A Turtle in India

TODAY

2008-04-14T07:03:00.000-07:00

I made it home safely after being in transit for over 40 hours. Our flight from Mumbai to Heathrow was delayed and we didn't end up leaving until around 4:00 AM. By the time we arrived in London, we'd missed our connecting flight to New York. This actually turned out to be a blessing because it gave us a chance to stretch our legs a bit. The airline put us on the next available flight and gave us cash vouchers to get food and stuff. I spent mine on my favorite British digestives.

After three hours in the airport, we finally boarded, but then sat on the runway for over an hour due to that damn English fog. During the 10-hour flight I watched lots of movies and read one of the great books I'd picked up in India. We landed at JFK around 3:00PM - four hours later than we were supposed to. And naturally, with all the flight confusion, my luggage didn't arrive with us. But it was all good. British Airways promised to have someone deliver it to my house the next morning (which they did!) and it was one less thing to load into the car.

Elizabeth's husband, Adam, met us and we all piled into his station wagon just as the snow began to fall. Apparently it did not snow once the whole time we were gone. Traffic was horrific and it took nearly two hours to get to their house. Wolf made his way down and met us there, but because of all the snow and ice, it took us over an hour to get back home.

When we finally did arrive, it was well after 8:00 PM. I don't think I've ever been happier to be home! Wolf had gotten me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and a card letting me know that: From now on, Valentine's Day will be February 12 - the day my Love came home to me.

Sigh. He truly is a keeper.

I took a 45-minute shower. Then we ordered Chinese food and cuddled on the couch. It was a perfect evening. I was home.

* * *

The following week, I met up with the team for a reunion at Chand Palace where we swapped photos on DVD and reminisced about our life-changing journey. Rajiv had a great time in Goa and took a train trip up to Mumbai a couple days later. Bernie made it to the Taj Mahal but had his shoes stolen outside of a temple. We laughed a lot and promised to stay in touch.

Three months later, I find myself settled back into my life and familiar routines. I've been in touch with many of the friends I made in India. Poonam and I exchange old-fashioned letters by mail, and have spoken on the phone a couple times. I called Gadag on March 12 for Mohan's birthday, and Wolf got a chance to "meet" them as well.

Alpana and Sujit made their first journey to the U.S. at the end of February to visit Sujit's sister in Boston. They phoned me a couple times while they were here, and sent me photos upon their return. They found it to be terribly cold!

I've received lots of emails from host families all along the way. They've all invited me to come back and to stay with them longer. I have a very good feeling I will return to India!

Last Monday, the GSE team from India arrived at Newark airport and Bernie, Rajiv and I were among the group of Rotarians waiting to meet them. They're spending their first couple weeks in the western area of New Jersey, and will arrive by me on Monday, April 21.

And as a newly-inducted member of the Parsippany Rotary Club, I get the honor of hosting the lovely Rajani for a week! I'm hoping I can be half as gracious as my hosts were to me.

India was an amazing adventure. The experience changed my life and opened my eyes. Despite the differences in language, dress, religion and cooking, I found that we're all very similar on the inside. I think if everyone in the world had the opportunity to spend a month in a different country, there would be a lot more tolerance and a lot less war. There'd be a lot less "us and them" and a lot more "we."

As I said in my speech at the district conference in Hubli, "On January 14, I arrived as an American in India. And it is my honor to return to America as an Indian."

I will do my very best to keep India a part of me. And I know that one day I will return to the land that holds a piece of my heart. Not to get it back -- but to leave a little bit more of it there.

Monday, 11 February - 11:45 PM

2008-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

We've finally arrived at the Mumbai airport after a very long day. We're all checked in and have nearly three hours to wait until we take off.

I got up this morning and had breakfast with my hosts. Around 10 AM we went to visit a school for special-needs kids. DGs Elizabeth and Bazil were there and it was nice to have one last chance to thank them and say our goodbyes. After that, Misty, Elizabeth, Bernie and I went to the Goa airport. Rajiv is planning to spend a little more time in Goa (I'm sure it has nothing to do with the lovely Rajani!)

Our flight to Mumbai was delayed, and as we were sitting and waiting, I had a great conversation with an older British couple.

Waiting to leave Goa.

When we landed in Mumbai, we girls said our goodbyes to Bernie. He was off to board a plane to New Delhi and had plans to visit Agra and the Taj Mahal. Now we were three. One of the Indian GSE team members, Koustubh, met us after we claimed all our luggage. We loaded everything into his tiny car and squeezed ourselves into the back seat.

"How many Americans can you fit
in the back of an Indian car?"

After leaving all our bags at his apartment, Koustubh took us around Mumbai. We went to a book and music store, and then we met up with his brother and sat in a pub, killing time. We had about five hours until we needed to check in at the airport and because of the unbelievable traffic, we really couldn't go anywhere too far without the risk of missing our flight. So we just sat and talked and had a nice, mellow time.

We went back and picked up our stuff from Koustubh's apartment, and made it to the airport by 10:30 PM. It was an absolute mob scene. Koustubh and his friend literally bribed one of the airport workers to let us cut in front of about 300 people and check in.

"What just happened?" I asked him.
"Ah, no worries. Please come." Standard reply.

I was stopped at the security scanner and asked to open my suitcase (which was so full, I was praying it would not burst open) Apparently they thought my Steri-Pen was a bomb! We went through immigration and are now all settled in chairs. We can't even go to our gate until 1:00 AM.

Comfy chairs at Mumbai airport.

"Yoga-Sleeping" 3:00 AM

I'm tired and ready to go home. I wanna see Wolf. I'm excited to see all the pictures I've taken along the way. Each time my memory card fills up, I've been dumping them onto Rajiv's laptop. I think I am going to miss my teammates more than I realize. I can't believe I have spent just about every waking second of the past 30 days with these once-strangers. I can't believe we got along as well as we did.

What a month it's been. What a trip. What an amazing country. India, you have my heart.

Monday, 11 February - 8:30 AM

2008-04-08T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm all packed. I slept like a log last night and I guess I am ready to roll. I'm looking forward to being home. It'll be neat to go through my duffel bag and uncover all the treasures I've acquired along the way. Each will surely remind me of a town - a family - a friend.

When I left Sedona that first time back in 2003, I was scared to death to return to my own life. I had felt such an energy and a peace out there, and although my guides assured me that the feelings were inside of me, I didn't get it.

Leaving India though, I realize that I am changed. I also know what I would like to do when I get back to my own life this time. I know the person I'd like to become...

That person lives in the moment. She realizes the value of family, and has gained a new appreciation for spending time with loved ones.

She appreciates the value of fresh, whole food. The impact that good nutrition has on the body and, in turn, the mind.

She understands the value of service to the community. That giving really is the greatest gift. Giving to those who are truly in need.

This trip was indeed good for me. I'm so excited to share my adventures and realizations with my loved ones. This place - these people... magical. I am truly, truly blessed.

We're leaving in a little while to visit one more school and then are heading to the Vasco airport. We fly to Mumbai and have a 12-hour layover. Not sure what we're gonna do, but as always, we'll take it as it comes.

Sunday 10, February - 12:00 Midnight

2008-04-06T09:01:00.000-07:00

What an amazing day! Long, but amazing. After lunch, I met up with Misty and we spent about an hour at the beach. We wandered around some shops, looking for a small, round Ganesha statue. My last couple hosts have had these in their cars and they're really neat. Different from the traditional ones I've seen, and I thought one might look neat in my Beetle.

No luck, but we did get to catch another glorious sunset.

Then I went home and changed, and went out with my host's daughter-in-law, Charuta. First she took me to a neighbor's house to visit for a little bit. They were having some sort of women's-only get-together. The hostess gave me some sweets and a bag of vermicelli which were significant (though I don't quite remember why).

Afterwards, we went into town to a hall where they were having a naming ceremony for the baby of one of her friends.

"Vedant's" naming ceremony.

Finally, we stopped at Charuta's parents' house before heading to the send-off. Her family is great. They live in a huge house attached to a public temple. Her father told me the history of how that came to be. And before I left, he presented me with two small, round Ganesha statues - just like the one I had been looking for! He said he is a collector and that he was glad to be able to give me them as a gift. Unbelievable.

Parag, me, and Charuta's parents.

Just got back from our send-off. It was really very lovely - lots of beautiful speeches from amazing people: DG Bazil, Radhika, DG Elizabeth (from B.C.) The team all made great speeches as well. My host from Margao, Audhut, and his family came. Rajani was there. Earlier in the evening I spoke on the phone with Mohan and Poonam. Just an awesome day.

Radhika, Ajay, DG Elizabeth and husband, Victor.

My wonderful Vasco hosts, the Mehtas.

I'm tired tonight. Looking forward to a good night's sleep, because tomorrow we leave. I miss India and I haven't even left yet.

Sunday 10, February - 2:30 PM

2008-04-04T12:27:00.000-07:00

Man did I sleep AWESOME last night! This mattress is fantastic. Add that to the list of things to never take for granted. The list which grows longer by the minute. It's been a very mellow day today. I had a nice breakfast with my hosts and around 10:00 AM, went over to one of the polio booths.

I've learned that Rotary International is responsible for eradicating polio in India. They have done so by collecting funds worldwide and setting up several Sundays a year where children under the age of 6 are vaccinated for free. It's absolutely amazing.

I'm really looking forward to becoming a Rotarian when I return home. It's just such an amazing organization and I have really seen, firsthand, the good that they do in the world. I want to do good things in my life. I want to take more trips like this one, and to get to know people all over the world.

When I wasn't vaccinating children, I was sitting and talking with a girl named Kavita. She is the daughter of one of the Vasco Rotarians, and is planning to come to the U.S. to do her graduate work. She's trying to decide between schools in Buffalo, NY and in Arizona. A no-brainer, in my biased opinion!

After the polio booth, my host's son and daughter came and picked me and Misty up. They took us sight-seeing around the harbor.

Charuta, Parag and Arrov.

I've just come back and had some lunch. I got some huge mosquito bites in Margao on my arm and they're driving me nuts! I took an allergy pill and am now feeling a wee bit drowsy.

I'm getting more and more eager to get home. I think this trip has somehow made me a little less self-involved. I think getting involved with Rotary and other charity organizations will be good. I think being a little less concerned with me will make me feel a whole lot better about my life.

Around 3:30, I am set to go check out a beach with Misty and some hosts. Tonight is our big send-off and then tomorrow we fly back to Mumbai. Not sure how we'll spend our 12-hour layover there. See a movie? Do some shopping? I dunno. I guess we'll take it as it comes.

Saturday, 9 February - 11:00 PM

2008-03-31T13:47:00.000-07:00

We've made it to Vasco and - contrary to what everyone has told us about it - it doesn't suck! In fact, right now I am in the most comfortable bed I've been in all month. My hosts are great too - an older couple - and also in the house are their son, his wife and their 1 year-old son, Arrov. Very nice people!

This morning our Margao hosts took us to a temple on top of a huge hill. We climbed lots of steps...

... but it was really cool. After checking out some of the local sites, we had lunch at the same Canapé and then headed to Vasco. I chilled out a bit here with the family and we shared photos. Their eldest son lives in San Francisco where he is a classical guitar major. He used to be an engineering major (surprise!) at a very good school in India, and it's a pretty huge deal that his father allowed him to give that up to pursue a music degree.

I met up with the rest of the team at the Three Kings church where we watched a breathtaking sunset.

District Governor, Bazil D'Souza joined us up there and it was nice to get a chance to talk with him. I didn't realize he had been a high school teacher for 25 years. While talking to him about my experience in India, I got all teary. He said, "Jenny, you are always a welcome guest. Please come back any time."

We all went out for an awesome dinner at a place called Sinatra's (ha!) I talked a lot with a woman named Elizabeth, a District Governor visiting from British Columbia.

Now I'm tired and need to sleep. Tomorrow is "Polio Sunday!"

Saturday, 9 February - 8:00 AM

2008-03-26T07:44:00.000-07:00

Just two days left. I can't believe we've been here for a month. I'm definitely ready to go home, though. It's funny. All along, people have been saying that once I got to Goa, I wouldn't wanna leave. And for as beautiful as it is, it's just a little too Western for me. If anything, it's been a great transition place. If we had left directly from the district conference, I think it would have broken my heart.

Yesterday was good. We stopped at Audhut's office and I was able to check my email before meeting up with the rest of the group around 10:00 AM. Our first stop was to this place nicknamed "Bigfoot" - a replica of an ancestral Goan village. It kind of reminded me of one of those museum witch tours in Salem, MA. Interesting, but a little too hokey.

Fake villagers.

Real Goan host (he rocked!)

