home-milwaukee style

hey everyone!
i'm back in wisconsin after a very long journey home. luckily, i had some coworkers and their daughter on my flights from delhi to amsterdam and then on to detroit. it was nice to have some company, and some other brains to navigate the crazy delhi intl airport. i arrived in mke on saturday to a snowy town and brrrrr, lots of cold temperatures. i spent most of the last two days ooogling over my niece and nephew and trying to catch up on sleep.

so far things have been wonderful! i am looking forward to some friendly faces this week. and of course, the holiday shopping!

hope the holidays bring you warmth and love....
hasta pronto
b

not a creature was stirring

and all through the house, christmas draws nearer, no sitings of a mouse!

the mouse-capade that i had a few weeks ago is no longer. the little mouse friend hasn't visited good ole B8, at least, not landing on the sticky trap!

delhi continues to go well. we have 7.5 days of school until the holiday. pretty darn exciting. i wrote my first midterm exam for the high school. sometimes i still feel like i should be in high school, taking sra. rathjen's exams. let me tell you this one is a killer!

eamon arrived on saturday and we've been having a ball. just hanging out, cooking, watching movies and tonight we are headed out to dinner. crazy that this time, in 2 weeks, i'll be home.

can't wait to see everyone!
much love
b

snooze control

as december draws ever nearer....and the mornings grow ever darker...i am reminded about how much i love the snooze button. it's actually a two part snooze, as my phone conviniently snoozes long with my alarm clock. nonetheless it is quite handy to live a 5 minute walk from school, i am learning just how late i can leave and still be where i need to be on time. dont get me wrong though, i LOVE getting up early when my body says it;s ok.

fun weekend ahead. choir concert tonight. i am singing a solo in alison krause's down to the river. cool! then it's my friend tom's bday, he and isabelle are having a get together.
tomorrow we have a few parties to go to . one at the canadian high commission and another on a friend's rooftop. convinient that both are 70s parties. i got a 70s kurta made! i have to go pick it up tomorrow. then on sunday there is a big mela (market) at school! shopping! and even more exciting eamon is coming to town. we have social engagements in the evening, a friend's dinner, but he'll be around all week, which i am psyched for.

ok. HAPPY FRIDAY. and don;t lose your snooze control

glorious goa.

we knew when we stepped of the plane and looked at the bright blue sky and breathed the clean air that it was going to be great. and goa never disappointed. thinh and i spent most of our days laying on lawn chairs, and soaking up the rays. we met up with tom and isabelle (work friends) on sat. up at little vagator beach which was more stunning than our baga beach.
had some incredible seafood (followed quickly by incredible belly aches, surprise surprise) and vegged out. much much needed.
highlights? most def. the tan. and also the rave on saturday night. so very much not my scene, but i was glad to have experienced it.
check out the pics!

i survived

i survived my first, and hopefully last delhi earthquake. any earthquake is bound to feel big at 445 in the morning when you wake up shaking with your bed. it was just a little one, but provided quite the jolt of fear

goa pics and stories to come


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Strong_tremors_rock_Capital_adjoining_areas/articleshow/2570791.cms

xoxo
b

gobble gobble

happy thanksgiving.
as we sat in the teacher's lounge eating the fabulously prepared turkey (from our principal's cook) and stuffing i think of just how much i have to be thankful for.
there is something about india that really humbles you. it makes you take a step back and see just how fortunate you are, and how blessed you were to be born you. sometimes these exact humble moments really make you feel like shit, but that's india.
i'm blessed to have been adopted into a wonderful school with a fabulous staff who invite me to come over and hang out with their kids:) it is the next best thing to having my little ian and eloise. i'll take what i can get. and of course, i am SO thankful for my friends and family. seriously. what would i do without all of you? being here is half the battle, i admit that, and it is courageous and enlightening (these are your words, not mine, i don't always feel all the courageous)...but i truly couldn't do it without all of you as my anchor. reminding me that i am not really alone here, and that i do still make some semblance of sense even though my blog entries clearly show that i am in a constant state of flux.

THANK YOU!
and happy thanksgiving.
i'm going to the beach in goa. (im REALLY thankful for that:) )
all my love
b

mascarade balls and such

fabulous weekend here in delhi. i got some new wheels! i finally picked up my bike from school and took it to the bike wallah who got it all spruced up for me! riding home on my indian bike i felt a new freedom...it was amazing
shopped yesterday with my friend briar who showed me all the good fabric stores. i have moved into the time when i am ready to explore getting clothes made...quite exciting. i gave the tailor some of the fabric to get started on some kurtas for my trip to goa next week.woohoo!

my friend laura takes a dance class here in delhi, and last night was the celebration evening. so, we headed to a hotel for a lovely pool party (albeit a bit chilly). i met an old friend, captain morgan. amazing how he never ages, right?

rishikesh, rafting...

just got back from a fabulous weekend in rishikesh. went up to see my friend eamon for the diwali holiday 4 day weekend back to the camp where I went with my middle schoolers a month ago.

diwali is a fabulous hindi and nepalese holiday celebrating the return of king rama from his 14 years of exile in the forest. "Divali/Diwali" come from the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" . Deepa/dipa means "light of the dharma", and avali means "a continuous line". The more literal translation is "rows of clay lamps" (thanks wikipedia).
nonetheless the holiday was celebrated on the beach by lining the tents and the shoreline with candles, and heaps of fireworks being blasted off. it was lovely to be out of delhi where the same thing happens...reeking havoc to the environment and such.

so i spent the weekend in the sun, playing cards, rafting, enjoying campfires at night. eamon and i were able to head into rishikesh a few times too and saw the aarti ceremony, we lit some candles and floated them down the river with our sins.
to the left are veejay and eamon at the camp.

back to the valley now. marveling in holiday bliss. anticipating the next holiday and doing good work in the meantime. lots of love, b

night soil

at some point or another everyone has heard me talk about the poop problem here. read on...
ok, so clearly not everyone has time to read it. here's a smidge

Health hazard

2.6bn people in the world do not have access to a lavatory (700 million in india alone)
80% of all sickness in the world can be attributed to unsafe water and poor sanitation (i.e. the water that comes out of my kitchen sink)
400,000 Indian children die from diarrhoea every year, usually because of dirty water

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2788635.ece

marine ball.

