides education of HIV/AID and STIs to the uniformed personnel (and their families, too) through workshops, counseling, etc.

• Project Sanjeevani {Rebirth} - provides services  among migrant workers (approximately 92% of the Indian workforce!), particularly to create public health awareness, through workshops, media, community meetings, health camps, peer education, etc.

• Project Awaaz {Voice} - educates rickshaw (bike and auto) workers of infectious diseases and health prevention through street plays, workshops, and seminars. This project has created many health drop-in centers in the area of Punharganj.

• Project Jagriti {Awakening} - provides education/awareness of adolescent issues, safe sex practices, disesases, etc.  to high school students through seminars.

• Project Maitrigram - the education and empowerment of people in the slum communities (particularly the women and children). They provide a children's tutorial center and vocational training center. 

There are also other projects like a peer mentoring program, a geriatric/nursing home, and little things they are working to instigate in the community. They are currently working on sharing their services with a larger population, particularly for the senior community here in Delhi by creating more room in their nursing home. They are also working more one-on-one in-depth with the widows in Vrinavadan with Project Samvedana.

{ Indian khana is yummmmmy! }

Khana = Food {in Hindi}

Can I just say that we have the BEST cook in the world? She also helps to keep the apartment clean (it gets dirty so fast because of the humidity and pollution here). She is amazing.

Meet...Laxmi.

She is a beautiful Indian woman that lives in a slum nearby. She is so sweet and nice and puts up with our crazy Americanness (which can be pretty bad!). 

She makes the BEST food. I'm going to get fat - but it will be worth it! I'm learning to love Indian food - even more! I love love love all the spices! I'm still learning all of the names of our dishes - but they are all so yummy!

Isn't she just adorable? She is so good to us! 

Sundar - beautiful!

FIRST meal in India. We fell in love with the cooked veggies. 

Ammmmazzing. 

Chapatis (tortillas). with veggies. 

{ Welcome to India... Our first driving experience }

Check this out!

You can see how close we got to the cars, drove all over the rode, practically hit people, etc.

And check out that cool Hindi Bollywood Pop/Techno music!

PS This is my first experience making a video...it's not perfect, but it works :)

{ Home sweet home }

Well, this is our home :) 

Home sweet home.

We're definitely not in America anymore. 

I'm learning to love it. 

We're so blessed and well taken care of.

View from our apartment.

Drying spices out the window.

Our dining room - pretty nice!

Our kitchen - it's pretty nice. You can see our water filter by the sink. It is kind of dirty but not bad. 

Let's just say, my mother would not cook in here. 

Kitchen.

Our crazy door with 4 locks!

Our very nice living room - the interns before have informed us that it is much nicer now and they have brought in a lot of furniture.

Entryway.

Bedroom 1. 

Bathroom 1. Very cramped. Smelly and humid. But it works!

Our shower in Bathroom #2.

Dirty but clean enough :) It works!

Our (Sarah and Liz) bedroom. Already personalized.

{ ARRIVAL }

After a 1 hour flight to San Fransisco, 

10 hour flight to Amsterdam (I'm determined to learn Dutch now!),

and a 9 hour flight to New Delhi,
I'M HERE. I made it.  With the beautiful Sarah Patton. In the exotic, gorgeous, diverse land of INDIA.

I live in New Delhi.
For the next 4 months.
In Sector 12 of RK Puram.
I love it here. Already.

I still have yet to see an elephant, or get run over by a rickshaw (although it sure felt like we were going to run them over on the drive here!), but I'm sure these things will come with time.

I am approximately 7,581 miles away from home (to the West). That is about 12,199 kilometers. And more than 10,000 miles away from home (to the East - this is the direction we took).

But yes, it's sooo different.

A few observations:

• It's very...smelly. Not necessarily always bad. When I first stepped into the airport, it smelled like a fish tank. When we walked outside, it smelled like a fire. And my apartment, it smells like a lots of must, with a little smoke, and perhaps kind of...manly? Like that not-so-great man smell that old men get really bad. Yeah, that one.
• There are guards everywhere - and they carry BIG guns. And they like to stare at you. Especially if you're American. or just white.
• People honk their horn anytime, anywhere - for no reason at all.
• They don't drive in the lanes here - they have them but they are constantly changing lanes - it always feels like you are about to hit someone! 
• They blink their lights like crazy to indicate they're going to go faster.
• Oh and they never really use their blinkers (unless there is a stoplight but...we only saw one on a 20 min. drive)
• People sit and walk along the side of the freeway. And bike. And do whatever they want all over the place (more info on that to come..) We drive really, really close to all these people.
• It's very hot and humid (100 degrees at midnight!)
• The people are very, very nice.
• Highways - the actual roads are very nice and well-paved but...the sides of the road look very poor and underdeveloped. 