Traveling in style.

Applying for a job.

At the end of the tour, you can pay five rupees to buy some incense, say a prayer and make a wish while touching the big footprint...

Misty lights her incense.

Bigfootprint.

... my wish was that I could live my life with an Indian perspective when I return home. That I not forget all I have learned while on this trip.

After Bigfoot, we stopped at a little chain café called Canapé. It was the first chain restaurant we'd been in all month. I ordered a small vegetable pizza. It did not disappoint.

Our hosts then dropped us off at this amazing resort called Nanu - right on the beach. It was, of course, owned by a Rotarian.

"Toto, we're no longer in Bijapur."

We spent four hours there, free to use the pool or the beach. I walked up and down Betalbatim beach, collecting shells and wading in the Indian ocean. Perfect.

We made a good presentation at the evening Rotary meeting and they had a fun dinner at their hall. They even hired a DJ! As I recall from the district conference, the Goans really like to party. I ducked out a little early with my host's wife and daughters. When we got home, the eldest daughter did some awesome Mehendi on my other hand. I hope this one lasts until I get home.

Today we're leaving for our final destination in Goa: Vasco.

Thursday, 7 February - 10:00 PM

2008-03-25T10:25:00.000-07:00

Just had dinner with my hosts and then they took me for a drive around Margao. The husband, Audhut, spent a year and a half in the U.S. for college. Mostly in Michigan, but also a little bit in Texas.

New hosts in Margao.

At dinner, he kept trying to get me to use a fork. I assured him I was doing quite well with my right hand - just as his wife and daughters were - but he himself used a fork. I am trying to figure out if he is really pro-America or if he thinks we are all a bunch of retards. Hell, at this point even I don't know if we Americans suck or not! I guess it's a little bit of both.

I'm finally starting to get a little eager to go home. I think it's because we're in a different place. During the earlier weeks, our environment was so drastically different from what we were used to. I loved the adventure of it all, even if the conditions sometimes were not so comfortable.

While we were out driving around tonight, Rajani called to see how I was feeling. She really is awesome and I hope we get to see her again before we leave.

I can't believe I am actually in bed by 10:00 - this is truly a first!

Thursday, 7 February - 7:30 PM

2008-03-24T10:07:00.000-07:00

Today was good. We left Mapusa around 10:00 AM and headed off to a town called Bicholim. We visited a Rotary school for like five seconds...

... a church with a cool fresco ceiling...

... and then stopped at an artist colony where we went to two different pottery places. I found an awesome, handmade Ganesha wall mount.

After the pottery stops, we drove out to a huge farm that grows produce and plants for pharmaceutical supplies. We toured the farm and then hung out, played drums and ate food.

"... I just wanna bang on the drum all day"

Misty finally rejoined us after three days in the hospital. She looks great and it's good to have her back. I'm just sorry she missed Mapusa and the elephants.

It was tough saying goodbye to Alpana, Sujit and the rest of my Mapusa hosts. They were really awesome. Little Anuj gave me a rose, and Sujit laughed and said that "My son will have no problems with the ladies when he grows up!"

After Bicholim, we made our way to Margao and met our current hosts for tea at a hotel. We also met up with Radhika (our original Mumbai host and GSE coordinator). My current hosts seem very nice. They have a huge, modern house and two daughters, ages 11 and 15.

I think we are gradually being eased back into our own culture by visiting Goa last. I just came up to find my first shower curtain! Once again, I realize how much I take for granted back home.

Hallelujah!

Things in Goa seem so Westernized. I think back to places like Dharwad and Ilkal - all the women and kids wearing Indian clothes. Here they're wearing jeans! They have A/C and normal toilets and showers. On the way back to the house, my host said that even he experiences a little culture shock when he has to do business outside of Goa.

I guess it's pretty much like me calling certain areas of New Jersey "the sticks." I've never been to any really remote areas of the U.S. I think I ought to make that my next priority: seeing more of my own country and not just the pretty parts.

Hey, you know what I haven't seen in India? Wall-to-wall carpeting. One more thing to stop taking for granted.

Thursday, 7 February - 12:40 AM

2008-03-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Had a very cool day today. We met up with one of our original escorts, Ajay, and he spent the day with us in Old Goa. We visited some more Catholic churches and then tried to do some bird-watching, but there were no birds to be seen. We had lunch at an awesome restaurant owned by a Rotarian.

After lunch we headed to a spice farm where we got to ride a camel and an elephant!

Elizabeth and I gave an elephant a bath...

... and then the elephant gave me a bath!

After a long (wet) ride home, we all stopped in to visit Misty at the hospital. She is doing better and is able to eat solid food again. She's had it really rough this trip. It sucks, too, because she is the only one who never gets cranky or complains about anything. She's always so positive - even when she misses three days of Goa, stuck in a hospital bed.

We made a presentation to the Mapusa club tonight and it was really a lot of fun. Anuj loaned me his Mighty Morphin Power Rangers bracelet (the green one, because it's my favorite color) for good luck.

I have the power!

My AWESOME Mapusa hosts!

They had a great dinner for us afterwards.

I heart chapati.

Mapusa's beautiful Inner Wheel.

I packed all my stuff when I got back home, as we are leaving tomorrow morning for Margao. Unfortunately, I am wide awake. Must have been all the Thums Up I drank. [Buuurrpp]

Wednesday, 6 February - 6:30 AM

2008-03-19T11:42:00.000-07:00

Wow! Yesterday turned out to be another of the most amazing days on the trip!

I woke up feeling weak and wobbly, but got steadily better throughout the day. I had breakfast with my hosts, Sujit and Alpana, and Sujit recommended that I skip the team's activities for the day and rest up until I felt better. So I went back and chilled in my room for a couple hours.

It turns out that Misty and I have the same thing, although I have a considerably milder case. She came down with the fever the same night as me, but has been so sick that her hosts took her to the hospital. They diagnosed her with an intestinal infection and also gave her a chest X-ray, as her bronchitis is still pretty bad.

So I'm thinking it was something we both ate or drank at the conference. Misty does not drink alcohol, so perhaps it wasn't the crappy wine I drank Sunday after all. In fact, the booze may have saved me from getting sicker by killing off the bugs. Yay, alcohol!!

Around 11:00 AM, Sujit took me to their family farm (lots of people here seem to have family farms) where they grow bananas, mangoes, cashews and all kinds of other stuff.

Coconut trees.

Future cashew nut.

We ran a couple errands and stopped to visit Misty at the hospital. She was so dehydrated that she took 14 IV bags! We came back to the house around 12:30 and I took a small nap. Alpana came in around 1:30 and we sat and chatted for a while. She's really nice!

I had lunch with Alpana and her in-laws, who also live with them. They're in their 70's and very active. They also speak very good English. Their daughter lives in Boston, so they have been to the U.S. several times. I enjoyed talking with them, and had a very nice afternoon at home.

Around 4:00, Sujit took me to the bank to try and get my ATM card back. Once again, it was retained so they had to keep it and send it to some main branch for investigation or something. I don't know what or why it happened, and the beautiful thing is... I really don't care! It's out of my hands so it's not worth worrying about.

Sujit apologized, and I just smiled and said, "No problem!" He laughed and said he was glad to see I had adopted an Indian perspective on the situation.

After the bank, we got to see the entire Carnival parade... by walking down the inside of the parade route! It was quite memorable! As we were walking, Sujit turned to me and said, "I do not think we are supposed to be here. But no one has stopped us so they must think we belong here!" It was pretty funny.

Watching the parade...

... from the inside!

We bought some fruit at the market (mangoes and chickoo)

and then went over to Baga Beach and walked for a while. We talked about all sorts of great things - from religion and marriage, to morals and karma. Sujit is a very laid back, awesome guy. Very open, and he has a great laugh.

After talking with him about the GSE program, my thoughts were confirmed. It's not supposed to be a vacation - the whole point is to understand a different culture from the true, inside family point of view. All along on this trip, my favorite times have been spent getting to know my host families. It's not about shopping or sightseeing or clubbing at the beach.

All of a sudden, my JOY returned and I was back in India!

Sunset at Baga Beach.

When we got back home, Alpana taught me how to make paneer and it actually seems pretty easy! I am totally gonna try it when I get home. It's one of my new favorite foods.

I hung out a bunch with their kids. They have a 12 year-old daughter named Rujuta who is absolutely brilliant. She's a dancer and an artist. She also writes poetry and devours college-level literature, and her command of language and emotion is eons beyond any 12 year-old I have ever met.

They also have a 5 year-old son named Anuj, and he is hilarious. He reminds me of my nephew, Nick. And for as quiet and studious as Rujuta is, Anuj is goofy and rambunctious. He did sit and read me the story of The Elves and the Shoemaker, which was pretty awesome.

Rujuta and Anuj.

We all had dinner together and then later in the evening, Alpana did some incredible Mehendi on me. She said she loves to do it and has been practicing since she was a little girl.

When she finished, she let me do some on her, such a brave woman! Mine wasn't quite as good as hers, and it seemed to evolve from a sea monster, to a turkey and then a peacock. Alpana was a very good sport.

Guess who's who?

I finally got to bed around midnight, but it was so worth it. And for the first time in over a week, I slept through the night. Yesterday was the first day in over three weeks that I didn't see any of my team members (except for when we visited Misty) and the best part is, I felt totally safe, content and happy... surrounded by my newest family.

Tuesday, 5 February - 7:30 AM

2008-03-18T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my first bout of India illness for sure. I could feel the "fever chills" when we set out for the evening's events. Fortunately, the driver was able to bring me back to my host's house around 6:00 PM, and I climbed into bed. A couple hours later, Alpana (my host's wife) came in and took my temperature. It was 101° and the diarrhea was non-stop.

As if she somehow knew, Poonam called me from Gadag to see how I was doing, so we chatted for a bit and I told her I was sick. She said she wished I could get back to Gadag so they could take care of me. I tossed and turned all night, with horrible chills and bizarre fever dreams. My hosts actually have a TV here in the bedroom, so I watched a little TV. I woke up this morning covered in sweat, so I think my fever has finally broken.

Just took a shower and am feeling weak and wobbly - probably pretty dehydrated. I'm actually feeling hungry for the first time in a couple days, so I guess that's a good sign. Not sure what's on the agenda for today... maybe visiting some Rotary projects? I suppose if I had to be sick, I picked a pretty good time. Souvenir shopping, clubbing and lounging on the beach really don't interest me too much. Ah well.

Monday, 4 February - 4:00 PM

2008-03-17T11:21:00.000-07:00

Just got back after our first bout of sight-seeing in Goa. Rajani, one of the Indian GSE team members took us all around. She's really awesome. A gorgeous, 30-year old lawyer with a super-bubbly personality. Rajiv has a huge crush on her but sadly, she's engaged and will be moving to Australia with her new husband this summer.

Rajani and Rajiv (in his glory)

Goa is the only state in India that wasn't settled by the British. It was settled by the Portuguese and so there is a lot of Portuguese influence in the architecture, music and religion - hence the large population of Roman Catholics and their cathedrals. Our first stop was to one such cathedral,

and then we went to the High Court of Bombay where Rajani practices law.

After that, we went up to this beautiful overlook called Dona Paula and absorbed the beauty of the Indian Ocean.

On our way back to the car, we saw a tiny, starving street puppy. Rajani - the animal lover - stopped and bought some biscuits to feed it. She's really the first person I've seen even acknowledge the street dogs.

We stopped at an ATM to get some cash and for some reason, my card was retained. It wasn't supposed to have expired until March 1. I have to go back to the bank tomorrow and can hopefully recover it.

We met up with some of the Goa Rotarians for lunch and I just had a little bit of rice. My stomach is still quite queasy from yesterday's escapades. In fact, I had my first bout of diarrhea since I got here. It probably was the Gobi Manchurian. And the booze.

I think we're leaving again around 5:30 to do more sight-seeing and to visit a beach. Rajani wants to take us to a club tonight, but I think I will skip it. Clubs aren't really my scene and I just don't feel 100%

I dunno. Goa is definitely beautiful, but it feels like when we left Hubli - we left India. I really feel like I'm in another country. Which is okay. But for me, it's been more about the beauty and the hearts of the people in India and less about the vacation aspect. It's cool though. It was kind of like my first trip to Sedona: even though I went on to Tucson and California afterwards, for me, the trip seemed to end when I left the beautiful people I met in Sedona.

If I could, I think I would go back and spend the remaining days here in Gadag. I got a text message from Mohan this morning via Rajiv's phone. He wanted to let me know that I was always welcome to come back to India and stay with his family. God, I would love to come back with Wolf someday.