we went to celebrate the 232rd birthday of the marines. the party itself was quite dull. the dancing and the table fun, getting ready and dressing up was quite fun though.
here is a picture of the ladies with the marines. from left to right....skye, laura (red), natalia (back), kira (green) and i

amritsar- the tales

we decided on sunday that we should eat at the temple with all the pilgrims. the world food india book suggested it (thanks kari) but presented it with a story that was almost unbelievable. here is my story, the way i experienced the golden temple and lunch.

walking into the golden temple on saturday night was magical. the magic of walking into a structure and seeing the golden temple seemingly floating in the middle of sparkling water is unexplainable. the feelings i had paralleled those of other holy places around the world. i immediately think of family, present and past, and feel an overwhelmed proximity to them, not physically but spiritually. moreover, watching the reactions of other guests arriving at their mecca, as close as they can be to their higher being. i'll never forget the feeling of the cold marble floor as we walked around and took in the temple from all four sides.

the visit the next day was a very different experience. the sheer quantity of people that were around put more guards up. the lady who tried to open my bag as she walked by didn't help either, but the magic was different. i prefer the evening. lunch was the most profound experience i have had in india. we paid our donation and went towards the kitchen with the other 2000 or so people hungry for grub.

we were handed a plate, bowl and spoon, each by a different pilgrim volunteering his time. we herded, literally, up some stairs, each person desperately hoping to not step on someone's sari or get stepped on. then we stormed into a hall with long strips of cloth delineating where people should sit. all the while, petar and i are quietly trying to decide what we should be doing and how we are going to do this without offending anyone. the next few minutes are spent cross legged among thousands of hungry sikks trying to figure out what everyone is doing. bowl here, oh that's a glass, turn your plate, move your spoon, here comes the dal, and the rice pudding. oh, the bowl is for water? water to wash our hands or water to drink? "two hands" the guy with the roti says to me and i hold my hands up to receive my other utensil, the bread.

the clanking of the kitchen is something i will never forget. the sound of constant dishes being washed by hundreds of volunteers around the clock. so that everyone who is hungry can eat, regardless of class or religion.

at the golden temple, life works. the hungry get fed, the tired sleep and the religious pray. a seemingly perfect harmony.

loneliness

sometimes having a big apartment in the diplomatic enclave just doesn't really cut it. case and point that things can never really make you happy forever. of course it's great to come home to a fabulous place, but it is so isolating too. i have always wavered on the whole alone time thing. it's not that i don't enjoy alone time, i do, because i can do things like this, but when it comes down to it, i would love to jump over to kyle's or molly's in 10 to sit on the couch and jab or eat nachos. those are the things i miss. the convinience of a small city, the luxury of a car, and a city that isn't hard to drive places. so i find myself in between two scenarios, almost always. so busy i can't keep track, or so isolated that i feel like crying. the happy balance is hard, as always, to find here in delhi.

the novelty of it all has worn off. at this point i find pure frustration in not knowing where things are, not having the umpfa to go into the market and deal with 'men's club' and not having the cushion that living some place for more than 3 months (yes, i am at least realistic) gives you.

i feel like i constantly have to make india sound like a fabulous and intriguing place, which it is, but what i fail to mention and what really digs at me the most. that india is posterchild of the 'lack of.' the land of 'tikhe' the land of 'just ok.' i think this is for you, the reader, and those who love me and want this experience to be the fabulous that it is sometimes, and retrospectively will be. summatively it's just been a tough few days.

amritsar

to really tell the story of amritsar i would need at least an hour. all i really have in me right now is 1 minute. it makes for a hard start to the week to arrive home at midnight on sunday. while there are some phenomenal pics, the chills can't quite be felt the same as they are when you are actually there. stories to come. i promise
xoxo

dear monkey...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7055625.stm

and this is how delhi gets into the news? let me tell you, on my way to school this morning ( to workout and shower due to the lack of water, again) there was a monkey giving the next door house a STARE DOWN. who knows what it was thinking about eating. they are definitely a freaky animal.

you don't know what you've got til it's gone

don't it always seem to go?
i just finished a movie, which i put on partially to comatose myself from the pure disappointment of not having any bathing water. but as i write this, i hear water pouring into the tank on my patio. and just to confirm i lifted up the lid, and sure as hell there is water. this is coming from a near week of hit and miss shower water. in 7 days i took, uh, maybe 3 showers. and the rest of the time i just bathed from the sink water. handy that my bathroom has a drain. assertiveness comes in here. i went into FMO (facility maintence) today and firmly insisted that something be done about our little water issue. the neighbors upstairs don't have it either, so there is some motivation on that end too. long story short our water is piped in from the water center every night from like 6-9. this isn't enough for all, i don't know, 9 people in this building? so usually the tanker brings water in and fills up my tank (courtesy of the american embassy school). so, the tanker has said he was coming the last 3 nights. he didn't come. some bs about flat tires, who knows. the maintenance guy at school says my lady won't let him fill up the tank (who is bs-ing now?) and my landlady says that school never chips in for the water. monkey in the middle. that is me. oooh. please share in my excitement. i just heard the pump go on. sure sign that water is currently being whisked up to the roof where i will draw my first bath from. oh yes, and in the middle of that long winded sentence, it has turned off. i think i might have to pack that gym bag and shower at school tomorrow.

nonetheless. next time you get in your shower, relish in the fact that at least in the next few years you won't ever have to worry about turning that knob and getting nothing. afterall, american bathrooms don't usually have drains.

garba- dandiya raas mahotsav

http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/NRSTAFF/710120301
this link clearly describes what i saw tonight. this is a holiday celebrated in gujarat. it involves 9 nights of dance and worship. my friend skye practiced for over a month, daily, to participate it was BEAUTIFUL!
here is a pic of the dance, skye is in the marroon outift in the middle
this is a video i took from the opening puja

karims, old delhi

karims is one of the oldest restaurants in old delhi. we took a trip down there last night to feast on meat. holy carnivorous adventure. mutton stew, leg of lamp, you name it, we ate it.the toliets here were squatters.
isabelle, scott, me and catherine
thinh and catherine on the pedi rickshaw
my first rickshaw ride!
stay tuned for videos!