Traveling here, it still hadn't hit me yet that I was going to live in India. It still doesn't feel real and I'm actually here. 

I slept nearly the entire plane rides here (yeah, like 22 hours worth of sleep! holy cow!) So, after a near 25 hours of travel time (more than a day after we left good ol' SLC), Sarah and I arrived at the Mahatma Gandhi International Airport. We first made our journey through the very empty airport. We thought we were walking quickly but apparently not because we were nearly run over by the Indians and their beautiful children. We went through border patrol unscathed (well, I smiled at the guy and he didn't smile back - that kind of hurt). We then went to wait for our bags for more than 45 minutes. Then, we left to find our ride. We made our way out of the airport toward pillar 15. As we walked out, I was completely overwhelmed by huge crowds of people (even at midnight). There were so many signs for people being picked up. We scanned them all to no avail. As we walked around, the guards stared us down so we made our way out of the gated area that surrounds the outside of the airport. We walked around pillar 15 but still...no luck. It has been about 10 minutes and we had no idea what we would do if we couldn't find them. Well, after walking around some more with our massive carts full of luggage, I have never been happier to see my name! We saw a cute, young Indian guy in a blue stripped shirt with a sign that read: "Maitri Elisabeth Sarah" That's us! With him was another young Indian in a green striped shirt. These guys are the drivers for Winnin and the General (the owners of Maitri). They were sweet. And pretty cute, not going to lie! We walked through the lanes and lanes of taxis and rickshaws towards the parking garage (honestly, it did cross my mind that I wasn't wearing bug spray and I could get bitten by a malaria-infested mosquito and all it takes is one bit - and yes, I am taking a malaria prescription but still, silly me). 

As we arrived at the parking garage, the young guy in the blue shirt left to grab the car. We waited on the curb. All staring aimlessly at the bright lights and honking crazy cars. This guard was right next to us and he kept staring (it was pretty intimidating). Finally, a very, very nice modern-looking land rover kind of SUV pulled up. Soo nice. We hoped in and I have never been so relieved for air conditioning! We loaded up and headed out for what would be one of the scariest car rides of my life! We listened to Indian Techno on the way to our apartment. I got a nice video of part of our car ride. I was scared for my life at times! But nonetheless, we made it safely to our nice, gated apartment complex. We all crammed into the elevator with our 6 bags and large backpacks (lots of luggage!). Literally, we were sardines. The elevator was so tiny - but at least we had one. We are apartment 601. Home. For the next 4 months.

They showed us how to turn on the A/C and the lights (every plug here has a switch) and everything else and they left us. We unpacked a little, jammed to some music, and then hit the pad at about 3 am. Now it's almost noon. I'm ready for a nap again!

San Fran. Eating it up at Firewood Grill :) Last meal in America for 4 months. 

Sarah and Liz - arrival in DELHI. I like the creeper guy in the back. He is here to do teacher training (for ESL) for 3 weeks! 

Delhi Border Patrol.

Delhi Airport. See the large crowds of people? Okay, hard to see but they're there by the doors!

Delhi. Love the airport. 

This pretty much sums up our car ride to our apartment. CRAZY. Wait 'til you see the video!

Look for my upcoming post our new home and about the organization that I will be working with, Maitri, in my time here and why I chose to come to India!

{ 101 ways to die in INDIA }

As a brief introduction to the beautiful, diverse, and culturally rich country of India, I present to you: 

101 ways to die in India

as written by the amazing Melissa

{I could never top hers}

Before I get started, I find it interesting the many misconceptions that people have about India. Sure, I haven't been there yet. But I have a feeling that this incredible country has much more to offer than death, starvation, yoga, disease, forced prostitution, etc. Much, much more. And I'm about to set out to find it. In the last few months, I have heard just about everything (Melissa sums it all up pretty nicely!). I know I could die, I know my plane could crash as it tries to land in a third world overpopulated country. I know I know I know. But...life is about adventure. risk. And...I find it very interesting that as people tell me the millions of different ways I could die, I come to find out that they have never been to India, let alone the eastern hemisphere so to put it bluntly...just keep your ideas about my "homicide" to yourself :) 

But for the record, I am taking every precaution and I will make sure to stay away from the tricky street vendors with rebottled unsealed water and the crazy rickshaw drivers, etc. But you can't keep me away from the elephants. Annnnddd, yes, I'm a little nervous. But more excited!