I can't believe I'm homesick for a place I've only just been to! I dunno... maybe I haven't just been there this one time. Maybe Poonam was right the very first time we met, when she said she felt like she already knew me. I can't explain this - it's like Sedona all over again. That familiarity... as if I'd been there before. I miss my "family" so much it's tearing my heart out. What the hell?

Man, my stomach feels really crappy. Maybe I'll try to sleep for a little bit.

Monday, 4 February - 7:30 AM

2008-03-15T07:21:00.000-07:00

Somehow I've ended up in Goa... but I don't really remember too much of the journey.

We made our presentation at the conference yesterday morning and, although scheduled for 9:00, it didn't commence until around 11:00 (ah, that Indian Standard Time!) The place was packed - there had to be over 1,500 Rotarians there - and I was so glad I got the chance to read my speech.

I had written about my experiences along the way: the people I'd met, the projects we'd seen. I wrote about the spiritual transformation that had taken place (and was still taking place) inside of me. My change of perspective, my change in priorities. I closed saying, "Three weeks ago I came to India as an American. And in ten days, I'll be honored to return to America as an Indian."

After our presentation, the guys from Gadag kind of kidnapped us (quite literally - they got us into the car and wouldn't tell us where they were taking us) and we ended up at the Cotton County Club - basically the equivalent to a country club in the U.S.

It had a swimming pool, squash courts and a big restaurant. We all sat at this big table overlooking the pool and commenced drinking.

I had about four-too many glasses of wine and a bit too much Gobi Manchurian. I vaguely remember having awesome philosophical discussions with Mohan about many different topics ranging from the meaning of life, to how people make arranged marriages work. It was just a really great time.

My philosophical buddy.

At some point, we made our way back to the conference hall and met up with our hosts. I somehow managed to pack all my stuff (though I don't remember the actual packing procedure) and Ashwin's wife, Neeta, took me back to the hall. I remember stopping at a lake with her for some reason (although only after seeing the picture on my camera!)

Umm... lake?

We all piled into two separate vehicles - Misty, Elizabeth and Rajiv in one, me and Bernie in the other - and set sail for Goa.

"What the..?"

The roads were terrible and I started feeling sicker and sicker. I vaguely remember stopping while the drivers fixed a flat tire from the bumps in the road...

... and then stopping in Belgaum. This is where the Gobi Manchurian came back to haunt me.

Door #1 - Hole in the floor.
Door #2 - Gobi Manchurian reprise.
(Thanks for the photo, Misty!!)

So now I am officially done drinking for the rest of the trip. While it was a lot of fun hanging out, I feel like I missed an entire day. And India is just too good to miss.

Evil in a bottle. No more for me.

I'm in Mapusa, Goa now. It's amazingly beautiful!! Goa is on the southwest coast of India and is a big tourist destination for Indians and Europeans. The weather is a little more humid and there are palm trees everywhere. It's as if, during my drunken stupor, I left India and woke up in some other country.

Not sure what our plans are for today. I still feel a little crappy. I think I met my host family last night but I don't remember too much about them. I guess I ought to go and meet them again.

Sunday 3, February - 6:30 AM

2008-03-14T10:31:00.000-07:00

Day #2 of the conference was pretty good. I went over with my host around 10 AM, but first we stopped at his textile shop and I got to check my email. Yay email!!

At the conference, I met up with the team and a couple of the hosts took us shopping at SuperSaver - which was like the Indian-equivalent of WalMart. I finally found the Brooke Bond Natural Care tea powder and bought a couple boxes to take home.

Lunch back at the conference was a neat experience. Everyone was seated in this big tent, and the food was served on giant banana leaves by shirtless boys. Hmm.

After lunch we went back to the house for some rest and then got cleaned up for the evening. I dressed in the salwar kameez that Poonam had given me and we went back to the conference at 6 PM.

I got to catch a great session by a woman named Jaya Row, who talked about the Vedantic Vision. It's all about the concept of "oneness" and draws on texts from the vedas of the Bhagavad Gita (Indian sacred scripture). I bought one of her books - I know Wolf will love reading about something so similar to his own writings and philosophies.

After the session, a 20-something Rotarian came up and introduced himself and we talked for a little while. He was a little bit of a close-talker and I got a creepy vibe. He asked if I wanted to go with him to hear one of his friends play music today but (fortunately!) we have no time, as we are leaving for Goa in the afternoon.

Elizabeth, Rajiv and I were having some dinner, when Rajiv received a phone call from the Gadag guys. They were in the fellowship hall and were wondering where we were. As we were heading towards the tent, the creepy guy found me and made me go to the cultural program with him.

Posing with cultural dancers.

I got to see my host and his wife take part in a traditional folk dance, which was pretty neat.

Ashwin and Neeta.

Then, Creepy Guy's mobile phone rang. When he excused himself to go take the call, I seized the opportunity to make my get-away! I made it safely to the beer tent where everyone was already having a good time. We chatted and danced a bit, but by that time, most of the Rotarians were already quite drunk. All the different clubs were trying to get us to come over to their tables, until finally the Gadag guys helped us find our hosts to go home. I think they were a little embarrassed by the rowdiness.

It's weird how people have treated us so differently here - like we're from another planet or something (I guess technically we are aliens) - but especially at the conference. Complete strangers wanted to take pictures with us, and when we went onto the dance floor, we were mobbed. It's weird... but perhaps a little flattering, too!

I found my hosts and - lo and behold - Creepy Guy was also there. He asked, "Where did you go?" Umm...

On the way back to the house, Ashwin pulled the car over and stopped by a gang of young guys hanging out on a street corner. One of the guys came over to the window and my host handed him some rupees. I wondered what the hell was going on, when Ashwin turned around and asked, "Jenny -- do you want some paan?"

Ack! I respectfully declined, telling him I had tried it once and wasn't a big fan of the paan. The young guy came back and handed him a couple paans and we drove off. It was just like a drug deal or something. What the hell is it about paan?!

I went to sleep around midnight and slept very soundly. There's been a cricket singing outside my window the entire night. It's really quite soothing. I'm supposed to meet the team around 8:30 this morning. Our presentation is scheduled for 9:00 (which means at least 10:30, Indian Standard Time). The Gadag guys said something last night about taking us out afterwards, so we'll see. I'm a little sad that the conference is already almost over. Soon we'll be in Goa.

Saturday, 2 February - 8:00 AM

2008-03-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Well the conference hath begun! We arrived yesterday around 4:00, all dressed in our Indian clothes.

It was so cool seeing familiar faces from the past few weeks! We sat in the big, main tent for the first two hours listening to opening speeches. Then we went out for a break and met up with the members of the Indian GSE team (who are coming to the U.S. in April) and hung with them for a while.

The Rotarians from Gadag were there and Mohan had brought me a beautiful letter from Poonam, as well as a gift: a gorgeous salwar kameez. He called her on his mobile and I talked with her for a bit. I was hoping she'd make it out to the conference, but it doesn't look promising.

Misty, Elizabeth, Rajiv and I wandered around Gokul Garden, checking out the cultural show and the expo. They were setting up for a big dinner in a separate tent and around the back, we found the "Fellowship Hall" (aka: Beer Tent). Much to our surprise [not] we found Team Leader Bernie sitting at a table, drinking beer and whiskey with the guys from Gadag. We joined them and ended up having an awesome time for the rest of the evening.

Enjoying the fellowship.

At one point, I looked around and realized the three of us were the only women in the tent. I don't think women are supposed to take alcohol, but I confess: I did take a little bit of wine.

Mohan makes sure Bernie doesn't lose his pants.

It was so much fun meeting all these crazy Indian Rotarians and dancing around like a goofball with them on the dance floor. Somehow Bernie ended up in a turban...

... and then I did too.

What an awesome evening it was. I think I'm supposed to go back to the conference this morning with my host, return home for some rest, and then go back again in the evening. This trip just keeps getting better and better!

Friday, 1 February - 2:00 PM

2008-03-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Wow. This is the first bit of down-time I've had since Kolhapur!

After an easy breakfast of tea and toast, my host, Ashwin, brought me to the conference site, at a place called Gokul Garden. Ashwin is the president of one of the Hubli Rotary clubs, so I think he is feeling really stressed out. I imagine that hosting 1,600 Rotarians in your hometown can be a little daunting. He's nice though. He doesn't talk a whole lot, but when he does, it is with authority and what he says is usually pretty interesting.

Counting down to a full house.

On the way to the Gokul Garden, we stopped at a temple so Ashwin could pray. Then he actually explained to me why he prayed to that particular deity. We talked about pranayama, music therapy and Reiki, and I learned that his wife, like my fiancé, is a Reiki master.

The team finally met together around 11:00, and we decided to each write our presentation speeches about how the trip to India has affected us personally. Around noon, my host took me back home where I finished writing my speech and I'm pretty content with it.

We just had an awesome lunch. Ashwin explained all the different foods, the best order in which to eat them, and how they all affect digestion. I learned that the spicy pickles and chutneys generate digestive juices. And Indians typically eat the rice after the meal with curd or ghee because it settles the stomach and calms the mind. It all makes a lot of sense. I'm looking forward to sharing this with my friends back home -- teaching them the right way to eat Indian food!

So now I'm resting. I can hear Ashwin's cell phone ringing (the theme from Carmen) upstairs every five minutes. Poor guy. I just reorganized my luggage a little bit and feel okay about the amount of stuff I am lugging. I've acquired so many gifts from hosts and Rotary clubs that I have to be careful about shopping. I think I'll only be buying very small souvenirs so I don't run out of space!

I keep thinking of what a great day I had yesterday. How much I loved being around my host family and how I wish I could have stayed longer. I can't wait to be in touch with them again. My heart's eye will always carry that glimpse of heaven, walking past those banana trees in the late afternoon sun. I was whole.

Friday, 1 February - 7:00 AM

2008-03-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was one of the best days of my entire life.

In the morning, Poonam took me and Elizabeth to visit the school where she teaches. It's a Jaycees school and is actually right next to their house. She works there a couple hours each day as an 8th grade teacher.

Sitting with the teachers from the Jaycees school.

The rest of the team met us around 11:00 AM and we went to visit another Ayurvedic hospital. This one was a million times better than the creepy one we saw in Dharwad. We got to see their herb garden and visit the actual pharmaceutical lab where they turn the herbs into medicine.

Herbs = medicine.

I got to sit and talk with one of the doctors and learn a little bit about Ayurvedic medicine (which is actually really interesting!) and then we got to sit and talk to a roomful of medical students.

"Well, at least you have a pulse..."

Future Ayurvedic doctors.

Afterwards, the Gadag Inner Wheel ladies took us to a couple historical spots. The first was a temple to meet a Guru who had only recently begun speaking after a 38-year vow of silence. Apparently he was silent in order to pray for world healing.

Did not speak for 38 years!

Then they took us to a couple more temples, but we were all a little templed-out from Hampi. The team was invited back to Poonam and Mohan's for an incredible lunch. There were lots of great family and friends and we all just hung out having a great time.

Mohan brought out a bottle of vodka that he'd had in his closet for a really long time. They don't really drink any alcohol in their home, but he served it to the men in the living room while we ladies hung out at the dining room table.

After copious amounts of vodka,
Bernie attempts some yoga.

The best of times.

I can't explain this awesome bond I feel with this family. It was like I knew them all so well. I hung out a little with their son, Mayur, kicking a soccer ball in the driveway. I also met Poonam's niece, Sneha, who is studying textile engineering. It was just such a great afternoon, I didn't want to leave!

A prayer in the puja room for safe journeys.

A new friend I've known forever.

But when we finally did, we took a ride to visit their family farm before leaving to Hubli. The team took the party van and I got to ride with Sneha, Poonam and her sister. The four of us stopped off at this HUGE old house where their family stays and where Mohan grew up. Then we met up with everyone else at the farm.

Ever have a moment when you feel as if you're experiencing heaven? I think the memory of walking through the banana fields next to Poonam and Sneha, with the sun beaming down on our faces, will stay in my mind as one of those moments. I really don't have the words to express how full my heart was (and is). It was heaven.

Heaven.

We stayed longer than we probably should have. We were meant to arrive in Hubli by 5:00 and it was already 6:30 and we still hadn't left Gadag. We made one more quick stop at a yoga retreat center and then set off for Hubli.

Our new hosts met us at this huge, beautiful hotel. I think they were a little pissed that we were three hours late! It was so hard to say goodbye to Mohan and the rest of the Gadag hosts who took us to Hubli. Hopefully we'll see them at some point during the conference.

My new hosts here in Hubli have a very nice home. I'm staying in a quiet room downstairs with a mosquito net and a nice, big bathroom. I even got to play "Whack-A-Bug" with this great gizmo... a bug-zapping tennis racket!!