beautiful ganga

i feel guilty now that i didn't mention the absolute splendor of the ganga. it was phenomenally beautiful and miraculously clean. to jump out of the boat and body surf down the ganges was something that one year ago i never would have dreamed about. to be able to spent 5 days, and to get paid for it it just a blessing. i really didn't even want to come back. if i got to choose between my 2 bedroom apt in Malcha Marg and a tent on the ganges.......well then i would really have something to blog about:) my ganga tent view
much love
xoxo

incredible india

hey. i've been hesitant to post since i've been back. seems like so much happens and choosing what to share becomes hard, and if put off enough, a bit daunting. we got back from our field trip on thursday afternoon. we spent an amazing 4 days staying on the shores of the ganga river. it is ganges in english, but ganga in hindi script. much like the pronunciation of himalaya. we stayed at an incredible base camp, the himalaya river runners. they take super good care of you, carrying your bags, prepare meals, and they keep you alive down the river. pretty impressive.

i have never rafted before. to be honest, i am not quite sure how much i like it. it rubs your booty from your swimsuit for one. and the thrill of it is sometimes breath taking...literally. there was a rapid called 'the wall.' yes, it kicked our booties. it was too dangerous for the kids, so they decided they would take us adult thrill seekers down it. of course we flipped over and i spent a good minute thinking that it wouldn't totally suck to die in the ganga if it was my time. then i found the bottom of the boat, found the supposed 'air pockets' and found my way out. jeez. my heart raced for about an hour.

we travelled via train up to hardiwar where they met us with the busses. the rest of india is just as dirty as delhi. it is the land of 'tikke,' the hindi word for 'ok.' everything is done "just enough" and never spectacular. in fact, good would be pushing it. the consensus among some of us expats is that no one in india can really be bothered to do anything about the ridiculous litter problem(don;t even get me started on the poverty). little things, like heaven forbid someone build a bathroom on the road...we just pull off the side and pee in the sugar cane. make you think twice about sugar?

either way. the words incredible india have so many meanings. i can imagine that i will continue to come up with punch lines that help me make it tolerable while i live here...and of course, to keep my frequent readers entertained.

thanks to you who are still logging in....you rock

8th grade WOW trip-Rishikesh, Ganga river

WOW-Rishikesh/ Ganges

you can see the whole album by clicking on the photo. it will take you to the picassa website.xoxo
b

hey dudes and dudettes! After a great 4-day weekend out of Delhi..I am leaving AGAIN!
this time, I am heading north to the Himalayas...and will be going on the
school's week without walls program...I will be with the 8th graders and we
will be rafting down the Ganges...i am so excited.
clearly, I will be out of contact cell phone contact from Sunday morning October 7 (5 am-yikes!) - Thursday evening October 11....
you can check for updates on our trip at ...

http://aes.ac.in/mswebsite_07/aesms/AES/

if you are interested
stories to come
xoxo

the fires are burning

it's cold here. no, not like wisco cold, but cold when you don't have doors to your house, which happens to be like, uh, 1/2 the delhi population. or so it seems on this such " ill'in on india' day." on my way to my yoga class i could feel that cool breeze drifting in....on the way home, everyone else felt it too. the reason why delhi is the most polluted city in the world? it all comes back to pobreza. the people who live in jugghis or squatter communities will burn everything and anything to get their heat on. literally. it's awful for the environment...but it's even more awful for humanity.

some days this is really just heart breaking. to see how some people live and think about how i live disgusts me. what is even a little more disgusting is how easy it is to just pack it in. just pretend that i am removed from it, even though i am literally 2 feet away from the child with no pants on the side of the road. it continues to be trying. my friend gene said it so well on his blog....made me think also...
what is it that made me lucky and them not?
the least i can do is acknowledge people. acknowledge that i was blessed with the things that i have. and acknowledge that some people were not.
at this point i offer a smile. a look in the eyes. a 'hey, i know you're human too'
after all,
how different are we?

udaipur

Udaipur

stories to come

out of office reply

sorry, i won't be around for a while. i'm on holiday! i'll be in udaipur, rajhastan for four days, and of course, celebrating gandhi's birthday.

tea hut

just got back from seeing the bourne ultimatum. fantastic movie, but hardly the topic of this blog entry.

thinh and i went a little early and bought tickets. tickets divide the classes as do many things in delhi. we sat in the 'premiere' section, which is the upper deck of the theatre. upon walking in i saw a mouse/rat scurry up the stairwell and proceeded to keep my feet above ground all movie. i wonder what the standard section looks like. but wait, there was more. when we walked into the theatre the dude pointed at our bags and told us that was not allowed. i think "what, are we supposed to go home? what a screw!" but no, he points to the tea hut. i look over, in disillusion, and ask the guy to repeat himself, as thinh tries to convince him that these are our purses. but yes, he did say tea hut, which is basically a mini smoke shack that sells candy and smokes, and keeps your bags during the movie. yeah right. you are probably thinking this is crazy. indeed, i was too! so as we approached the 'hut' we saw people retrieving their bags with coat check esque tags. seemed to be pretty legit. so low and behold we did it. handed him our bags, took out the valuables and he wrote some # on our bags in chalk and confirmed we didn't have any cash or cameras. i think "yeah guy, i am a total idiot...my bag is being put in some sketchy old refrigerator looking thing and i left all my valuables in it." all for a bargain deal...$.50. safe.

so after the movie i was half expecting that tea hut to have disappeared, flashbacks to my trip in morocco at the "restaurant" that had prepared our food before we even ordered....but it was. anti-climatic end to my story...but that's the skinny on movies in delhi.

when did vowels go out of style?

ok, so i joined facebook. it's all the rage here. i have received countless friend requests from people i don't know. some are even as poetic as this one. name and email has been deleted for privacy.

Hi........ this is *(*&^ from mumbai (india) ..1 st of all gd evening to u......am working in mumbai in mnc and am well settled single guy ...am 178 cns/35 yrs/ athletic built and cool guy....am interested in frndship with elite and good girls women of all ages who dare to have real frndship... n so am interested in frndship with u...and i assure u that u wl not regret being my frnd ..and u wl get the most of everything from our frndship and no doubt u wl be the most happy to be my frnd........so­­ if u r interested feel free to call me or mail me on &*(*() @gmail­­­.com

i don't know about you, but i am always certain to give my height and age when asking someone to be their friend.

are you sensing my sarcasm???

top ten (or so) things i don't get about india

1. my toliet sometimes doesn't have enough water to flush (especially brilliant after a #2)
2. my cell phone bill is cheaper here than at home, yet i call internationally all the time
3. tuk-tuks will sometimes refuse to take me places
4. i've been drinking out of the wrong water faucet-doh. no wonder i had so many tummy aches when i first got here
5. black dal? yellow dal? what's the dif?
6. the cheese looking thing on the salad bar that i eat up and always feel sick after eating
7. cow pies and why they are perfectly round
8. everyone carries their left overs and milk products in steel jars
9. the government. and how they allow the extreme poverty to pervade the society
10.some cows have a hump that looks like a camel hump
11. if cows are so sacred why are they eating out of the dump at every corner
12. how tuk-tuk rides will be in the winter
13. where my clothes are washed when my dhobi comes
14. my maid, when she talks to me