Here it is. 101 ways to die in India by Melissa: 

1. Don't eat yogurt.
2. Don't drink buffalo milk.
3. In fact, don't eat dairy at all.
4. Don't drink the water from the tap.
5. Don't sallow the water in the shower.
6. Don't drink the rain water.
7. In fact, don't drink water at all.
8. Because even boiling it won't help.
9. Don't eat this type of curry. You will throw up and die.
10. Don't eat that type of curry. You will just throw up.
11. Don't eat this other type of curry. You will have endless diarrhea.
12. The spices will be too hot and make you ill.
13. The chai will be spicy and make you ill.
14. Don't eat street food.
15. Unless it is cooked. But even then you will get endless diarrhea.
16. Don't eat fruit.
17. Unless it has a skin to peel. But even then you will get sick.
18. In fact, anything you eat will give you diarrhea and make you terribly ill.
19. You know what, just avoid eat anything from India at all.
20. Don't fast though, you may be inspired by the sadhus you see, but if you do you will die.
21. Oh and don't eat the meat.
22. Especially beef. Either cows or people will get you.
23. Don't eat the pork.
24. Don't eat the chicken.
25. Don't eat the monkeys, water buffalo, dogs, cats, elephants, camels or any other animal.
26. We don't care if you are vegetarian, that will make you ill too.
27. Also, if you eat anything there is a good chance it is drugged.
28. Don't smile anyone. This will result in automatic kidnapping.
29. Don’t talk to anyone. This will result in automatic kidnapping.
30. Don’t acknowledge anyone. This will result in automatic kidnapping.
31. Avoid getting friendly with even the people you know. This may result in kidnapping.
32. Don't travel around the city. You will get lost and kidnapped. And probably killed.
33. Don't walk. You will get run over by crazy elephants.
34. Don't walk. You will get run over by crazy bike rickshaws.
35. Don’t walk. You will get run over by crazy auto-rickshaws.
36. Don’t walk. You will get run over by crazy cars.
37. Don’t walk. You will get run over crazy buses.
38. Don’t walk. Toxic pollutants will soak into your feet from the street flith.
39. Don’t ride elephants. You will fall off and die.
40. Don’t ride bike rickshaws. You will be maimed or die.
41. Don’t ride auto rickshaws. You will be maimed or die.
42. Don’t ride the buses. You will crash or tumble off a cliff and either way die.
43. Don’t ride the trains. They explode.
44. Don’t ride the metro. It is too much like New York where bad things happen.
45. Don’t leave the apartment. Bad things will happen.
46. Don’t stay in the apartment. You will be robbed then killed.
47. Don’t travel to other cities. Bad things will happen.
48. Don’t go to the country side. Bad things will happen.
49. Don’t go outside. If you do will get malaria.
50. In fact, you will get malaria no matter what.
51. Don’t breathe around other humans. If you do you will get TB.
52. Polo. You’ll get it somehow.
53. Don’t touch anything metal. If you do you will get tetanus.
54. Don’t eat, drink or touch anything. If you do you will get Hepatitis A and B.
55. It doesn’t matter if you have medication or have had vaccines for these illnesses you will get them anyway.
56. Don’t go out at night. You will automatically disappear and never been seen again.
57. Don’t go out alone. You will automatically disappear and never been seen again.
58. As a woman, you should especially never do the two aforementioned points. You will disappear extra mysteriously and never be seen even more indefinitely.
59. Also as a woman, you should never go running. Staring and perhaps something more dangerous will happen.
60. As a woman, you should not rock climb or climb any other structure. Something dangerous will happen.
61. As a woman, you should not interact with men at all. Bad and unspeakable things will happen.
62. As a woman, you must dress to cover your legs or something terrible will happen.
63. As a woman, you must dress to cover your shoulders or something terrible will happen.
64. As a woman, you must dress, at times, to cover your hair or something terrible will happen.
65. As a woman, you will be “eve-teased” to the point of near death.
66. Frankly, as a woman, your chances of survival are slim.
67. Watch out for the monkeys. They will get in a fight with you then give you rabies.
68. Watch out for the elephants. They will trample you.
69. Watch out for the cows. They’ll do something bad to you.
70. Watch out for the newly discovered flesh eating virus that lives in puddles.
71. Watch out for human traffic. You might be trampled.
72. Watch out for Human Traffickers. You might be trafficked.
73. Avoid festivals. There will be a mass stamped and you will be trampled.
74. Avoid Hindu temples. You might break the rules and be harmed.
75. Avoid Buddhist temples. You might break the rules and be harmed.
76. Avoid Sikh temples. You might break the rules and be harmed.
77. Avoid Mosques. You might break the rules and be harmed.
78. Avoid Baha’i temples. You might break the rules and be harmed.
79. Just avoid religion in general. It is just too controversial for your health.
80. Avoid too much sight-seeing. You will go blind.
81. Avoid the markets/bazaars. You may barter poorly and be harmed.
82. Pickpockets will get you and steal everything.
83. You’re identity will be stolen and you will lose everything.
84. The beggars will make you feel bad and you give all you have.
85. Baksheesh will confuse you and in the process you will lose all your money.
86. Don’t do anything vaguely illegal. You will be arrested and rot in a jail forever.
87. Don’t do drugs in India. They’ll kill you, just like in the U.S.
88. Don’t do drugs in India. You will be arrested and rot in a jail forever.
89. Don’t fly on Air France’s Air Bus on your way to India. It’ll crash.
90. Don’t fly on Air France’s Air Bus on your way from India. It’ll crash.
91. Terrorists. Self explanatory.
92. Don’t go near the rivers, no matter how holy. You will drown.
93. Don’t climb a mountain. You will fall off and die.
94. Don’t climb a mountain. You will get lost and freeze to death.
95. Avoid the ocean. Bad oceanic things will happen: tsunamis, sharks, rogue waves, drowning.
96. Avoid forests. Bad forest-like things will happen: fires, elephants, rogue animals, lost.
97. You will actually probably get lost no matter where you go.
98. The hot weather will give you heat-stroke.
99. The humidity will suffocate you.
100. The rain will make you pruney.
101. And finally….never do yoga. It cannot be confirmed, but it is assumed something terrible will happen, like “getting stuck that way”, becoming ill for all the strange movements, or being kidnapped by a yogi.