We met back up at the hotel around 9:00 PM last night for the opening meeting of the conference. There was a huge room full of Rotarians - mostly club presidents and their wives - and were introduced. District Governor, Bazil D'Souza was there and so were many of the people we'd met along the way. It was so cool to recognize all the faces and feel like we were in a room full of friends.

I think we'll really enjoy the district conference, even if it is just a bunch of speeches and food for three days. I really think it will be nice to see so many great people and hear about all the great projects they're doing.

I slept soundly last night. This morning, the team is supposed to meet up to work on a new presentation for Sunday. I know I have some great ideas and am looking forward to putting something together.

Damn, I just feel so frigging GOOD!

Thursday, 31 January - 6:30 AM

2008-03-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

So I'm feeling much better today that I did last night. I slept soundly for about 7 hours - a much needed rest. Yesterday actually was a very good day. Hampi was so cool and our tour guide and Rotarian escorts were a lot of fun. Excellent company.

I had excellent chats with Elizabeth and Misty in the van on the way to Hampi. I can't believe how easy it is to get along with the team. I can't believe that after spending 19 straight days together, we're not at each others' throats. They're a great support system - all 4 of them - and I cannot imagine a better chemistry. We seem to balance one another, especially when one of us is having a meltdown.

Yesterday's talks also really taught me a lot about myself. I think I came to a lot of realizations about why and how my life has turned out as it has. How I ended up doing what I do and the roads that have led me to who I am. This trip is proving to be the best therapy I could have ever received.

Every day, with every new adventure, I am learning more about the person that I am and the person I would like to become. I also feel a new sense of direction - of purpose - and I look forward to starting down this new path when I return home.

Not quite sure what our plans are for today. I'm hoping to get a chance to hang out with my hosts for a little bit. This afternoon we leave for Hubli and tomorrow is Day #1 of the Rotary district conference. I can only imagine what kind of crazy schedule we're in for over the next three days. But feeling fresh and renewed, I can handle just about anything. I think...

Wednesday, 30 January - 11:00 PM

2008-03-08T15:09:00.000-08:00

Today was one of the best days so far... up until about two hours ago.

I got up this morning and had breakfast and great chats with my family, then we left to spend the day in Hampi. It was really very amazing, but also very hot! It took about two hours to get there, we spent about six hours walking around, and then two hours to get back to Gadag.

Big statue at Hampi.

Really big temple at Hampi.

I want one!!

I was really looking forward to taking a shower and having a relaxing dinner with my hosts, but instead we were dragged to the president of the Rotary club's house for dinner.

It was 9:00 PM, we were sweaty, tired and just gross. And everyone at the dinner wanted to talk with us and they were all taking photos and feeding us a tremendous amount of food. I tried to be smiley - had a good conversation with a Rotarian who is a science teacher. He wanted to know all about the education system in the U.S. and how we deal with students' individual differences in large classes.

Angst-filled dinner.

By about 10:45 I started to get a little cranky. The president owns an Ayurvedic pharmacy and he was showing us all his little bottles of medicines. It was a little bit creepy, so finally I just asked outright if we could please go home. So they took us home! When I got to the house, Poonam and her daughter Mrinal were there waiting and asked how my day went. I guess they could tell from my face that I was a little worn out and a little bummed. They're so nice. I really wish I could have spent more time at home today.

Poonam teaches English at a school nearby which we're supposed to visit tomorrow. I think the Rotarians have plans for us that involve visiting another hospital, but I am a little burnt on hospitals. I kind of wish we had more of a say in the places we visit.

On a very positive note, I got to see monkeys at Hampi and feed them bananas!

"Oh my God... MONKEYS!!!"

Hell, any day that includes feeding bananas to monkeys is pretty darn awesome in my book. I'm guess I'm just tired, that's all. Tomorrow is a new day -- and God only knows what it will bring!

Tuesday, 29 January 11:00 PM

2008-03-07T11:52:00.000-08:00

I appear to be on a lucky streak!

We arrived in Gadag after a very bumpy ride. I didn't sleep much last night at the hotel - I guess I just wasn't used to having other people in the room. When we arrived in Gadag, they immediately took us to another temple and the photo "snaps" started up again. We hadn't had anything for breakfast this morning except for some biscuits in the van so I was feeling a little cranky.

After the temple and introductions to the Gadag club, our respective hosts claimed us and took us back to their houses. My family is AWESOME!!! Totally the best so far. As soon as I got in their car, they told me to consider myself part of their family. And they're just so easy and comfortable to be around -- it's almost weird! It's like I've known them for longer than just a few hours.

Awesome Gadag hosts: Poonam, Mohan,
me and Grandma.

Mohan and Poonam (my host and his wife) took me back to their house and we had an amazing lunch and just sat around chatting. They have two kids, Mayur and Mrinal, and Mohan's Mom also lives with them. Around 3:00 we left to see some Rotary projects. The first one we visited was a music school for the blind.

This was absolutely amazing. A free education for underprivileged, blind students. A school that offers them a chance to develop their aural sense and may allow them to find vocations as musicians. Brilliant. This was, by far, my personal favorite of the projects we've visited. And ironically, the matching grant club in the U.S. is Paramus, NJ. Wow.

Afterwards, we went and saw a clinic that performs free cataract surgeries:

And then a Rotary-sponsored, English-medium school for the poor. This is unique in that most poor kids who do get to go to school end up studying in Kannada-medium schools (the state language). If kids are given the opportunity to learn English, it gives them a much better chance to be able to go on to college.

Of course we visited another textile factory and a few more temples, but there's a much better vibe for me here in Gadag. I was considerably less cranky! By 7:00, we went back home to freshen up and change clothes. Grandma made me some nice strong tea and we were on our way to the Rotary club meeting. It started a little after 8:00 and we had some dinner around 10:00.

On the way home, Mohan, Poonam and I chatted very easily about all kinds of things. I really love them and wish I could just spend the day tomorrow hanging out with them but we're finally going to visit Hampi. I've heard that it will be 6+ hours worth of temples -- it may be the death of me. But fortunately, they've cancelled our plans to go to Yellapur and we get to stay an extra night in Gadag.

It's funny how I have these highs and lows. Just when it feels like things couldn't possibly get worse (like in Bijapur) they somehow turn 180° and I'm on top of the world. I suppose that Guru at the ashram in Belgaum was right: there must be a balance between good and bad. Savor the good and know that the bad will pass. Besides, without the bad, how else would we appreciate the good?

And here's a quote that was painted on the wall at the school we visited today:

True dat. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mosquito net to sleep under!

Monday, 28 January - 11:00 PM

2008-03-06T17:11:00.000-08:00

Wow, what a day! It started off fine in Bagalkot. After practicing some pranayama with my host's wife and daughter, they presented me with a beautiful salwar kameez and I had a great breakfast of real coffee and fresh fruit.

But as the day wore on, I became a miserable wretch. We were supposed to go to Hampi but ended up in the Podunk town of Ilkal after driving all over God's creation, not knowing where the hell we were going. We went and saw some more ruins and to an underwater temple.

Great signage at the underwater temple.

250 stairs to... another temple.

I was such a grump all day and I just couldn't snap out of it. I was sick of being swarmed by kids asking, "What is your name?" and being jostled around the party van for hours on end. We had no break except for a quick lunch, and our escorts barely spoke English except for, "No problem, no problem."

There I am, all smiles!

In the evening, we ended up at one of the Rotarian's houses to freshen up and wait to make our presentation. I was just so miserable. All I have to say is, thank God for Misty. I don't know how she stays so positive. She has this terrible case of bronchitis and fought two days of a fever, and she still manages to be upbeat. I think she is pure goodness and I really need to take a lesson from her. Maybe that in itself is a lesson.

Then suddenly - miraculously - everything changed! The Rotarians ended up taking us to this really decent hotel to stay. The three of us girls are sharing a room with three beds and a shower!! And the Rotary meeting ended up being awesome too!

We all met this guy's tiny apartment and climbed up lots of stairs to the roof where the meeting was held. We did our presentation and then had this amazing feast afterwards.

Rooftop feast with the awesome Ilkal Rotarians.

Everyone had a great time and, as Bernie says, "Every cloud has a silver lining."

Indeed. And it's all about perspective. Tomorrow... Gadag.

Monday, 28 January - 6:30 AM

2008-03-06T17:04:00.001-08:00

I did manage to sleep last night. I took the last "mind-easing" pill from Belgaum. I wonder if I can snag some more from another doctor -- they were great! I'm supposed to do some yoga with my host's eldest daughter this morning.

I'm not really sure where it is we're going today. I think it starts with an 'I' and I'm fairly certain it's about three hours away. We've been traveling in the party van and our driver has a tiny little head. We've aptly nicknamed him "Little Head."

It's fun being able to all travel together. I really love the team. We're such an odd combination of people, but somehow we all balance each other out. I just feel really comfortable with all of them. I hope we stay in touch when we get back to real life.

Tomorrow we're supposed to go to some historical place called Humpty (or something like that) to see some ancient ruins. Not really my cup of tea, but I'll be okay.

Sunday 27, January - 11:00 PM

2008-03-04T11:45:00.000-08:00

Oh thank you, Lord Vishnu and all of your ten incarnations!!

I have landed in Bagalkot with an awesome family -- the president of the Rotary club here!!

Tonight's presentation went very well. The crowd had a good sense of humor and we had some great food. It was actually the first real meal I'd had all day. We left Bijapur around 10:00 AM and made some stops and saw some ruins.

Temple carved into a rock.

I don't know why it is but I am not super-interested in seeing all the historical sites and temples. I'm kind of that way with museums too. Yeah, I get it - it's all old and amazing that they carved these big, impressive buildings out of rocks and stuff. Cool. Neat-o. Can we go somewhere else now?

"Oh goodie... more temples."

I thought this was pretty funny. At the sites, they charge foreigners 25 times more admission than citizens:

At least I did get to see some monkeys today. They were really funny and cute! One went after this guy who was carrying a bag full of fruit. The guy screamed like a little girl and ran away, dropping his bag (which the monkey ran off with.) I'll take monkeys over monuments any day.

Consider yourself warned.

Monkeys!!

"I love you, Monkey!"

On the way to Bagalkot tonight, we stopped off at this little farm which was way off the beaten path. We turned down this desolate road into a place which turned out to be the herbal garden of a holistic medicine man. The sun had already gone down so it was pretty dark and we couldn't see too much, but this skinny guy in an orange turban took us all around his yard, naming the herbs and trees, and telling us what each one was used for.

I asked him if they had something that cures cancer and he said practicing yoga and eating a raw diet will heal the body of just about everything - including cancer. I found that interesting and wonder how difficult it is to eat a raw diet.

Possible cure for gout?

I also wonder if I will be able to continue being vegetarian when I get home. I suppose I will miss chicken, turkey and fish to an extent. It's definitely easier to be veg here because they make such a great variety of food and you never even miss meat. Maybe I can learn how to cook some Indian food while I'm here. I've definitely felt better - cleaner - since I've been eating veg. I think I'll fold and put away my wet laundry... which hopefully is dry now.

Sunday 27, January - 7:00 AM

2008-03-03T11:18:00.001-08:00

I slept great last night. Elizabeth's host in Belgaum was a doctor (one of about 10,000 that we've already met so far on this trip) and he had given me a few pills "to ease my mind." I have been hoarding them like gold and I figured that after yesterday morning's cockroach ordeal, my mind needed to be eased.

We made our presentation last night to the four Rotary clubs of Bijapur. There was no LCD projector so we had to kind of wing it without photos. It went fine. Prior to the presentation, my host's wife and mother dressed me up in one of their saris.

My Bijapur host, his wife and parents.

My host taught me a Ganapathi Sloka - a prayer in the state language of Kannada. I read it at the presentation:

"Vakratunda Mahakaaya, Suryakoti Samaprabha
Nirvighnam Kuru Mey Deva, Sarva Kaaryeshu Sarvada"

Meaning: Lord Ganesha has a curved trunk with a powerful body. He has the brilliance of a million suns. May the Lord remove all the problems from the actions I aim to achieve.

As I had mentioned, my host doesn't have a car. So we took his motorcycle to the Rotary meeting. As I was riding (side-saddle... while wearing the sari) a pig went running by and I just had to laugh. In my wildest dreams, could I have ever imagined myself in this situation?!

Not actually me, but the way I traveled to the meeting!

This morning I just feel gross and totally need a real shower. We were supposed to stay another day in Bijapur but instead are leaving for a town called Bagalkot which is more than fine with me. I hope it's a nice place.