?????
of course, these are just today's thoughts. i thought that if i wrote them down i might, just might sleep tonight. amazing how a full head keeps you awake all night.

xoxo

power

you think you want more. you get it and want much less. as a white person here working at the school i have more resources than ever before. yet it comes with much responsibility of which i wasn't quite sure i was ready for. still not sure. yesterday there were 10 people here working on my house. i strangely feel much more adult-like here than i ever have before.

i threw a killer party last night. tons of great people came to help me ring in the new year of 27. i have no evidence of the occurance. somehow my camara decided to only document one picture of the 30 or so i took. whahappened??of course, the most elegant picture remained on my camera. this is quite late in the evening. obviously

yikes. am i really 27? we deduced that quite a few people that were here last night could be my parents...they really got a kick out of that. maybe it was india, or maybe it is something much deeper, but it really didn't feel like a birthday today. it was a great day though. my fabulous friends thinh, kendra and gene and i went to a lovely champagne brunch at claridges hotel....fueling last nights reminents and leaving me partially zombied all day. went for a little swim at the embassy and had mexican for dinner. now i am trying to stay awake to answer all the calls.

i miss home today. a lot. there is something strange about having to wait until 6pm to talk to your family. like it's not really happening until they wake up too.

this quote seems to explain so much of my day to day here...

"No one lives on top of the mountain. It's fine to go there, occasionally--for inspiration, for new perspectives. But you have to come down. Life is lived in the valleys. That's where the farms and gardens and orchards are, and where the plowing and the work is done. That's where you apply the visions you may have glimpsed from the peaks." Arthur Gordon

i suppose tomorrow i shall return to the valley....sweet dreams
xoxo

all in due time

today things started falling into place. amidst all the craziness of my day to day, i have tentatively hired a new staff member. in 1 hour she cleaned my kitchen, tidied up the place, bought and cut up fresh fruit, and didn't move a single thing around. amazing. i will actually meet her tomorrow, but for now anju, upstairs, is handling her. many people prob. wonder why help is needed. while that answer is ridiculously complicated, the skinny of it is, that between work, meetings and extra curriculars, i would never actually see india if i had to come home and clean and cook. does that sound familiar?

i got my new bed today. the icky bed buggy one is gone, and i now have a bed that my egg crate and sheets fit on. i am on cloud nine (literally). also, my birthday preps are going wonderfully well. i figured out how to order alcohol. albeit quite expensive, good friends like bacardi and tanqueray will be delivered tomorrow night. i also met with the head chef at school and we set up a little menu of finger food. what party would be complete without pigs in a blanket and paneer tikka? the one catch, and motivation i suppose, is that i need to pick it up on saturday. which of course could be done in taxi, but i am going to DRIVE! yes, my friend jen (wisconsinite) has agreed to coach me through it. shifting with the left hand, driving on the right, and the opposite side of the road. yikes!! i will need to be fully rested i suppose.


so yes, i will rest tonight more than i have in a while.
xoxo
b

bumming around

first official weekend that i truly did some bumming around. it was great to not have to spend the entire day shopping....
this pic is from a while ago....better late than never, that's thinh if you need to put a face to the name.
happy sunday/monday!!

no, it's no new gang symbol

bugs. they got me bad last night. i woke at 2am scratching like crazy. that's me, pointing to my crazy bug bites, no, it's no new gang symbol. those are just 3 of the ginormous welts on my body. there must be like 10 from last night. time to make a game plan. in addition to the bug stuff i already put on before bed i think i need to fumegate or something. if not, i could be a strong dengue contender. just kidding, kind of. i really am doing the best i can.

horn please

horn please. for real. this is what the back of trucks have painted on them.
if horns could talk in india they would say....
"hey, don't step into the road"
"get out of my flipping way"
"passing on the left"
"i just got repaired, don't i sound nice"
"&*(*#&$("
"move it"
"you're way too slow"
"i'm in a hurry"
"no reason, just bored"
"isn't this better than lane driving?"
"oops, i missed my turn and now need to cut you off"

and of course, my favorite.
"hey, pretty lady"
usually accompanied by men banging on the door out the window.

isn't india wonderful?

picture courtesy of: http://photo.net/philg/digiphotos/200103-d1-jaipur/horn-please-sign-on-back-of-truck.thumb.jpg

shipment!

my things arrived today. i'm almost all unpacked and now feeling like i can start putting up pictures, etc. it's amazing how seeing your own pots and pans gives you such a warm feeling. the smell of the clothes too, i suppose, was awesome.

i got some new furniture made for me, and the place is coming together. i am working on getting a mural painted on my wall in the dining room. figuring that is a once in india kind of thing.

found out today that there is skiing in india, believe it or not. so the shipment of my ski boots wasn't all that unrealistic. now i am thinking the skies themselves would have come in handy.

so, i have these 'duh' moments which could also be called 'aha' moments i suppose, but i must admit to not knowing that tea in hindu is chai. chai isn't some sort of spicy indian tea. in fact it is just assam or darjeeling with milk and sugar. am i the only one in the world? please laugh at me, i have already laughed at myself. another duh moment was my realization that not all diplomats are gorgeous people. was that a hollywood myth? i keep looking for beautiful people. it's just a 'freak that i am' moment.

my recent thoughts about my experience: moving to third world india is nothing like moving to madrid was. home of the cafe con leche, the croissants, the street food that wasn't prepared by poopy hands. but there is something very distinct about actually being an adult and having to figure out how to set up your life in a new place. it makes it especially trying to have to bargain for every other thing, and also to battle the 95+ heat. oh, but the glory of seeing that ocassional monkey, or eating that samosa or smelling the lovely jasmine on the way home....it's all a very fine and delicate balance. i am currently dealing with a employee issue. i'm just not all that sure about the guy who is working for me. so i am in the process, with anju upstairs who is truly my guardian angel in delhi, of exiting him. he moves stuff around to weird places, and the whole aspect of common sense is just not there. of course, i am battling big time with letting him go....not wanting his family to go hungry, etc. i need to be much stronger than i am right now. i hope i don't come back to the states a real tough gal, or perhaps that could serve me well to.

