I'm Going to India!

I'm going to India. I think that realization has finally hit me today. Even though I've been planning and working really hard to make it happen, the realization that I am actually going finally kicked in.

I started being genuinely interested in going to India, my second semester, Freshman year. One of the seniors who lived in the smaller living unit (SLU) at my university  told me about her experience and it sounded so cool that I just wished that something like that would happen to me. She talked about the people she met and the experiences she had and I couldn't help but want those kinds of experiences too. I was also interested in India because over the summer I participated in a Kirtan mediation class and it was incredibly inspiring. I already discussed this in my previous post about meditation but I remember opening my eyes and looking at everyone in the room and just knowing that this was something I want to do with my life. That dream, because of the program I'm going to be a part of, is going to come true. 

Last semester, I walked up from the mail room before returning to my dorm and I saw a woman by a table with a sign advertising study abroad programs. I decided to just walk up and talk to her. "I'm interested in Study abroad" I said simply and she gave me a bunch of pamphlets with potential places to travel to. The Buddhist studies in India stuck out to me the most. That moment was the first time in the semester where I felt alive and happy at school. The opportunity to travel was what I needed to wake up and love learning again. At that point I wasn't sure if I would actually apply and I wasn't sure if I would actually go but somehow somewhere I found the motivation to fill out the paperwork, get the recommendations and follow all the steps to apply on time and take the risk to go to India. Once everything was sent all I could do was wait for the reply. I got my first batch of shots just in case I was going to go (Hepatitis A and B, Japanese Encephalitis, and typhoid, Yay!).

I got the news that I was going to go right before my math class. I was in the bathroom and I decided to check my emails. It was the first in my inbox and once I read it I started jumping around and whispering, "yes! yes! yes!" over and over. I texted my family and a few friends the news and I couldn't concentrate in my math class at all. I was smiling like a loony the whole time. 

That weekend a whole bunch of alumni came to visit my SLU and one of them had gone on the trip to India that I admired so much. She was so excited for me and she gave me a whole bunch of websites to check out so that I would be very prepared. It was the sweetest thing. 

Right now I am in the panic type of realization. I am panicking about everything and anything that has anything to do with this trip to India. I won't know anyone who is going until I meet them in London before we go to India and I barely know what I'm doing. I am going to be so far out of my comfort zone it's terrifying. It's also ridiculously exhilarating and exciting. Still terrifying. My nerves of India and my fear of missing out back at University and the added emotion of people graduating is too much to handle. I also have a ton of final papers and tests to wade through. Oh so many feelings. Oh so much excitement! What am I ever going to do!

Abandoned Zainesville Cement Factory found document

I went to an Abandoned cement factory and in one of the rooms there were a bunch of papers. One of the pieces of paper had handwriting on it and it turned out to be pretty interesting to read. I have re-typed what the man wrote below.


     I have been working for Columbia Cement for 13 years as of September 1, 1985. I am currently employed as a group leader in the pack house. I was a member of Lodge D24 of the Cement Workers Union up until May 11, 1985
     Sometime during the first strike, between May 8 and June 12, at about 7 p.m. I was riding in a red SME van with five other employees. In South Zainesville Just before the intersection of Route 22 and Main Street, I saw a car driven by Al Mitolovic, a striking employee. He had two of his brothers with him. We were at the passing lane and at the red light, they pulled up and began yelling at us things like "you scabbier son of a bitches". [unreadable] (last name unknown) rolled up the windows and we said [unreadable]thing back to them
     On June 12, 1985 the strikers came back to work for a few days. As I am the group leader of the pack house, I went into the basement to ask harry Snack if he needed any help.

W.C.A

Snack just walked away from me. I spoke to my supervisor Alan Rutledge. For the rest of the day the men would follow my orders, but they would not speak to me. My primary concern is that safety is a serious consideration and, with the attitude the strikers have, there is no guarantee that a striker and a non-striker working together will protect each other. I'm the person who discovered the coffee being tampered with and this causes even greater concern that if the strikers return to work, they'll booby trap the non-strikers.

     I was on strike for three days. On about May 10, there was a Union meeting at the American Legion hall. Don Fisher, the president of the Local got up in front of the membership and announced that the Miller boys have stayed in the plant. He said that somewhere down the line, maybe not in the plant, but his path would cross theirs. He also stated that if one of us goes down, we all go down. It was at this point that I decided that the strike was not my idea of the way to handle the dispute with the company.

     I have carefully [word crossed out and replaced with W.C.R] read the above statement and certified that the facts contained are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief.

     X W.C. Lush SR.

Sworn to, and subscribed to before me, this 15th day of august, 1985.

Marcs E. Graves, Field Examiner

This is the coolest document ever! Maybe the strikers and the non strikers never found common group and that's why the plant shut down.