Misty's still pretty sick. She missed out on all of yesterday, but we've assured her that she's picked a pretty good time to get sick. She's in very good spirits though, and I find her to be pretty inspirational. She never complains, even though she's so sick.

Only 16 more days here in India - I wonder what each will bring? I truly do keep flip-flopping from being miserable to ecstatic, and I think it really is all about my own perspective. I'm trying to be a lot more positive about it all - to just kind of go with the flow and put aside my fears and expectations. It makes life a lot easier and more enjoyable when you're not constantly trying to fight against it.

So on that positive note, I'm off to start another day!

Saturday, 26 January - 4:00 PM

2008-03-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

I'm not really digging Bijapur. This morning I did battle with a cockroach that was easily three inches long. I was sitting on the toilet when I noticed him in the corner of the bathroom, trying to scoot under the door into my bedroom. So I got up, grabbed a shoe and smashed him. I picked him up into a cup and dropped him in the toilet and flushed. But of course the toilet would not flush. And um, not to be gross, but I had just gone to the bathroom too.

As I was trying to figure out how to make the damn toilet flush, the cockroach came back to life and started paddling around in the water! So I closed the lid, took my bucket bath and got dressed. Afterwards, I very cautiously lifted the lid to find that he had become completely reanimated and was now swimming frantically, trying to get out of the toilet! Agh!!

I slammed the lid back down and went into the living room to tell my host that I couldn't flush the toilet. He went into the bathroom for a few minutes and then came back out. When I checked the toilet again, it was clear that he had not had much luck flushing it either, but the cockroach was gone. I'm not sure where it went. And I don't ever want to find out.

Breakfast was not good. I had two bites of something sweet and a greasy little doughball. Our hosts took us to see the Ibrahim Rauza, or Black Taj Mahal...

... and the Gol Gumbaz - a huge dome so acoustically amazing that even a whisper echoes seven times.

It's hot and dry and dusty. My host family is okay, but I get the feeling they're laughing quite a bit at my expense. I'm actually getting a little tired of being stared at. Everywhere we go, people look at us. Little kids run up and ask, "What is your name?" and want to shake our hands.

"Excuse me, Madam? Madam?"

"What is your name? Madam?"

I know I should just relax and enjoy the experience. After all, if it was like being home it wouldn't be an adventure, right? But for some reason, I keep expecting to come to the next town and it being more like my own. Where toilets flush and people have shower curtains and Kleenex. And there aren't cows and pigs walking down the street.

How does one get used to this?

I miss Wolf and our house. It's bad today. On a positive note, I did have my first Indian motorcycle ride this morning. That was pretty fun. My host doesn't have a car so he drove me to meet the others on his bike. So yeah, that was a good thing. I guess it could certainly be worse, I know.

Saturday, 26 January - 6:30 AM

2008-02-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was definitely my least favorite day so far.

I had a nice send-off from my host family. We were supposed to leave around 9:00 but we were delayed by over an hour because the zipper on Elizabeth's suitcase broke. While we were waiting, one of the hosts took Bernie, Rajiv and me to the post office so we could buy stamps and mail postcards. The host was laughing because he didn't understand why we would want to send postcards when we could just send email. We tried to explain that it's kind of sentimental.

When we met back up, we all piled into this huge 12-passenger van and set sail for Bijapur. En route, we stopped at a town called Nipani. It's a small town and we did a mini-presentation for their mini-Rotary club. Nipani is famous for its tobacco crops and so our gift from the Nipani Rotary Club was a carton of beedies.

"None of us smoke," we told the Rotarian with the gray beard. "It's bad for you."
"Bad? I have been smoking for forty years and I am very healthy!" he replied, coughing black phlegm into his handkerchief. He henceforth became known to us as Smokey.

Smokey and a few other Rotarians took us to a school that they sponsor and then back to their club, where all the men proceeded to drink beer and smoke beedies. The women were inside preparing lunch, and us three girls were pretty much left to wonder what we were supposed to do. After lunch we toured their Rotary blood bank, and then left again to visit another fort. I guess we finally left Nipani around 5:00 PM.

Kids from the Nipani Rotary school.

Smokey says, "Come on Bernie, all the cool kids are doing it!"

Bag o' blood, anyone?

We drove for a couple more hours, playing with fruit and getting punchier by the minute. Then Misty came down with a fever.

Playing with "Agent Orange"...

... while Misty gets sicker and sicker.

We stopped off in this really crappy town so that Bernie and one of the hosts could take her to a hospital. The rest of us ended up sitting in this little dive of a restaurant being stared at by patrons. It must have been the equivalent of a greasy spoon diner. We sat around being miserable until it was time to leave.

No Happy Waitresses at the Indian diner.

"Quit it Smokey, cows do not smoke beedies!"

So we drove for an hour and then stopped again at some strange little village where these poor people were making sandals to export to Germany. It was pretty late at night, we were all tired, confused and cranky. We finally arrived in Bijapur after 11:00 PM and we were taken to our new hosts. I was totally exhausted.

My new family seems cool. It's a young guy, his pregnant wife and his parents. They were a little bummed that I didn't want to eat dinner at 11:00 at night. We sat around in their living room staring at one another until my host's brother and nephew came over. Then we all stared at one another some more until I finally excused myself to go to bed.

The room is tiny and it's gonna be another bucket bath for me this morning. Fortunately we're only here for two nights. The house is really small and my room is right next to the living room so I can hear all the commotion, both inside and out. Right now, for instance, I hear outside some loud trucks, a Muslim mosque calling people to prayer, a dog, a goat, and some guy coughing and hocking loogies really loudly. Lovely.

I think we're all reaching out tipping points. Elizabeth had a meltdown yesterday and it feels like it's all getting to be a bit too much. I try to remain positive - it's just a couple more weeks - but sometimes it really tests the strength. We chug along...

Friday, 25 January - 7:00 AM

2008-02-28T11:52:00.000-08:00

Okay - yesterday was one of the coolest days ever. We met up around 9:30 at Shoba's house (Elizabeth's host, the one who founded the women's Rotary club.) She's pretty much the Indian version of Oprah Winfrey.

First of all, she started a pre-school out of her home many years ago. The first class consisted of her own two kids and two others. The school has since evolved into a pre-K through grade 12 school on an 8-acre campus, complete with an olympic-size swimming pool.

We spent the first half of the day at the school. We watched the kids assemble on the playground, and each class did a brief presentation of what they will be performing during tomorrow's Republic Day celebration. We all introduced ourselves in front of the 600+ kids and I even got to blow a few "notes" (I use the term very loosely) on a bugle.

Assembly of many kids!

After touring the classrooms and seeing some of the activities, we sat with Shoba in her office. Over her desk hung a large photograph of a man, and attached to the frame was a floral garland. The man in the photograph was Shoba's father-in-law and she explained that it was because of him that the school came to be.

When a woman marries in India, she moves in with the husband and his parents. And most women do not work outside the home - especially not women whose husbands have money. But Shoba's father-in-law said that as long as she did something good for people, he would support her decision to be a working woman. She named the school after him.

In addition to the school, Shoba also started a computer class program out of a part of her house. She offers a 3-month course in Microsoft Office and other programs to "economically backward" people [poor] so that they can learn skills that make them valuable to employers. There are twelve hour-long classes each day, and as soon as one session ends, a new one begins.

Oh, and the most amazing part? THE CLASSES ARE ABSOLUTELY FREE!! Shoba and her husband fronted the money for the computers and the software, and the salaries of the teachers are paid by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Unbelievable. This woman is a dynamo.

Later in the afternoon, we drove back up to the Panhala hill station. This time it was still light out so we could see more of the fort. I got to sit in a cave that a monk lived in 3,000 years ago!

"Hello..? Anybody home..?"

Oooohhhhhmmmmm.........

Around 7:30 PM, we met up with some friends of Shoba's who were attending a course in The Art of Living. They were in the midst of a Level 3 course and had taken a vow of silence. Somehow Shoba arranged for us to have a semi-private audience with the Guru who is like Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's second-in-command.

This guy embodied peace and happiness. You could actually feel the energy of the room change when he walked in, and standing next to him was like standing next to a power plant! We each got to ask him a few questions. I asked, "How do I fill the void? How do I make the longing, seeking feeling go away?"

And the gist of his response was that the most important things in life are love and responsibility.

When the Guru left, a guy came up to me and said, "You had a great honor tonight. You must have done something very good in this life or in a past life, because it is very rare for the Guru to speak one-on-one with people like this. Remember this night."

That really got me thinking. It's all so strange how my trip to India came about. I truly believe I was meant to come here and to have these experiences. The sabbatical - it happened to bring me here. I feel like I have a new light down my path. A better understanding of my dharma... of what is meant for me.

We joined the hundreds of devotees in this huge tent where we all danced around like crazy freaks. Complete strangers were warm and welcoming, and I felt safe and open. It was a high no drug could induce. Then the Guru came in to speak to the crowd. Two young Indian women translated his message to English for me. He spoke of the three elements essential to a good life:

1) Meditation
2) Service
3) Truth

We finally got back to our hosts in Kolhapur around 10:30 PM. My host had saved dinner for me and we sat around chatting. I kind of slept in fits and bits - too excited from all I had experienced that day. It's okay though, we have a long travel day today so I can catch up on some rest. We're meeting at 9:30 today and leaving for Bijapur. I think there are some stops along the way.

Kolhapur was amazing.

Thursday, 24 January - 7:00 AM

2008-02-28T11:45:00.000-08:00

I've been waking up on my own at 7:00 pretty much every day. I'd been using my cell phone as an alarm clock, but I had to turn it off because every few minutes, it was alerting me that I have new voicemail. Which I can't retrieve because I don't have international service. So I hope it's not an emergency.

We're scheduled to visit a school this morning and a jaggery factory later in the day. We're also supposed to hear a little bit about Sri Ravishankar's "Art of Living." No, not Ravi Shankar the sitar playing-father of Norah Jones. Apparently there is more than one Ravi Shankar in the world.

I miss yoga. I think my body is enjoying the break from running, but I do wish I could get a little more exercise on this trip. I really only went for one walk and that was back in Belgaum. It will feel good to get back to the Y and back to my Bikram classes.

Alright. I need to shower.

Wednesday, 23 January - 7:00 AM

2008-02-27T11:50:00.000-08:00

I'm inside a mosquito net!

When I got home last night, I found my hosts had put one up over my bed. It totally helped and also put my mind at ease so I could get a full night's sleep. It's these little things that bring me such joy!

Yesterday was another fine day. We left around 10:00 AM for a town called Ichalkaranji (itch-al-ka-ron-jee) where they welcomed us with beautiful floral garlands.

The first Rotary project we visited was a mobile medical clinic that provides free medical care to nineteen rural villages each week. We went to one of the villages and got to see it in action. What an amazing, beautiful project. Every day I am more amazed to see what the Rotary clubs do in this country.

From there we visited yet another textile factory. I've finally figured out that our days consist of one or more of the following three activities:

1) Visiting Rotary projects
2) Visiting vocational workplaces of Rotarians
3) Visiting temples

Sometimes we do all of these things in one day. And it seems that wherever we go, people give us tea and biscuits. I gotta say, I loves me some Indian tea. They make it with a spicy tea powder and boiled water and/or milk. I definitely wanna bring some home with me.

Our next stop after the textile factory was to a Rotary Colony. It's a small colony of 25 2-room housing units provided to poor families for a very, VERY minimal cost. Like... pennies. We got to go inside one of the houses. The woman and her kids who lived there looked so happy. And she offered us tea.

And after the trip to the housing colony - visiting the poorest of the poor - our hosts took us to a fancy restaurant for an amazing lunch. It was quite an odd contrast. It's actually pretty weird how the rich and poor live so closely amongst one another here.

After lunch we visited a really cool Jain ashram and got to witness a ceremony where a band played and people kept dumping pots of different colored liquids all over the giant statue of the deity. Even though our guide tried to translate what one of the monks was saying, I still really didn't get what was going on.

Jain temple ceremony.

Next we visited ANOTHER textile factory (Okay I get it!! Enough with the cotton already!!) Here's when I began to get a little cranky. It was hot and humid inside, and little bits of cotton were clinging to our clothes and going up our noses.

No more textile factories!!

Finally we ended up at a Rotary school for the deaf. This was pretty amazing. They build and maintain a school for a population of poor, deaf children. How else would these kids ever get a chance in life? The school is free and teaches them sign language, speech, art and all kinds of other classes. And the kids get a full meal each day which is something they may not be getting at home. We got to meet the kids and they were so excited to see us, and all wanted to shake our hands!