dost shubh ratri ... good night friends

commenting the blog

yes please, keep commenting! but please do write your name when you post, especially if it is in question form. otherwise i don't know who you are:)
much love
b

achha

achha means 'good' in hindi. things are indeed achha. i started hindi this week. it's tough. the problem is it just goes into my spanish brain sector and hangs out there. i keep trying to relate it, somehow to what i know. not so wise. i need to make flash cards all over again.
what else? i got a haircut here. haircuts are universal wherever you go i suppose, but this one was good, as was the massage you get with it.

choraliers started today also. it's a choral group for the school community. that means all expats i am pretty sure. nonetheless it was sundar (beautiful) to be singing in a group again. my solfege needs some word as does my sight reading.

i went out with a new friend last night. carrie and donny from portland introduced me to raj via email and we met up last night for dinner. after dinner, italian oddly enough, we went to a bar and watched the end of the england-india cricket game. raj explained the whole game to me, and we got to see a bunch of indians get all emotional over the win. it was like american football, spain soccer, you get the idea. lots of hooting and hollering. i love it!

looking forward, very much so, to the weekend. tomorrow is delhi black, an expat party at a club...attire is, you guessed it, black. there is rumor that i might get my sea shipment on saturday, let's just say i am not holding my breath. when it does come i will be thrilled. reunited with old things. how darn materialistic? nah. just a taste of home.

much love to the west....or east, wherever you are.
xoxo
tomorrow milenge (until tomorrow, it is ok to use english words according to my teacher)

neemrana pics

Neemrana

it's raining.

these are the monsoon rains i suppose. they have been holding off until today, perhaps they could continue as to bring some more cool air our way. i just got back from an overnight stay at neemrana fort palace. school arranges this trip every year as a way for staff to get to know one another, relax and get out of the city. is is about 100 km southwest....in rajhastan. it was a 17th century fort that has been converted into what they call a "non-hotel." it was absolutely breathtaking, literally and physically. it is set within a hillside so there are stairs everywhere. but the views that it offers are some of the most incredible you have seen. i spent my 2 days laying by the pool, chatting with new colleagues, trying to read, and eating. it was delightful.

getting out of delhi is refreshing. going to this resort was great, but yet again, not very 'india.' i mean, if you think that being waited on by locals really gives you a down home good feeling, i suppose you might think it was india. for me it was still a tourist attraction, which i am beginning to realize is a little bit more of what my life is like.

very few people have indian friends. especially opposite gender indian friends. in fact, most people are very quick to tell you that the only reason indians want to get to know you is because your white. this i understand, somewhat. but i keep questioning whether there isn't that same preference anywhere you go? and that being in a pretty homogeneous cultural country (per se. i know that is a whole other bag of worms) just exaggerates it? while i know why people say it, i don't want to believe that any type of relationship i form here is based on my skin color.

the longer i am here, the less i understand about india. there is just no way to describe the rich cultures and traditions that exist. people are rooted in tradition that i cannot begin to understand yet.

lovely modem lights

it works. finally my internet works in the comfort of my home! well, the comfort part might be slighted by the drips i just felt coming from the air con, but nonetheless those lovely modem lights are a blinking, and it is just pure bliss.

we had back to school night tonight. gotta love it. the first class i must have looked like a deer in headlights. they are much quieter than their kids, let me tell you. there is something so different about speaking to adults than to kids. especially when you know half of these people are VIPs.

this weekend i am heading to neemrana on a school retreat. school just arranged it, there aren't any mtgs or anything. the plan is relaxing and more relaxing. perhaps a spa treatment or two?
i plan on finishing my book....eat, love, pray by elizabeth gilbert...and getting some sun.

filiz and jon come back tomorrow for friday and sat. and they are off again sunday. they narrowly missed the agra riots...and are flying back from varanasi tomorrow.
that's it for now. i'm off to bed. bedtime just keeps getting later and later.

dreaming of more blogging, and capturing the beauty of india....

reach out

every thursday at aes is reach out day. on this day the gates allow the kids and adults from the jugghi come in and participate in amazing activites. for parents, there are doctors. and for kids, wow it's really just amazing. everything from hair-washing and nail painting to ring toss around an archie magazine...tutoring, puzzlemaking, cleaning up scrapes and bruises....you name it. the high school students are the volunteers as are the staff. i will take pictures next week:)
internet is supposedly working at home? we'll see tonight...

covered up!

yes, indeed, my curtains have arrived and been installed. hallelujah. now the dhobi can't look into my windows while i bring him my laundry. as you probably imagined my internet is not working at home. figures doesn't it? one thing at a time. i am going to talk to the maintenance guys this week and ensure that the connection is consistent and conducive to my blogging desires.
this week was good. felice and jon got in on tuesday night and were in delhi until yesterday. as imagined, they have seen far more of delhi than i have. we actually went to the indira gandhi memorial museum here. it is at the residence she lived at, and also, sadly where she was assassinated in 1983 (or4). she was the prime minister of india for many many years. although she has the same surname, she was not related to mahatma gandhi. she was part of the nehru family, who shared similar political and social views as m.,gandhi. the families were friends.
it was nice to get out and see a sight. my weekends have been spent trying to make my place into a home...and little by little it is happening. my friend maureen keeps reminding me that it doesn't all need to get done in the first few months.

this weekend we went to a club called laidback waters for dinner, and saw the mixings of midival punditz. i have never seen a more packed club. it was ridiculous hard to weave through the crowd. luckily we had this upstairs area reserved for us. last night i went over to a colleagues house for drinks and then we went to dinner. very fun.

today i am just catching up on email and grading at school. heading down to the field in a few minutes for a game of ultimate. speaking of ultimate...you can't even imagine the ridiculous heat of delhi today. i might actually sweat of 10 pounds during frisbee. hey, bring it on!

i miss everyone dearly...but this place is starting to feel a little more like home everyday. always good when you can actually tell the tuk tuk driver how to get to your house.
ok, one more tangent. the auto rickshaws must be plotting some evil scheme against me. every single tuk tuk that i took this weekend died midride, leaving us in the middle of the road getting honked out by greater delhi.
i still have faith in the autorickshaw...for now~
pictures are from the museum. sorry, couldn't figure out how to flip it.

xoxo

ins or outs?

