Home

This is a little late, but...I made it home safely! I arrived in Milwaukee on Dec. 23rd after a 2 day layover in London, and since then I have been busy hanging with the fam and catching up with friends. It has been great to be back, and the transition home has been remarkably smooth so far, but there hasn't been a day yet that I don't think about life in India and miss it.

Some of you may be asking, "Nicholas, what will you be doing with your life now?" In fact, many of you have already asked me that question. It's a great question, really, but one that I don't have a great answer to right now. The short answer is...I don't know. The medium-length answer is...I will be looking for a job in civil engineering primarily in the Madison & Milwaukee areas. (I'm not sure what the long answer is.)

As for the future of this blog, I've really enjoyed blogging my way through India, but I don't plan to continue posting updates now that I'm home. Thanks to all you faithful readers and commenters who have been following along since day one. That occasional comment is a nice reminder that someone is reading. :)

One final thing to check out is a slideshow by my friend Nate summing up his internship in India. I was on a different project trip than him, but most of his slideshow pertains to my own India experience as well.

Finally, as my good Indian friend Bhagat once said, thank you "from the heart of my bottom" to all of you who have supported me and prayed for me throughout the past year. I am incredibly grateful to have had this life-altering, worldview-shaping year in India, and it literally would not have been possible without your support. I have so much joy when I think about your generosity towards me and - more importantly - your support for God's work in India.

Hope to see you all soon!

Goodbye India

I am currently holed up in the lovely hotel known as Cottage Yes Please in Delhi, awaiting my flight to London. I was supposed to fly out at 3:30 AM this morning, but the flight was cancelled because of snow in London, and there's a decent chance that my flight tonight will be cancelled as well. I'm crossing my fingers that I'll be home for Christmas.

About two weeks ago, the second of the two projects I was working on (the Kings & Queens School for children of Christian ministry workers) was published, and here are some of the final drawings. The first two were done by the architects, fellow interns Mark & Cara, and the last three were done by me. I realize that about three of you even care to look at my boring engineering drawings, but I feel like I need to post them on here to prove that I have actually done some work this semester.

Master Plan for Campus

Community Center

Conceptual Water Supply Plan

Conceptual Rainwater Collection Plan

Conceptual Wastewater Disposal Plan

The last two weeks have been filled with about 7 different farewell dinner parties and various other wrap-up things. My emotions have been back and forth, sometimes very sad to be leaving Mussoorie and India, and other times incredibly eager to be home. Right now, being in Delhi, a very noisy and often stressful city, I'm quite ready to be home for Christmas. I feel like the mom on Home Alone who can't get home fast enough to be with her son. Only 3 more days!

More Adventures and Some Work

Two weekends ago, I played tourist with the other interns and went to Delhi and Agra (home of the Taj Mahal) for a few days of sight-seeing. I had fairly low expectations for the Taj because I had heard it's expensive, crowded, and stressful for tourists, but it was spectacular in person. It looks pretty big in pictures, but nothing compares to seeing it 100 feet in front of you.

View from the Jama Masjid in Delhi, the largest mosque in India

Obligatory pic of me in front of the Taj Mahal

Four Muslim men hanging out at the Taj

Other highlights from the weekend include sharing 2 beds with 6 other interns on an overnight train ride (which resulted in me sleeping on the nasty floor of the train), and catching my fellow intern Cara when she jumped off a moving train.

For Thanksgiving, our office had a delicious potluck, which turned out to be remarkably similar to an American Thanksgiving spread. Except we had grilled chicken instead of turkey, which I was thrilled about. Turkey is so overrated. I made the sweet potatoes (which tasted like candy) and mashed potatoes.

Since then, it has been crunch time around the office as we try to get our projects finished before all the interns head out. For a number of reasons, especially the inconsistency of our office computer network, the projects have taken longer to complete than we expected. Despite the obstacles, one of my projects was published two weeks ago, and the other will hopefully be published today! Here are some of the drawings from the first project, a new campus development that includes an orphanage and hospice care for the elderly. The first drawing was done by Architect Ivy, and the other two drawings were done by me.

Architectural Master Plan for the entire campus

Conceptual Water Supply & Rainwater Plan

Conceptual Wastewater Disposal Plan

My train ticket out of Mussoorie has been booked, and my official last day as an EMI intern is Monday, December 13^th. From Mussoorie, I will go to Delhi, to Jaipur, back to Delhi, to London, to Chicago, and finally to Milwaukee on December 23^rd.

Just as I was back in May, I'm trying to figure out where the last 4 months went. Yet as I reflect, I have so many amazing memories from my time here. This place has become my home, and it will no doubt be difficult to say goodbye. If you think of it, please pray that God would give me closure for my time here, that I would be able to wrap my head around everything I've learned here, and that my transition back to Western culture would be smooth.

I'm looking forward to seeing all y'all!