Afterwards, we took a small rest at one of the Rotarian's huge mansion before heading back to the Rotary hall to give our presentation. They had a dinner for us at a restaurant around 10:00 PM and then we headed home (to my mosquito net!!)

Today should be an easier day. We're meeting around 9:00 AM to go sight-seeing, but then have time off in the afternoon. Hopefully I can do some shopping with my host's wife. Kolhapur is supposedly famous for its chappals, and I also need to pick up a new suitcase for all the stuff I've acquired.

I've been here for ten days. Sometimes it feels like I just got here - sometimes it feels as if I've been here all along. India keeps teaching me lesson after lesson: patience, humility, tolerance... but most of all gratitude. I am not who I was when I left New Jersey. And for that, I am glad.

Tuesday, 22 January - 7:30 AM

2008-02-26T10:52:00.001-08:00

OMFG. Yesterday was absolutely insane. We spent the day in a town called Sangli. Our schedule was jam-packed from 9 AM until midnight. In truth, I can barely remember all we did, but I'll give it a try...

1) Sangli Rotary Club - We saw their "health club" and the Jaipur Foot project wherein they provide free prosthetic feet and legs to people who need them.

Rotary gives four new people the ability to walk.

2) After that we took another hospital tour.

Great statue outside of the hospital.

3) Lunch at a vineyard owned by a Rotarian. Wine was provided, and now I know why Indians are not famous for their wine.

Bad, bad Indian wine.

4) Tour of afore-mentioned vineyard and winery.

Tasty Sangli grapes!

Bernie has a way with women and wine.

5) Tour of a Rotarian's textile factory, followed by tea.

6) Tour of another Rotarian's raisin factory (Sangli is known for its grapes) followed by another tea.

Lots and lots of raisins in cold storage.

7) Presentation outside the Sangli Rotary Club, followed by a cultural dance performance and a light dinner at 10:00 PM.

We finally got back to Kolhapur around 11:30 PM, but the guy who was driving me back to my host's house got lost. Then he seemed to get mad at me because I couldn't remember which house it was. Um... okay.

Today's schedule looks like a repeat of yesterday's. It seems that every Rotary club we land in wants to show us EVERYTHING! about their town and projects. It's a little exhausting. I think I would feel a lot better if it weren't for these damn mosquito bites.

But I'm trying to view it all as a lesson in tolerance and gratitude. I'm lucky because in a few short weeks, I will be on a plane back to my über-comfy life in my developed country. With both feet in tact. So for me, this discomfort is temporary. For others, not so much.

Monday, 21 January - 6:00 AM

2008-02-25T12:08:00.000-08:00

Just woke up. Had a very good night's sleep. Last night my host showed me this plug-in thing that keeps away mosquitos and I apparently had not turned it on the previous night. Live and learn.

I attended a music program last night at 6:00. Rajiv's host had organized a sitar, violin and tabla player and they performed some classical music - a raga - in his living room for just a handful of us. It was really cool! And this guy's apartment was like a museum - all kinds of art all over the walls. Very, very cool.

Sitar player.

Tabla player.

Rajiv's host is the guy on the left with the gray hair.
This is his museum-esque living room.

From there I met up with Rajiv and Elizabeth and we were taken to a Rotary family get-together about 30 miles away at Panhala hill station. There were tons of people there, musicians and a whole lot of food. I tried my first paan and am still not sure what the fuss is all about. People in India sure do seem to like their paan.

I met one of the Rotary past-presidents last night and - as God as my witness - this guy was the spitting image of my late cousin, Julius. He looked, sounded, and acted exactly like him. In fact, I have found that so many people here remind me of people I know back home. I guess Carl Jung was right about archetypes.

I must say that my digestive system has probably been the best it has been in years. I am thinking it's because I am only eating whole, vegetarian food, fruits and a lot of water. I've also had no artificial sweeteners (which means no gum either, and I am a self-proclaimed "chain chewer!")

I just had a shower and then bathed myself in Deet. I am being eaten alive here -- I even have a mosquito bite on my eyelid. Today we're traveling to a town called Sangli and I think we'll be gone until evening. I feel like I haven't even seen my host family here. I feel kind of bad because they have been so nice to me - letting me stay in a big, clean room; feeding me; taking care of my laundry...

I find that every now and then I get these pangs of missing home. Most of the time we are so busy that I don't get a chance to be sad. But last night at the get-together, I felt kind of lonely - even though there were well over 200 people there. I suppose I should get up now and start the day.

Namaste.

Sunday, 20 January - 4:00 PM

2008-02-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

Just got in from a fairly busy day. I had breakfast with my host family (corn flakes & banana, but they pour warm milk over it -- and it rocks!!) We met up at Bernie's hosts' around 9:00 AM. From there we went to see a martial arts demonstration which was pretty cool.

Little kids with weapons... never a good idea.

Afterwards, we went to a museum to see an outdoor arts festival. One of the artists drew everything upside-down. He did a drawing of Chhatrapati Shivaji Raje Bhosle, founder of the Maharashtran empire and gave it to me. Pretty cool souvenir! We also walked around in the museum itself.

The dude draws upside-down.

I'm back at my host's again, but only for a little bit. I'm scheduled to go hear a musical program at the home of Rajiv's host. Rajiv and Elizabeth are going to see some cultural dance program, and Bernie is going off on some jungle safari. Misty has come down with some bad bronchitis and is staying in to get some rest.

The host family I'm staying with is very quiet. They have two small kids and they don't seem to talk at all. I think maybe they're shy because at breakfast Vikram said, "Maybe we should have guests more often -- I'm enjoying these quiet meals!" Vikram's brother and his wife live in the house next door with their two daughters, and they are in the process of building a third house on the property for Vikram's mom and dad.

Sunday, 20 January - 7:00 AM

2008-02-21T10:35:00.000-08:00

Morning here in Kolhapur. I slept pretty good for a couple hours but there was this horribly annoying mosquito that kept buzzing around my head. I had no idea that mosquitos made noise. But this morning I look like I have the chicken pox -- bites all over my head and face.

I've started reading a book that I picked up at the ashram called, "The Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna."

Last night's presentation was at an outdoor restaurant. It went pretty well except that the power kept going out. That's actually a big problem here in India - there is a limited amount of power and electricity so in some towns, the power goes out for a few hours every day. Chalk it up to another one of those little things that we in the U.S. take for granted.

I met Elizabeth's host, Shoba, who founded her own womens-only Rotary club. Women are allowed to be in Rotary here, and there are some who choose to do so. But the majority of the wives belong to the "Inner Wheel" which is kind of like a ladies' auxiliary club. I'm not sure if there are Inner Wheels in the U.S.

Women's Rotary Club of Kolhapur.

Shoba started the womens-only club to meet the needs of professional Indian women who have to balance their careers and household responsibilities. It's actually a great idea and the club members are all really great. I had the chance to sit and chat with a bunch of them last night and I think we are planning to spend the afternoon with them today.

I have a confession to make. I did a pretty crappy thing yesterday in the car on the way from Belgaum to Kolhapur. Rajiv called Wolf and, in his best Indian accent, told him I was leaving him for an Indian man. Even as it was going on, I knew it was mean. And now my heart hurts because I know that I hurt him. And I'm halfway across the world and cannot apologize properly. I hope he can feel my remorse. I hope he knows how much I love him and how it hurts me to know that I've hurt him.

Saturday, 19 January - 1:00 PM

2008-02-20T11:46:00.000-08:00

We just arrived in our next town, Kolhapur. I am staying with a Rotarian named Vikram, his wife and their two kids. He owns a movie theatre that shows mostly Marathi films (Marathi is the language of the state of Maharashtra, where Kolhapur is located).

This is the best room I've had so far. It's Vikram's mother's room, but she is away in another part of India having an operation. I'm up on the top floor of a big house, with a private bathroom and an actual SHOWER! Since we're staying here for six days, I was actually able to unpack my clothes for the first time.

I'm sitting here in a nice, wooden rocking chair. After all the commotion of the huge family in Belgaum, it seems unnaturally quiet here! This morning in Belgaum, Veerdhaval, his sister, and two of the kids took me upstairs and taught me seven of the pranayama. Then he demonstrated some yoga poses - one where he moved his stomach muscles as if they were alive! Pretty cool... and maybe a little disturbing.

Veerdhaval and his son demonstrating the Lion pose.

The car ride to Kolhapur was a lot of fun. Me, Elizabeth, Rajiv and Misty talked about all kinds of things and I got a chance to phone home for the first time.

Elizabeth and Rajiv -- goofing around as usual.

I'm not quite sure what to do with myself at the moment. This host family isn't all over me... I guess it's kind of nice, but also kind of weird. And I can't figure out how to flush the toilet.

While I have some time, I think I'll write a little bit about my thoughts on India at this point. Being in India is like being on another planet. The climate and the geography, but also the people and the way of life. You can't really compare it to the U.S. I guess some people would get stuck on the hygiene aspect and dismiss India as being third world.

But in so many ways, they are way ahead of us. And it's in ways that really count. They are peaceful, contented, family-loving people. They're not stuck on status. They're not all cynical. They are one with the earth. They get it.

I just wish they had toilets that flush.

Friday, 18 January - 11:00 PM

2008-02-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

What an amazing birthday it's been! When I went downstairs after my bucket, my Belgaum family was all waiting down there with a birthday cake! They gave me the ceremonial forehead dot, oils and sang "Happy Birthday." Then they all took turns feeding me pieces of cake!

Before meeting up with the team, Veerdhaval took me and Elizabeth to visit his iron casting factory. I have been to more factories in the past week than I probably ever would see in several lifetimes. And I am learning how things are made that I don't even usually think about. I mean, who thinks how iron car parts are made? I'm sure they have factories like these all over the US - probably even in my own town. But I guess I'd never given much thought to stuff like this. Maybe I should. Maybe my overall awareness is waking up.

We met up with the rest of the team and our first stop was to a Jain temple from several thousand years ago. It was pretty cool and relevant because the family I am staying with now are actually Jains.

Jain temple deity.

And after the Jain temple, we visited an ashram.This was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. One of the monks sat with us and explained the real Indian culture: the belief that God (Divine) is within each and every being. That when one suffers, all suffer.

Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama, Belgaum.

He talked about death as merely shedding a shell. He talked of the balance of good and bad, happy and sad. That if one is suffering, he should take comfort in knowing that someone else is thriving. If we are experiencing bad times, knowing that someone else is enjoying good times and find peace in that. And remember that bad times will pass so not to dwell on them.

We were allowed to ask anything on our minds and his answers were so simple and so beautiful and made so much sense. I was filled with a sort of a-ha! feeling - very emotional. I guess what one might call a true religious experience.

After that amazing stop we went on a tour of the Tata power plant. It was interesting, but my mind was still buzzing from the ashram. In the evening we made our presentation at the Belgaum Rotary club. Rajiv had stuck an extra slide into the PowerPoint presentation and it turned out to be a birthday surprise! The club brought out another birthday cake (my second for the day!) and we all shared it.

Having my cake...

... and eating it, too!

After all that, our hosts took Elizabeth, Misty and I out for dinner and then we went to a movie theatre (owned by a Rotarian, of course) and I saw my first Hindi movie called Welcome!

I am so tired right now. These days are wonderful but man are they LONG! Tomorrow we leave for Kolhapur. I'm so sad to be leaving such an amazing family. And it truly was a birthday I will never forget.

Namaste.

Friday, 18 January - 7:00 AM

2008-02-19T10:29:00.000-08:00

Sorry I missed writing yesterday, I was so busy I didn't even get a chance. And the worst part was that I didn't sleep a wink last night. I was up tossing and turning, a bit freaked-out by the two cockroaches I encountered in the bathroom during the night. I got up around 6:30 and went for a walk with my hosts. They live near an army base and it was so cool! They have a zoo on the base and a temple (of course). Had great conversations with Veerdhaval, his sister and her son.

Reindeers at the zoo.

Walking with my hosts.

After my bucket bath and breakfast, I met up with the team and we began our very long day. We started at the KLES hospital which is this massive teaching hospital - the biggest in the state. We toured all around and met the people in charge (Rotarians) Everyone kept snapping photos as if we were celebrities, then we had tea with the head of the hospital.

From there we visited Hindalco where we learned how beauxite is mined to produce alumina, a chemical used in many household products. It was cool because we got to wear hardhats.

We has a terrific lunch buffet there at Hindalco and then we were off to VTU, the largest technical engineering university in Belgaum. A very impressive campus. During our tour, one of the host Rotarians shared his own views with us of why India is experiencing "brain drain" - which is when students leave India after finishing their degrees to live and work in other countries. He said Indians don't have the same sense of loyalty and patriotism that Americans do. I found that to be interesting.