monday nights rule. i love the little g-chats that i get to do when everyone arrives to work on monday morning. mondays are especially great when kind 'kr' is sharing their wireless with me.

ooh. what a few days it has been. i have been thinking about how exactly to go about sharing this next entry....when i got the job back in feb. barb, my MS principal, told me about the squatters that live outside gate 3. i have been intrigued to see what it is like. yesterday, i ventured into the 'jugghi.' my friend warren (AES 5 yearer from chitown) took me to find the tailor so i could get some pillows made. i was nervous, all day, about the trip. not sure what i would see, who would see me, the normal becky gets nervous about new things bit. the jugghi, let me tell you, is amazing.

props to warren for helping me with the following history...
50 years ago when AES was being built migrant laborers came in from the 'villages' (not yet clear on exactly where or what these villages are) to work. during construction they set up camp across the road, on what is diplomatic land of some sort (unclear who it really belongs to). nonetheless, when the construction ended the workers thought that life there was better than in the villages and they began building what is essentially a little city in itself. it is probably about 13 acres of land, although i can't confirm that. walking through there was unreal. everything is made from scraps. there is one guy who even has a tile terazza and apparently a marble countertop in his kitchen! far out. nonetheless it is a little maze of lots of life. the energy running through there was so positive towards us. this positivity stems from the generosity and thoughtfulness that AES offers to it. just to list a few of the amazing things is the intern positions that they open up to graduating seniors interested in computers, the uniforms, the library, and the girl's study hall room. i know that everyone wants to see pictures, but until i have the nerve to ask if it is ok, i am going to refrain. it seems like too much of a violation.

the pics i have included are the walk up to my house and a house i see on the walk to school.
xoxo

dramatic

hi everyone. thanks for the concerns. sorry i haven't been blogging. it's been a super busy week. if you can believe it every night this week had some sort of activity to participate in. i actually had to work (sigh) all week! acutally, that is a lie, indian independence day was wednesday, so no school.

the other sigh-able is that my home internet is NOT working, gasp! i figured that my 'free' wireless internet was mine, and it was until... approx. wednesday evening. so obviously, the blog has suffered. there is nothing all that satisfying about coming to school on a sunday, but heck, you gotta do what you gotta do.

this week at school we had back to school night at the high school. it was a "day in the life" format, so i had parents for periods of 10 minutes. of course i was nervous, and of course i didn't pee in my pants or any of the other atrocious things i think about before those events.

hmm, what else? i have already acquired quite a few textiles. last weekend i went to sarojini market and got two cool pieces, and last week bob, our director, had a textile party. much like a carpet party, if you have ever been to one of those. long story short, if you need some textiles, let me know, they are in abundance here.

spent the weekend shopping and lesson planning. trying to make my apt. a little more homey and preparing for felice and jon's arrival, yes my first VISITORS! woohoo. i can't wait to see them.

i promise to be more consistent with the blog once my internet gets put in. or perhaps my generous neighbor will reconsider the sharing of the wireless? if only i knew who 'NETGEAR' was!

needing something to do during that busy sunday of yours? check out udaipur and neemrana, my first vacation spots.

FYI

out of the 13 girls i encountered on the way to school friday 11 were wearing braids. my answer is yes, to braid.

blurred lenses

so walking home from school is quite an interesting site. first off, hearing kids talk about their drivers is one thing. another thing is seeing the ridiculously huge suvs that pull up and pick these kids up.
scene I: i left my after school responsibility activity, and ran into a staff kid who was telling me all about clay club. she's going to photography tomorrow and then wants another art. she is in MIDDLE SCHOOL. i walk out of the gates and am flabbergasted at all the big cars that my students are getting into. so i walk further down the road, and see the female indian workers working on our school renovation wearing their saris and their hard hats. they were probably laughing at my salwar pants, which i am very westernly wearing with a target t-shirt
i realize now that there is no scene II. so, i'll post a pic. i call this one "sturdy?"
xoxo

ALL FIXED!

happy friday. my phone is broken. on the off shot that you were thinking about calling me (allie you rock!) please call my house phone....if you don't have my # and felt an urge to buy a phone card, email me!
all my love
b

to braid or not to braid

beautiful sunset tonight. smelled like rain, but alas, no rain. i include the following picture to pose a question that i ask myself everyday when i am walking to school. to braid, or not to braid? there is something inexplicable about the braids in the hair of the young indian girls on their way to school. is it mandatory? comfortable (i know that the answer is no), or is it just the style? can a school really mandate a hairstyle?

back at AES we don't require any sort of hairstyle. the popular, amongst my korean students is the bleach blond. quite cute. their names, however, are killing me. i am doing all that i can to try to pronounce them right. they are very patient with me.

i was at the high school today. i LOVE it. the pace, the humor, and the high stakes make it challenging and funny for me. i never thought that 85 minutes couldn't be enough, but it flies by~my students are totally sweating me. they are totally freaked that i speak spanish all the time. despite the one thousand and one gestures that i do daily, some seem to be convinced that they can't to it. oh, yes, the can. check out our blog ( am i addicted? ) to see what we have covered in a mere day.
http://aesespanol1.blogspot.com/
it's phenomenal

so now, i leave you to ponder the braids, while i go finish harry potter. finallY!
xoxo

my horoscope today...

Even with the current conflict between your head and your heart, you can still feel a deep sense of well-being that is most welcome in your life now. It doesn't matter what you should be doing today; self-indulgence may win out over your responsibilities. So, why bother fighting the inevitable? Go ahead and play today; life's too short not to enjoy it.

you know you're living in india when....

part I.
you're cleaner comes down and tells you in hindi/english with a written note that i need to wake up at 530 and go outside to flip the water pump switch on. hmm. very interesting. i think that means we are running out of water.
better shower quickly? tonight i'm off to dinner for my friend jackie's going away party. she tried school for a day and hated the kids, so she is leaving. ha. JUST KIDDING. she was interning all summer and heading back to harrrrvard.
xoxo

1st day. whoop whoop.

