I had one week at the university before I left to travel up North, and in that time I had to take 6 tests, pack, say goodbye, etc. So it was a bit of a stressful time, not to mention I had to run all over Pondicherry (the town) because on Wednesday (left Friday night) I realized I'd lost my important 'certificate of residency' form that I needed to leave India. Also it had expired so I needed the date changed.
Getting a new form with the new date was not simple - it never is here. The extent that Indian bureacracy is so...bureaucratic blows my mind. Everything needs an official signature and stamp, but to get one it takes time because if things get done too quickly - dare I say efficiently - it looks like whoever did it took a bribe. Awesome. So I had two days to get a new form and long story short it was a terrible time spent running from university registrar to visa office to police station then back to the police station then again to the visa office...then finally to the visa office one last time (and all they did to change my form was sign and stamp the back of it with a new date!). There were some tears of stress shed on my part, Indians around me telling me not to worry (which was frustrating to say the least, I need to leave the country!) but I got the form and that's what matters.
My last day at the university was Friday, April 26, and thank goodness all the visa issues were sorted out by then. I took a final in the morning, had lunch, packed everything, and then went to the Rock Beach with Arun. Later, we met up with my friends at Nalla, a popular bar/hangout...between 22-24 friends were there, French, Canadian, Indian, American...we just talked and took silly pictures, it was nice but sad as well, the feeling of leaving hanging over us. Arun and Ravi left for a bit, and when they returned Arun took me aside, saying he had a friend he wanted me to meet...but then we were "looking for a cute dog he saw" at which point I'd become suspicious - are we looking for a friend or a dog, and why did we leave my friends? Then we walked back to Nalla where I was surprised by a birthday cake and my friends all singing happy birthday! It was wonderful, I'd never had a surprise birthday before, and sharing it with friends right before I left was great. It's an Indian tradition to feed everyone your cake, so I walked around the table, giving everyone bites of cake, getting icing smeared on me by friends in the process (thanks, guys). Basically, it was the perfect way to end my time in Pondi, with friends and with icing all over my face. At one am that night, we left for the Chennai airport to fly to Delhi.
Getting a new form with the new date was not simple - it never is here. The extent that Indian bureacracy is so...bureaucratic blows my mind. Everything needs an official signature and stamp, but to get one it takes time because if things get done too quickly - dare I say efficiently - it looks like whoever did it took a bribe. Awesome. So I had two days to get a new form and long story short it was a terrible time spent running from university registrar to visa office to police station then back to the police station then again to the visa office...then finally to the visa office one last time (and all they did to change my form was sign and stamp the back of it with a new date!). There were some tears of stress shed on my part, Indians around me telling me not to worry (which was frustrating to say the least, I need to leave the country!) but I got the form and that's what matters.
My last day at the university was Friday, April 26, and thank goodness all the visa issues were sorted out by then. I took a final in the morning, had lunch, packed everything, and then went to the Rock Beach with Arun. Later, we met up with my friends at Nalla, a popular bar/hangout...between 22-24 friends were there, French, Canadian, Indian, American...we just talked and took silly pictures, it was nice but sad as well, the feeling of leaving hanging over us. Arun and Ravi left for a bit, and when they returned Arun took me aside, saying he had a friend he wanted me to meet...but then we were "looking for a cute dog he saw" at which point I'd become suspicious - are we looking for a friend or a dog, and why did we leave my friends? Then we walked back to Nalla where I was surprised by a birthday cake and my friends all singing happy birthday! It was wonderful, I'd never had a surprise birthday before, and sharing it with friends right before I left was great. It's an Indian tradition to feed everyone your cake, so I walked around the table, giving everyone bites of cake, getting icing smeared on me by friends in the process (thanks, guys). Basically, it was the perfect way to end my time in Pondi, with friends and with icing all over my face. At one am that night, we left for the Chennai airport to fly to Delhi.
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