We are wrapping up our time in this place of beauty - India. I leave with conflicted thoughts and emotions and ton of pictures of these beautiful people. Can't wait to come home and process all I've taken in as well as begin to post pictures and stories of what my eyes have seen and my heart has felt.
India - you are loved and I hope to return.
Jet lag is an interesting phenomenon. The brain wants to get up and explore and the body wants to sleep. That's me right now.
Michael and I arrived in India two days ago. Don't ask me what day two days ago was because it's 21.5 hours ahead of my Arizona time zone. All I know is that we didn't leave Monday am like planned because Lufthansa canceled all flights from Frankfurt to Bangalore on Mondays and they didn't bother to let us know.
It was actually a good thing because I stink at packing for trips like this and it gave me an extra twenty four hours to review the mess I'd created on the floor in our bedroom in my lame attempt to be a minimalist and cram everything into a back pack. Like yeah, for sure.
Anyway, we arrived safely and last evening our daughter Candace arrived.
We are here to participate and celebrate in the Hindu wedding of Praveen and Sowmya. I can hardly wait for the celebration to begin. Sowmya is one of our daughters from India. A few years ago we wanted to make connections with international students attending ASU and after "signing up" we were blessed with our son Jim (Pryank) and then the next year with four beautiful daughters - Vidya, Ambika, Bindu and Sowmya.
Through their hearts and lives we have grown to love the Indians and their gentle culture of kindness, love and respect. So, we are here to celebrate their two lives becoming one. The ceremony will take place next Wednesday and Thursday and when Sowmya emailed me the wedding itinerary, I cried. But, then again, I always cry at the significance of the miracle of God bringing two individuals together and creating one.
This afternoon - at 4 pm ish - we'll take a flight to New Dehli and visit friends from a long time ago. There, we will have an opportunity to see pain at its depth - walking through brothels. We will also take a three hour road trip tomorrow - I guess that might be Saturday - to see the Taj Mahal.
I've got some interesting pictures and did a video clip yesterday of the traffic. Michael says it reminds him of Vietnam - it's random, yet organized - crazy, scary and yet no one really seems to get hurt (at least from what we can tell).
As nervous as I was to visit India, I am so very thankful for this opportunity of a life time.
Lately, I've been a little busy. Michael and I are getting ready to take off Monday morning for India. We're going to a wedding in Bangalore then heading north to New Delhi and then from there take a day trip to the Taj Mahal.
As best I can, I want to give you a "taste of India" with its culture, food, and people. My husband bought me a new little flip so I'm intending to add some video to this blog!
Anyone been to India? I'd love to hear your stories!
