When I complained about this to my parents, they just laughed and told me that I should make more friends and that maybe one day I would be the one accidentally disturbing the neighbors. Lo and behold, they were correct.
The next day, my wonderful lab advisor threw another goodbye party for me at her apartment along with the rest of my labmates. A couple of days prior, I had presented the results of my nine months of research on the brains of hoverflies to my labmates. I felt proud of all that I have learned and discovered in this relatively short time span. I arrived in India trained in neuroscience, with little to no background in ecology. My labmates and lab advisor taught me about oikos, the Greek word meaning "household" from which the word "ecology" is derived. Ecology is the study of the house, this Earth, in which we live. I learned to explore neuroscience through the unique lens of an ecologist and naturalist. I will carry on this piece of advice from my advisor: "Think like a fly and you'll be okay."
When I returned to my hostel room from the party, I stayed up all night packing my belongings before driving to the airport. Sitting at my gate and reflecting upon my adventures with hoverflies and dear friends over the past nine months, I uttered out loud and with great feeling the only phrase that could begin to capture the enormity of my experiences: "Thank you."