By around 5:00 PM, exhaustion hit me. After not sleeping the entire night, walking around hospitals and dirt factories for seven hours and just missing home a little, I had a mini-meltdown. Just started to cry during another tea that we were having at the college. I think I scared the Rotarian hosts a little so they mercifully took us back to our hosts to relax.

But not for long. Soon it was time to get up and get ready for the dinner. The Belgaum Rotary club held a huge dinner party at an outdoor restaurant for the GSE team, hosts and their families. It was a lovely time. I wore a salwar kameez that I had gotten as a gift from my Dharwad host family, and we all hung out and had a great time.

Paying homage to Rajiv.

I came back home, took a Benadryl and slept like a log for the next 7 hours. No cockroaches - no worries. Today I feel like a new Jen! This morning we're going to visit a fort, the Tata Company power plant, and then are making a presentation to the Rotary club at 6:30... which will probably end up taking place around 8:30, IST (Indian Standard Time) hehe.

Oh yeah and I almost forgot - today is my birthday! I have a feeling it's one I'll never forget :)

Namaste,

Wednesday, 16 January - 10:30 PM

2008-02-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

Oh thank you God!!

Today I arrived in Belgaum and am staying in a BEAUTIFUL house!!

Dharwad was non-stop. Especially yesterday. I woke up at like 4:00 AM and just laid there until 7:00. When I went in to shower, I found that there was no shower - just a faucet sticking out of the wall and another one of those big buckets and small pitchers. Umm...?

While I was standing there wondering what to do, my host brought in two metal buckets full of hot water (really hot water -- heated by the solar-powered hot water heater on the roof.) I must have looked terribly confused, because he explained that cold water came out of the faucet and that I should mix the hot and cold in the bucket for my bath. Thus, my first "Indian bath."

I rushed around trying to get ready, as we were supposed to meet the team at 9:15. But we ended up sitting around the living room until after 10:00. People kept dropping in -- what's going on?? I have a feeling "time" is open to interpretation here.

We had an orientation meeting at the Dharwad Rotary hall. A past-president filled us in on what our GSE experience might be like, and answered a lot of our questions. He also gave us a very brief crash-course on Indian culture.

From there we visited an Ayurvedic hospital -- they use leeches!

We were supposed to return to our host's homes after that, but instead they brought us to this tiny village called Garag - the only place in India where national flags are produced. It was very interesting, as all the flags are made by hand.

At first we didn't notice that this woman had some extra help.

Evening was fun. Neeta and Rachana dressed me in a sari and we went into town to do some shopping. Then we went to some of their relatives because it happened to be Sankranti - a festival when you offer people sweets and say, "Take sweet, talk sweet, be sweet." A lovely tradition, really!

By 10:00 all I wanted to do was sleep. But my hosts took Elizabeth and I out to a restaurant for dinner. As you can tell from last night's post -- I was spent! This morning I took a walk down by a lake with Nagraj and the two girls.

In the afternoon, the team did our first presentation for the Dharwad Rotary club and then we left for Belgaum.

My host family seems super-cool. The husband and wife (Veerdhaval and Swati) have two young sons, and they live as part of an extended family: a grandmother, two aunts, an uncle, and four other kids. It's quite a full house! I got to stop at an internet cafe for ten minutes and had a little time to relax in the afternoon.

This evening, Veerdhaval and Swati took me to a garden where Gandhi once visited and then we stopped for some amazing sugar cane juice. Later I watched the women cook dinner and after we ate, I played cards upstairs with all six kids.

Veerdhaval and Swati, my Belgaum hosts.

The Gandhi memorial garden in Belgaum.

I gotta say, right now I am feeling about 200% better than I was at this time last night!

Namaste.

Tuesday, 15 January - 11:30 PM

2008-02-18T16:20:00.000-08:00

I am exhausted. We went non-stop today...

1) Rotary GSE orientation meeting
2) Ayurvedic hospital
3) Cotton factory
4) Shopping
5) Visiting relatives
6) Dinner.. at 10:00 PM

Neeta and Rachana dressed me in a sari. Must sleep.

Monday, 14 January (still!) - 11:00 PM

2008-02-16T03:02:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this is still the same day! We woke up around 8:00 AM and showered. This was an experience. In the bathroom, there is a giant bucket with a small pitcher and there is also a pipe sticking out of the wall... this is the shower. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do with the bucket, so I just kind of moved it aside. I hope it wasn't used for anything gross!

When we went out into the kitchen, Radhika was there and so was some short, older guy who made us omelets. They were actually pretty kick-ass... normal eggs with a bunch of vegetables. And normal toast.

We were supposed to fly out of Mumbai to Hubli at 11:00 AM, but our flight was delayed until 1:00 so we wandered around Mumbai with Ajay and Radhika. Mumbai is like Times Square on crack!! The driving is insane - there don't seem to be any logical rules. Everyone is honking their horns all the time, passing on the right and left... there are no lanes or traffic lights. And pedestrians just kind of walk everywhere! Like, in the middle of the road. I won't describe it as "bad" though. More like... "alive!"

We walked to a temple. There were people selling floral garlands and offerings all along the street leading up to the temple. The people looked to be in pretty bad shape. Half-dressed, dirty kids started following us and asking us for money. And there are wild "street dogs" everywhere. They don't seem to bother anyone, but they are covered in mange and all look pretty skinny.

The weird thing is, even though these poor people look like they're in hell, they smile! They look like they are happy just to be.

We made our way to the temple and Radhika gave us each a flower to give as an offering to the deity. We took our shoes off outside and had to walk through security stalls - one for men, one for women. When we got inside, we literally had to push our way through this massive crowd to get to leave our offering. I don't remember ever being in such a tight crowd!

After the temple, we walked back to the flat to leave for the airport. On the way, our driver was pulled over for making an illegal turn -- to avoid a cow!! (I am so not making this up!!) He ended up bribing the cop 250 Rs. to get out of the ticket. Radhika told us that Mumbai is known for having one of the most corrupt police departments in India, but also one of the most efficient.

Our plane didn't end up leaving until 3:00. We had lunch at a buffet in the airport and my journey as a vegetarian began. The plane turned out to be a little puddle-jumper, and I slept the entire hour-long flight to Hubli,

When we landed, we were greeted by about 30 people who gave us flowers, waved oil around us, and gave us each a little dot on our forehead with this red powder. We took about a million photographs and were united with our respective hosts, who loaded our luggage in their cars and took us "home."

My family lives in the next town over from Hubli called Dharwad and they are super-nice. The Rotarian's name is Nagraj Tigidi, and he's a civil engineer (architect). He lives with his wife, Neeta, and their two daughters: Rachana (15) and Krutika (7). We shared photo albums and went up to their rooftop to look at stars and talk. We had potato pakoras and some Kingfisher beer on the roof, and Rachana tried teaching me to speak some Kannada.

I learned that there are 27 states in India and each state has its own language. Dharwad is in the state of Karnataka, so they speak Kannada. They also speak the mother tongue: Hindi, and most people speak English. So kids leave grade 10 speaking at least three languages fluently. Amazing.

We went downstairs around 10 PM and Neeta had made dinner. Stupid me! I thought the potato pakoras were dinner so I was pretty full. But I tried a little of what she'd made: some sort of tomato curry, rice and chappati (kind of like a delicious, homemade, whole wheat wrap.) Everything was great and is sitting very well. I'm glad my nausea went away!

Neeta and Krutika

I can't believe that was all in just one day! India is amazing... I can't believe I am here!! More tomorrow -- must sleep.

Namaste.

START HERE!!

2008-02-15T03:26:00.000-08:00

[Here we go - straight from the archives. So what if it's a month late?]

DAY 1: Monday, 14 January - 4:00 AM

We're here in Mumbai. It's just about 4 AM (5:15 PM on Sunday in NJ) The flights were fine, we left JFK around 9:15 PM.

On the way to the airport from Rajiv's house, Bernie realized he'd left his portfolio in Misty's car. So there was this sitcom-esque phone tag going on between Misty, her brother and her friend Scott - all trying to get in touch with Debbie, the woman driving the car with Bernie's portfolio in it. We finally caught up to her, although we ended up losing about 45 minutes. No worries - we were to JFK in plenty of time.

Saying "Goodbye" to New Jersey, USA.

Checking in was a blur. I still felt so sick from the anti-malaria medication, and was just like a zombie checking in my bags. The flight from New York to London was fine. We flew British Airways and I had an aisle seat with two empty seats between me and an Indian dude. I slept most of the time. They fed us dinner and breakfast - both within about 6 hours. I had zero appetite, but figured I should stay well hydrated.

Our layover at Heathrow was only like 90 minutes. The flight from London to Mumbai was longer. I debated not taking anymore Malarone, but decided I would be better off not getting malaria. I ate a container of rice pudding on the plane and it really helped a lot.

I watched a couple movies on the plane (Fever Pitch and Death at a Funeral) slept a lot and before I knew it, we were landing. As soon as we got out of the airport, I noticed the smell. Kind of a cross between sulphur, exhaust fumes, b.o., curry and cows. It smelled like LIFE! The weather is kind of muggy.

We met up with our hosts, Radhika and Ajay, and they took us to a nearby flat to stay the night. We three girls (myself, Misty and Elizabeth) are in one room and Bernie and Rajiv are in another. I think the hosts are staying in the living room.

Our Mumbai escorts, Ajay and Radhika

I can't believe I'm here. It's 4:00 AM and I don't know how I am going to sleep since it's really only 6:30 PM back home. One thing for sure, the next four weeks will certainly be different from what I am used to!

Namaste.

BACK IN THE U.S.A.!!

2008-02-14T06:07:00.000-08:00

What an absolutely amazing journey - physically, emotionally, spiritually... As I mentioned, I kept a written journal the entire time and now that I'm home, will transfer it all to this blog. The photos are abundant and seem to keep piling in! So bear with me as I readjust to "normal" life and I'll be in touch soon!

Namaste.

SIGH

2008-02-04T19:59:00.000-08:00

After three weeks of being super careful (and super lucky) I finally got the trots. I don't know if it was something I ate at the conference, or perhaps the water from somewhere, but I was sick with a fever all night (and other lovely symptoms which I will spare you from)

Ah well, I think it's good that it happened here in Goa and not in the other places. As beautiful as it is here, I feel like I am no longer in India. It's more like being in some resort town and there are too many shops, bars and tourists. After the amazing spiritual journey I've been having, this is a little disappointing. My fellow teammates seem to have no problem though. But I guess we're all into different things.

My host family has been great. They gave me medicine and have really been looking out for me. And I have a Western toilet and shower here -- there are so many things I will never take for granted again!!

GONE TO GOA

2008-02-03T19:55:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Goa late last night after three days at the Rotary International district conference. The conference was held in the city of Hubli, which is the second largest city in the state of Karnataka.

A little bit about India... There are 27 states, and the district with which we are in exchange spans parts of three of the states: Karnataka, Maharashtra and Goa. Every state has its own language (Kannada, Marathi, Konkani) In addition to the state languages, the people all speak Hindi (the Mother tongue) and English. Kids in school all learn at least three languages, and some elect to take on a fourth or fifth.

Me? Um.. I think I remember some drinking songs from German class.

The conference was a blast. There were about 1,500 Rotarians there from 300 clubs in the district. It was held at this huge outdoor reception venue called Gokal Garden. It's where lots of weddings are held (Indian weddings last 3 days and there are typically over 1,000 guests!)

We heard a lot of great lectures during the days spanning topics of environmentalism, education, service and religion. In the evenings, we ate amazing food, attended cultural programs of music and dance, and hung out with our friends from Gadag. The Indians know how to party, I'll say that much :)

Our GSE team gave its presentation Sunday morning to a crowd of over 1,000 Rotarians. We also got to meet the outgoing team from India who will be traveling to New Jersey in April. They are an awesome group: the team is made up of three young ladies and one guy, and is led by a woman. All of them are either doctors or lawyers, or engineers, and they were selected from a huge pool of candidates.

My current host family in Goa seems really awesome. They have a beautiful house and two dogs. I'm sitting here at my host's kitchen table (he's got a laptop with wi-fi!!!) and his wife is doing the crossword puzzle... (those of you who know me know what a comfort this is!)

In a half an hour, one of the girls from the Indian GSE team is picking us up to do some sight-seeing. I'm exited to see Goa in the daylight. We got a late start from Hubli yesterday, and the trip took about 5 hours on terrible roads.

So I guess that's all for now. Will check in again soon. Hope everyone is well!

Namaste.

AT LAST...

