There is so much to be said about how one is introduced to a place and the indelible impressions it leaves on your mind as a result. One visit, to the wrong part of a country, and it shapes your entire sentiment toward not just the entire place, but also to the people. 

I can say for sure this is what happened with me and Chile. Even after 10 years I still have no interest in visiting again. It’s not even about getting robbed that put me off. It’s a combination of both the overall menacing energy and the terrible food. 

You know how they say that we may forget the things people do to us, but we’ll never forget the way they made us feel? I think that applies to countries as well. 

Never mind all the details, which eventually fade into the background. Never mind all the sights and smells, the sounds of incessant blaring horns or piercingly loud ambulance sirens; the buzz of the city or the silence of the mountains. At the end of the day, our unconscious decision to like or dislike a place is all about the way we felt while we were there. And this doesn’t just come from the people. 

It’s a permeating underlying energy that sits just beyond all of that, directing the activities you do, the people you meet, and helping you create a frame of reference that guides your relationship with it it all. That can take you either way. In my case, with India, had I come first to Kolkata, I don’t know that I would have created such a positive image of India in my head. Even knowing that it’s a very big country, it still ends up become a grander association by default. I’m glad mine was a good one. 

There’s such a massive difference in energy between Rishikesh and Kolkata. And even between Kerala and Kolkata. My trips in India have taken me all the way north, all the way south and now all the way east. I can’t say each experience has been vastly different from the other, but certainly Kolkata has been vastly different from the others. It’s a bustling city with a Newtown area that boasts fancy new buildings that house mostly tech companies, banks, and schools. Further in the real town, it’s hard to notice anything other than the bleeping of cars, motorbikes, and rickshaws, polluting not just with sound but also the air. It’s over 100 degrees most days with a forecast of sunny, but I can’t say I’ve ever actually seen the sun. It seems to always be hidden behind a veil of what I assume is pollution, making the heat feel more like trapped air than sunshine. 

I am glad I am here with a purpose, as is usually the case with India. But I don’t feel compelled to explore much beyond the walls of the hotel and the school where I am doing my training. It’s my first full weekend here and I just want to stay inside and relax with either Netflix or the Sims. I completed my hefty load of school work in time to allow me to do just that. So that is exactly how I spent my Sunday.