ok. it totally rocked. waiting for the other shoe to drop? maybe not this year! amazing how smooth a school can really run. i genuinely loved the day. we had all blocks so it was a little hectic, and my feet hurt, but all in all i really enjoyed it.
high school is such a marvelously new challenge. the kids have such spunk. i'm teaching kids from everywhere: sweden, australia, s.korea, england....
even a few fighting illioni.
tomorrow is just my 6th grade blocks. one of my classes has 5 kids. hmmm.
xoxo

the truman show

my life is kinda like the truman show. everyday i leave the house and my guard opens the gate and gives me a nod. i walk further down the street and say good morning to every guard, they respond with a half bow, one-handed prayer-esque salutation and i am on my way. i turn right and say hello to the men in the corner house on their porch watching the dogs run around, and then i pass the flower shop wallah who says good morning madam. i actually just learned tonight that jatin, my helper, is friends with the dude. he actually replaced my dead flowers with new ones, but they look a little dead too...hmm. i guess he takes the rejects and brings them to me. thoughtful. he has good energy. back to truman though...so i walk down rajdoot marg and see the young children going to school, and the young boy and his mom...mom will not yet acknowledge me, perhaps she will warm up? predictability is indeed quite nice.

last night thinh and i went out with kendra and gene to rpm. pretty sure that we were shaking our booties with some high school kids, but we figured that we should go there and check it out before the kids actually knew we were teachers. it was a very fun night.

this morning thinh and i went up to connaught place. i am figuring that if you have come to delhi, you only know connought place. it's in the lonely planet guide and that's about all it references in delhi. it was very CROWDED and stinky. el stinkerino. great shopping though and lots of places to eat. then we went back to our default happy place, khan market. khan rocks. we went back to the market cafe for coffee and ice cream. i really need to stop spoiling myself...

hmm, now i am back at home. visited the fruit cart outside my house, anju came down to introduce myself to the guy. i bought a papaya? me feeling pressured to by something. now i will probably spend 20 minutes looking up how to actually cut that papaya. silly me. anju is continually awed at my inability to prepare food. where are the lean pockets? i mastered those.

tomorrow i am off to school to work and to swim. have to check out the aes pool before all the youngins come and pollute it. bless chlorine.

india notes for the day: curd=yogurt the guard thanks god for the light when he turns it on
and fabindia rules!
xoxo,b

no pics today, sorry

so today we finally got desks in our room, my office ALMOST has air-conditioning and i got some rupees exchanged for my check. score one for me. my most productive day yet. the week was busy and flew by. we are getting ready to go down to TGIF in the Hall of Peace. All staff, it should be fun. THinking about hitting up the embassy later, finally got our ACSA (american community support association?) cards so we can go to the store and the bars and restaurants. it's even cooling off here! well, at least this morning it was a cool 79. who ever thought i would say that?
many have asked about indian food. the only indian food i could really identify is nann, the bread, and dal, the lentil. i don't know the names of anything else. in all honesty, when i go out i usually opt for non-indian food. we get food in the canteen here at school for a super deal. it's always some type of dal and some type of veggie, usually with something curry-like. my opinion is changing of indian food.
on another note, i got my permit of indian residency yesterday. so, conveniently, i can spend all the time i want at home (MKE) in the summer. yippee.
looking forward to a shopping weekend and some much needed harry potter time.
xoxo

ooops. it's called a tika

my first TIKA, no, it's not a bindi. i learned this today. today was the first all faculty meeting at school. the staff was introduced, asked to come on stage where we were adorned with the kumkum and a flower garland. most people washed it off after, i welcomed it on my face. partially for the glam,but mainly for it's convenient covering of a HUGE mosquito bite i have on my third eye. in fact i have big mounds all over me. oh so kindly, everyone reminds me i really want to avoid them. well duh! i have heard of malaria and dengue. so, i have NO lesson plans, no air conditioning in my office, and really no idea how to teach spanish....so things should get exciting here in the next few days. for now i think i will relax a little, and revel in my kumkum.
xoxo

link to VIDEO! rickshaw ride

the best i could do for now was a link. i guess a zillion other people have done videos on rickshaws too. mine sucks in comparison, but i still think i am pretty cool.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-6021819130524607303&q=rickshaw+ride+delhi&total=44&start=10&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=8

i would love to know who is checking the blog out. many many people have the address...please don't hesitate to post a comment. you don't need to set up an account anymore to do so. would love to hear from you!
xoxo

mmmm.

the head nod. it looks like the head is going to just roll over and drop off. it means, yes mamm, or ok, or, i suppose so. it is a very indian thing i guess. you can't really understand it until you see it.

life is great. things are getting easier by the day. i decided yesterday that i needed to continue asking questions, but take the answers very loosely. everyone has their own interpretation of living in delhi. some people have decided to let other people do more of the everyday chores for them. while jatin does my cleaning, i have still decided to do my shopping, so that i get a feel for the city. thin and i decided tonight over dinner that next year we would volunteer to come a week early and help the new hires with everything.

my shipment was just silly. i can find everything i need here, for sure. it definitely takes more work, no target or anything close to it. you can see on my pictures the market that i have been to several times already, khan market. it has everything. you just need to look. fabindia is a fabulous place for textiles. they have beautiful comforters and table linens. cannot wait to start decorating.

the more i comfortable the more i really start to see. like in the bathroom just now, i saw a little gecko running on the ground. i'm sure they've been around. just haven't seen them yet.

school is great too. haven't quite thought about anything there outside of the alloted time, little by little. i got my satelite tv installed yesterday. watched the birdcage last night. just got some water and diet coke delivered.

off to bed now. check out the pics!
http://picasaweb.google.com/rebeccagalvan/July2007
xoxo

monkeys

monkeys are crazy. i was walking to school this morning and saw a family of at least 10 monkeys walking across rajdoop marg. a few had baby monkeys on their backs and they were just trotting across the street. i got some pics. sorry, please be patient, they will take a few weeks to upload.

spent the morning in meetings. then went out for lunch and to the market. I LOVE THE MARKET. it was quite nice. i have now moved from instant to brewed coffee. yippEE! i bought a coffee pot and some indian coffee. amazing how little things make it feel so much like home. the market is an acquired liking. i presume that once you know where things are, and who to talk to, life becomes quite easy here. already amazing how less stress there is in a daily life, even despite the daily challenges.

i hired jatin to help me with the housework. he works upstairs for my neighbor anju and her family. today we had incomunicato parts I and II. he speaks hindi, i speak english. oh, it is very interesting. he bought some cleaning supplies and really does amazing work. i could speak at length about hiring help in india, it has its own customs and procedures.

after the market and unloading my goods i showered up and went back to school to the director's house for TGIF. hallelujah. international teachers like happy hour as much as i do. catered snacks and bartenders. they really know how to do it up here!

tomorrow we have a tour of delhi! yes! can't wait.
hasta pronto.
xoxo

home!

travel this link if you want to see where i am living. i actually life west of rajdoop marg in the circle that looks like a triangle...
http://www.google.com/maps?q=New+Delhi,+Delhi,+India&sa=X&oi=map&ct=title,
thanks dad!

call me, cheap!

https://www.relianceindiacall.com/
check out this website if you are thinking about becoming a frequent caller. frequent callers rock!

feeling much better;. just went out to a nicer restaurant than i would go to in the states. the smokehouse grill. nummy risotto. braved a salad too. my stomach should start little by little adjusting to india i believe.

ok, off to bed.
xoxo

my big tv is small!