2008-01-29T00:57:00.000-08:00

We just arrived in a town called Gadag. After a series of exhausting days in places that were not very nice at all, I am happy to report that my current host family is AWESOME!

I think it would probably be best if I planned on revamping this blog when I return home. Because internet access is so rare, I guess my blog is pretty boring. But fear not - I have been keeping an old school journal (many times I write two or three entries each day) So I guess the best thing would be to check in here when I can and do a full, good blog with pictures and everything when I get back.

I miss you all very much. In terms of the rest our schedule, we are staying in Gadag until Thursday - visiting a very historical place called Hampi tomorrow - and then attending the Rotary district conference in Hubli over the weekend. After that we get to head to Goa which is supposedly heaven on earth.

I could use a little piece of heaven right about now :)

Namaste.

REST DAY... FOR REAL?

2008-01-23T01:08:00.000-08:00

So at long last, I have a few hours off. They have our schedules so tightly packed that we literally have been going nonstop from 9:00 AM until 11:00 PM. The Rotary district that we are in exchange with is so big - over 300 clubs - and it feels like they are trying to get us to see as many as we can.

I am still in Kolhapur and will be until Friday morning. On Monday we rode to a town called Sangli. Everywhere we go, we are greeted with these ceremonies - flowers, oils and the "dot" on the forehead. In Sangli there were three clubs and we got to see some of the projects that each Rotary club was involved in.

Sangli's big project is fitting poor, handicapped people with free prosthetic legs and feet (see if you can google "Jaipur foot") We watched them fit four people with new prosthetics for the first time. It was so beautiful it made us cry. They also provide physical therapy to teach the people how to walk.

We toured a new hospital and then a grape vineyard and winery (wine's not real big in India) and then we went to a place where they make and store raisins (cause Sangli is pretty famous for grapes and supplies a lot of the world with raisins and table grapes.) In the evening we did our presentation for the Rotary club and watched some cultural dancing.

Yesterday we went to a town called Ichalkaranji (say that three times fast!) The projects that this RC are working on were even more amazing. We saw a mobile medical unit that visits 19 poor villages each week and provides free medical care to those in poverty. Then we visited a Rotary Colony: 24 low-income housing units for homeless. These homes (and I use the word "homes" loosely) consisted of two small rooms. For a five-person family.

The third project we visited was a school for the deaf. Rotary built a school for poor deaf children - a population that was probably never given any consideration - and teaches the kids sign language, speech skills and general education. It also provides them with a full meal for lunch. And it's all free for them.

When we're not visiting RC projects, we're visiting the vocational places that Rotarians work. The grape vineyard, for instance, and we've seen a lot of textile factories. Gives me a whole new image when I read "Made in India" on a clothing tag.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but Sunday I attended a musical performance in the home of one of the Rotarians. He arranged a sitar, violin and tabla - just for me! It was frigging awesome.

I'm about to head to the market with my host family. It is the first opportunity I've had to do some shopping and the first thing I need to buy is a second suitcase! Every time we visit a club, we leave with a gift. And my suitcase will no longer close :) We're in Kolhapur until Friday morning and then we head to a place called Bijapur. I will write again when I can. 'Til then, NAMASTE!

STILL ALIVE!

2008-01-19T00:40:00.000-08:00

Hello again! Finally have access to a computer again (although I can't access either of my email accounts for some reason, so if you've sent email, I'm not dissing -- my servers just suck.)

Since my last post, we've been to a town called Belgaum, where we stayed for three days/three nights. My host family there was awesome. The Rotarian was a 30-something guy named Veerdhavel, and he owned an iron casting factory. He lived in a HUGE house with his wife and two sons, his sister and her two kids, and his brother, wife and their two kids. And his mother. This is very common in India - they call it living with extended family.

In Belgaum on the first night, my hosts took me to Gandhi garden. Mahatma Gandhi had attended a congressional session there back in the 1930's and they made it into a monumental garden in his honor.

The next day we visited the KLE hospital which is on par with a Johns Hopkins. We had a very detailed tour - even saw people receiving dialysis and having cardiac catheters. On the same day, we visited Hindalco - a company that mines a mineral called beauxite and produces a chemical called alumina. And then after THAT, we toured a giant technological engineering university. It was a far cry from the visits in Dharwad, to say the least.

Yesterday on my birthday. my host family made me a cake and sang happy birthday. It was a most amazing day. First we visited a fort more than 1,000 (or was it 10,000?) years old. In this fort was an ancient Jain basti (temple). Jain is one of the world's oldest religions. As is happened, my host family were Jains so I learned a lot about the religion from them.

Also at the fort was an mission ashram (I have all the actual names of these places written down, just not nearby) This was by far the coolest experience ever. We meditated in the main hall for a bit and then had an audience with a local guru. He explained to us the "real India" - their beliefs in things like God, death, and the balance of the world. Hell of a birthday present -- finally learning the meaning of life. Words can't express.

After the ashram, we visited the Tata electrical plant, which supplies power to places all over India. It was pretty cool, but my head was still back at the ashram with the guru. In the evening we did our second Rotary presentation. It went pretty well, and at the end, they surprised me with a birthday cake. Picture 65 Indian Rotarians singing Happy Birthday to me... yes.

And the day was STILL not over! We went back to change and then out to dinner and THEN out to see a Hindi movie. Meals are at very different times here. Before breakfast there is always tea. Lunch happens around 2 pm, and then dinner is never before 9:00. I have eaten as late as 11:00. The food is awesome, and they always seems to be bringing more of it.

This morning my host, his sister and a few of the kids taught me seven pranayama (breathing exercises). Veerdhavel is a yoga master, so that was pretty cool. I met up with the other team members around 10 AM and we left for Kohlapur, which is where I am now. I'm using the computer of Vikram (my new host)'s brother and it's a Mac (yay!!)

Internet here is painfully slow. My last host family only had it at certain times, and never when I was around to use it. And our days have been so insanely busy that I haven't even had a chance to find an internet cafe. But I've finally got some time so I figure I can catch up as best as I can.

Please allow me to touch on the hygiene factor. Those of you who know me fairly well know that I am somewhat particular when it comes to grooming habits [ie: 30 minute showers, 2x a day] Well, for the past six days, I have been bathing out of a bucket and peeing in a hole. It's just strange. The last host's house was beautiful, but their bathroom was just horrific. The first night I encountered two cockroaches and could not fall asleep the entire night.

But I do not want to dwell on that. Because although it seems Indians are third world in sanitation and hygiene, they are light years ahead of us in spirituality. They are the most peaceful, gracious people I have ever encountered. And not just my host families, but everyone. People on the streets. People walking with 50 lbs. of mangoes balanced on their heads. People riding atop a pile of sugarcane, behind a couple oxen.

Even the malnourished, dirty kids at the cotton factory. They are who they are, they feel God in their hearts and they just love. In this way, I feel that they are way ahead of me.

Okay - I guess that's enough for now. In two hours we're leaving to make a presentation and then a dinner at 9. Tomorrow we travel to Sangli, but are staying with these hosts in Kohlapur for about 5 days. So hopefully I can check in again soon. I hope you're all well, and please know that I miss you and can't wait to see you all... But not before I take a 30 minute shower.

Namaste.

WOW.

2008-01-15T03:26:00.000-08:00

I apologize for not writing sooner, this is the first time I have had access to a computer and ten minutes to sit down and write. Where do I begin?? Even though I have only been in India for two days, what I have already experienced could probably fill volumes. I'll try to recap...

We left JFK a little after 9:00 PM on Saturday night. The flight to London was about 6 hours, and then we had a two hour layover at Heathrow. From there we flew for about 8 hours to Mumbai. By the time we arrived, went through immigration, found our bags and connected with our hosts, it was nearly 3:00 AM (India is 10.5 hours ahead of US. Right now it is 5:15 PM here and still around 7 AM by you)

We spent Saturday night in a "flat" in Mumbai. I shared a room with the two other female GSE team members. In the morning, we walked to a Hindu temple in Mumbai before going to a smaller airport to catch yet another flight. This flight - to a place called Hubli - was delayed about three hours. It was a small plane and took only about an hour to get to Hubli.

My host family here in Dharwad is amazing. The Dad (Nagraj) is a civil engineer and he has a wife (Neeta) and two daughters, Rachana, 15 and Krutika, 7. They have this Indian saying that translates to: "treat your guest like a God" and they certainly have been doing that.

They are always trying to feed me. The food is great but due to this damn anti-malaria medication, I have no appetite. Glad to report that the nausea and nastiness has subsided (come on - you honestly didn't think you could through an entire post without a reference to my bowels, did you?)

Before I left to come to India, lots of people told me about the extreme poverty in the country. But I could have never imagined the things I have seen. Remember the Sally Struthers, "Save The Children" commercials? Well, that shit exists. We really have absolutely no idea what this part of the world is like.

Never really having paid attention in class, I seemed to have missed the lesson on that whole Indian caste system. Like I said, I could write volumes, but I won't. Instead, I will post some of the 500 pictures I've already taken (as soon as I figure out how to do that from here... it might have to wait until I come home)

This morning we had an orientation meeting with the Dharwad Rotary club. Afterwards we visitied an Aruveydic hospital (see honey? I listened!) and then took a detour to a textile village [read: sweatshop] to see cotton being processed, made into thread, woven and dyed to make fabric. This particular textile mill provides the fabric for ALL the Indian flags in the entire country.

Today is some sort of festival where the people pass out sweets and say: "Take sweets, be sweet." We're going to some sort of celebration and Neeta and Rachana are planning to outfit me in a sari. I am psyched!!

I guess that's it for now. Tomorrow we are going to a new town and a new host family. I hope they're as great as this one has been.

Namaste.

PS - Wolf, I think that text message I sent will end up costing like $50 :) I will call home as soon as we get a sim or calling card - I promise!!

Namaste!

2008-01-12T04:36:00.000-08:00

Welcome to my India blog! I'm hoping I'll be able to post regularly so my friends and family can stalk - er, keep tabs on my adventures.

For those of you who may not know where I'm going or what I'll be doing... join the club! Neither do I!

The basics are: I saw an ad in the newspaper back in October saying that Rotary District 7470 was sponsoring a Group Study Exchange trip to India. They were looking for four professionals (Ha! Fooled 'em!) between the ages of 25 and 40 who would be willing and able to spend a month traveling around India, representing the district. Apparently they do this ever year - send people to different countries, and then host their exchanges.

The opportunity presented itself at a really great time. For those of you who may not know, I am currently on a year-long sabbatical from my teaching job in Mountain Lakes. I was granted a leave of absence to pursue a dream I've had since graduate school: to organize the first New Horizons Band in New Jersey.

That's been a blog in and of itself, but the experience has been going really well. I work with a great bunch of people at The Music Shop. And I am so fortunate to work in such an amazing school district. Not many would have granted me this great opportunity.

Huh? Oh yeah... India... right. So I was sitting at the kitchen table on a Saturday morning when I saw the ad. I asked my wonderful fiance, "Hey honey, wanna go to India for a month?"

I read him the ad and he considered it for a moment before answering, "Nah. Cause if we both applied and I got it but you didn't, I wouldn't wanna go without you."

"Oh," I replied. "Well... can I apply?"

This is the part of the post where I thank him. If he told me he was going to spend a month in a foreign country, traveling with strangers and living with even stranger strangers, I don't know if I could handle it. But Wolf knows that I have an incurable itch to travel - it's part of who I am - and he has been wonderfully supportive throughout the entire process. I am so very lucky to have him in my life. Honey, if you're reading this - I LOVE YOU! And yes, I will miss you.... A LOT.

Okay. So I applied for the trip. Was accepted. My new boss (also a Rotarian) was incredibly awesome in allowing me to take a month away from work. As he put it, "So um, you want to take a sabbatical from your sabbatical?"

Everything is set. But... what are we actually doing over there?

The team, comprised of four members and a team leader (that's five for all you musicians) will be traveling around the Goa region. We're staying with eight different host families, and will be giving presentations about New Jersey and District 7470 to all of the Rotary clubs in their district. When we're not presenting, we'll be visiting schools, seeing sights and all kinds of other neat things which I will write about as they happen.

We leave tonight at 8:30 PM from JFK. I am all packed and vaccinated. I've also started my anti-Malaria pills (which have some very unpleasant side effects - but I guess they're better than having Malaria). We're meeting at one of the team member's homes around 3:30 and shuttling into the city together.

In case you really care, I'll be flying British Airways flight 114 into Heathrow. After a two-hour layover, I'll be on British Airways flight 139 to Mumbai. After that, it's anyone's guess!

So dear friends and family, I bid you adieu - for now. Check in from time to time, I'll do my best to keep in touch!

Jen