**I in no way mean any disrespect to the Indian culture. From what I know it seems a truly lovely culture and country and I cannot wait to get to know India.

{ Introductions - a flame for good }

I love to travel. I love love love it. However, I'm not very witty or clever. And...I'm still working on my writing skills (so don't judge). People generally don't care to read what I have to say. But...we'll see how this goes.

Hi. My name is Elisabeth Jessop and I am from Salt Lake City, Utah (well, North Ogden but...who knows where that is?). I recently finished a BS in Political Science and a BA in International Studies, with a french minor, at the University of Utah. And I love to learn and I LOVE to travel. I think the best way to learn is through traveling. Everytime I go somewhere else, I find that I come back with a new pair of colored glasses - I see the world a little differently with an altered perspective. And maybe my experiences and the things I have to share will open another's mind as well. I am observant, too. I plan to use this blog as a flame for good. To inspire others to step out into their community (local and international) to make a difference. Serve others. That hasn't always been the reason for my travel but as I've grown older, service is the only source that has made my life fulfilling and has enlightened me to a greater extent.

And...I love to take pictures. I'm not very good but my luck helps me to get a good shot here and there. Either way, I love pictures. So sometimes, that will be the extent of my posts.

Here, we commence my travel blog - ma vie de voyage. My life of travel.

Where is the world is busy lizzie? Everyone calls me Lizzie and...I am always BUSY. I love to be productive. Hence, the nickname I've had since I was just a few months old.


I will document everything from fun little road trips in and around Utah or the West Coast to my travels across the United States to Europe and Asia and Africa and South America and Australia, etc. I will even, at times, document little bits about the culture and diversity right here in Salt Lake City. As of right now, I don't travel quite as much as I would like to but, I will more with time. I'm just getting started!

In these next two weeks or so, I will be updating this blog on past travel experiences on the East Coast, Canada, Costa Rica, France, etc. Mainly just for me but I will try to keep it interesting enough!

And oh yeah, as of next Friday, I will be living in India for 4 months. And you'll get to hear all about it :) Be ready. It will be an adventure! I will be documenting my travels in India on this blog, rather than on Facebook or other social media websites. This way, it will be a more personal experience.

Here we go! Enjoy :)

Feel free to comment!

Note: You can subscribe to this blog if you do not have a blogger account. If you go to the link on the side that says "Follow by email" and enter your email address, you will get updates as I publish a new post.