Is this India or London?

I'm so glad I went the chill family route for spring break. While everyone else is gallivanting around Europe, I'm spending five days with family in London, and then the rest of break with my parents and Neeraj in Barcelona.

I think the combination of no Friday classes and frequent travel means my mind doesn't really comprehend that this is spring break. Nonetheless, now that I have two exams and a paper due in the days right after we get back to school, I'm probably going to be studying more over the break than I actually have during the school year.

Anyways, one of the things I was most looking forward to was some home-cooked Indian food. Now I've gotten lucky with food in Spain and have been eating wonderfully the past two months, but I was so excited to finally be able to satisfy my chai and chapatti craving this week. And boy have I been able to. Saag, paneer, chai, chicken curry, dal, you name it and I've had it. But it's not just Indian food that I'm getting here. Rishi told me that Hounslow is the biggest Indian community outside of India, and walking around here you can definitely tell. I knew that London had lots of Indians, but I don't remember seeing this many Indian restaurants, grocery stores and people last time we were here. It's actually been kind of nice, seeing as I'm pretty sure me and the owners of the internet cafe across the street from my Madrid apartment are the only brown people in Spain.

Yesterday Rama auntie and I stayed in Hounslow and did some shopping. Last night I went out with Rishi and some of his friends to celebrate the birthday of one of his work collegues. These past few weeks I feel like I've been living the life I imagined for my 22- or 23 year-old self, and I'm starting to surprise even myself when I have to say that I'm only 20 years old. Oh well, I guess it's better to be young and still have that life to look forward to than the reverse.

Today Rishi and I went to the London Eye. Despite the gray skies, the view, especially of the winding Thames and Westminster Abbey, was quite nice. Either tomorrow or Monday, Rama auntie and I are going to the British Museum, since that's basically the only important thing in London I haven't yet seen.