51 inch must mean 51 centimeters.

day two

day two started a little rocky. my apartment has some indian intricacies that i am still learning about, immensely. my apartment (and most of delhi) loses electricity at several times a day, so it takes a few minutes for my inverter to kick in. the time between energy loss and the inverter is passed with many beeps, which drove me to partial craziness last night. lack of sleep and newness was the cause for my grump. on top of that i got lost on the way to school today. figures. i found myself at the chinese embassy. hmm. that wasn;t right? people were very helpful on the street and helped me soon find my destination. nonetheless i arrived at my meeting late, and quite sweaty. the heat, again, is significant.

today we toured campus, had 'how to' and 'who to' meetings, and spent a lot of time walking around in herds. we ate lunch at school, and then i went to the middle school meeting. my schedule is quite interesting. i teach 3 classes at the middle school, in 2 different classrooms, every other day. my other two classes will be at the high school on the even days. we are on a 8 period block schedule. confusing, indeed.

most of my day i found myself choking back tears. everyone seems to really find normalcy in everything and i am not there yet. the balance between new city, new apt., and new school is overwhelming, expected of course.

after all meetings i ran into maureen, who will share spanish at the middle school and her classroom with me...i introduced her to my neighborhood, and she helped me find my way home. amazing that it took me 3 minutes to get home and about 25 to get there this morning.

i think i am going to take a nap now. rohit, rachael canter's boyfriend, is coming to pick me up at 8 for dinner and drinks. i am excited to get out of the neighborhood and see more of delhi. my neighborhood is wonderful and i am excited to explore more.

amazing how i feel very less-abled i in this situation. ion. AES makes everything so simple for us that you almost begin to feel like you aren't capable of doing things on your own. this is leading to my frustrations as well. i bet it doesn't make a whole lot of sense in writing either.

i am looking forward to meeting the regular staff, and of course, getting my access card to the commissary. i haven't even attempted to buy food yet. again, my lack of ableness feelings.

i can't even explain what a treat it is to get online and communicate. it is, at this point, my saving grace. a place to try and communicate what goes through my head everyday.

as always, hope this finds you well.
xoxo

is toliet paper really expensive?

ok. day one. am i really in india? the driver picked me up this morning, not until after poonam showed up inquiring about employment however, and took me to the director's house for the new hire breakfast. very nice. he lives on campus, which is about 4 blocks from my house in malcha marg. malcha marg is the name of the neighborhood and the biggest street that runs through it. i live on B street. we toured the INCREDIBLE campus and had some long informative sessions. yawn. everyone is a little jet lagged. we went to lunch at the embassy. note to self: NO CAMARAs in the embassy. after that we went to khan market: a conglomoration of everything you would find at freddies, split up into about 1000 little stores. it's crazy, i heard jay-z in the passport photo place, you need passport photos for everything in this international loop. then i got dropped of here at B8 MM. ran out of toliet paper, hence my first trip to 'the market.' lots of people. lots of little stores. after scanning all my options i turned around and went back to the first stall, the garg store. i am not yet assertive enough and had about 5 people jump ahead of me. ah, the patience begins. mr. garg was very nice, asked if i lived in MM and told me that he could, in the future, deliver anything i needed. not quite sure about that. his toliet paper was very expensive. i think i got ultrapulsh tp.

it's so hot here. hot and humid. brow sweat within seconds of leaving my apt. but everything is very lush. i have a fabulous garden out front. i suppose i have a gardener that is charging his hours as we speak. so many many things to find out.

it's dinner time here, i will cook the lasagna that was left in my fridge for me. then i think i need a harry potter fix, and a good night sleep.

the pic is the plaque on my door and my front patio.

baskets on the wall!

hey everyone. i got here yesterday. met tons of great people on the plane ride over and was greeted with a lovely, fragrant garland. i am living off campus, big surprise, in a neighborhood called malcha marc (sp.?) in the diplomatic enclave of delhi. i am about 4 blocks from campus. my apartment is RAD. it is huge! 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, living room, dining room, front green space and back cement porch. big kitchen too. i have wireless in my apt. very handy! and the couches are ORANGE. it couldn't be more perfect. no baskets on the ceiling...no real weirdness at all. i am thrilled. i will email more later with my new address, phone numbers etc.
all my love!!

where's waldo?

i leave tomorrow. who knew it would come so fast? i just finished packing up all my stuff...i am prepared to spend several minutes tomorrow stuffing extra stuff i find in every last inch of my bags. note to self, check and make sure the handle in the suitcase works before you pack. woops. at least there will be someone to help me at the airport! today was filled with many many questions. basically my brain is a little numb, still not quite sure about a lot of things that i will find. ah, the glory of travel and new places! that's me in my american embassy school polo shirt that i will wear to the airport tomorrow. there will be at least 10 other new hires in chicago with the same shirt on. where's waldo? next blog...INDIA!!! xoxo

packrat, that is me~

after two long weeks in mexico with 10 middle schoolers (sigh) i made it back to portland in one piece (kind of). we jumped in the car, literally, and started the long haul home. i think we made record time! we left on sunday at 11am and pulled into milwaukee on tuesday at 6pm just in time for summerfest fun!
the last week has been a whirlwind. it's hurry up and see everyone before you go mode. it's kinda exhausting.
the movers came today to survey my upcoming move. 48 cft is smaller than it would seem...i have to start making some decisions about what to leave behind, and where to leave it also! i had to go through my closet and throw away years upon years of stuff i left here. packrat, that is me~
so tata for now, hasta pronto

coming soon...

welcome everyone to my blog!
as you probably know by now i am moving to india in july. i have been hired by the american embassy school teaching spanish to 6th graders and juniors in high school. i'm pretty jazzed about the whole thing. struggling now to finish my thesis and pack all my stuff. my arrival in delhi will surely throw some curb balls my way. hope you'll stay posted!