Saying Goodbye

Saying goodbye to Delhi was harder than I had thought it would be. I had always anticipated that I would only be there for one year, so the fact that I would be leaving didn't exactly sneak up on me.

Moving to India was a bit more of a challenge than I had anticipated. Moving to a new city, much less to a new country, is never easy, but finding my groove in India took me longer than I than I expected. But, by the time the new year had come around, I felt more and more like I had slipped into Delhi life. I had begun to make friends, gotten to know some of the neighborhoods in Delhi and Gurgaon and I had really ramped up my travel.

I think that in some ways, for me, the expat life was an opportunity to live more carefree than I ever had before. I had little responsibility when it came to maintaining my home (having a daily house cleaner and a driver/dog walker will do that!) and since my apartment was part of my employment package, I had the luxury of being able to hang out with friends and travel more often than I ever would have or will be able to when I am back in the US.

What struck me the most when I was leaving though, was not giving up this "expat" life, but rather that I was going to miss the friendship that I had made both at work and outside of work. It isn't as easy as getting on short flight or driving to visit your old hometown or just randomly picking up the phone to ring someone (not with a 10 hour time difference). Leaving friends and colleagues, just when you are really starting to know each other, get comfortable with each other - that's what really hit me as I was leaving.

I believe that I will be in touch with many of those friends and colleagues as the years go by - or at least I hope that's the case - but I know that even if we lose touch, I will carry with me memories of our time in Delhi.