Did my India trip really have to coincide with the release of Eat, Pray, Love?
I can safely say without any exaggeration on my part that the number one question I’ve been asked since returning from my trip abroad has been, “Was it like Eat, Pray, Love?”
My answer? Um… Well, I ate lots of chicken nuggets and Subway since Indian food and my stomach don’t get along. I prayed every day that one of India’s frequent power outages would not occur while I was in the elevator, and as far as love goes? Well, that’s a little more complicated.
In case you were beginning to think that I was just a pathetic sap who could just not seem to move on from her ex, I will take this opportunity to announce to the world (or at least my limited group of readers) that I engaged in my first post-breakup sexual liaison in India. And because I believe every experience should be a learning experience, even sharing a twin sized bed with a Midwestern American foreign exchange student, here are the lessons I brought back to the USA:
1. Kisses on the forehead don’t signify true love. For ages, I attributed his kisses on my forehead with reason number one for why I knew my ex was “the one.” But one night while my fling was studying and I was unsuccessfully trying to stay awake for moral support, he leaned over and kissed me on the forehead. I’ve realized that I must just be hella cute when I’m sleepy or they are trying to gently wake me because I’ve begun to snore.
2. When I first broke up with my ex, my best friend, a psychology major, tried to explain to me that there is a chemical that is released when you are around someone you are getting down with that gives off a dopamine-like reaction. I rolled my eyes. But even though my feelings for my rebound could only be described as lukewarm, I found myself getting all excited to see him after the first time we hooked up so I can only assume he was fucking with my brain chemicals. It could have also been the fact that he was..ahem… well-endowed and had an amazing swimmer’s body.
3. Sometimes when you think you miss that special someone, what you really are missing is just being affectionate with someone. Usually when I’m lonely or it’s been a long day and I just want to be held, my mind zooms straight ahead to my ex. I now realize that, at least in that aspect, he really is interchangeable. Of course nothing beats being held by someone you really love, but I’m starting to think that I’d take cuddling with a hookup over alternating between cuddling and fighting with a boyfriend any day.
