Pre-Departure

If you are reading this it must mean that I love you, and maybe you love me too- or are at least curious about my whereabouts and well-being.

I am just shy of the 10-day pre-departure mark, and am trying to get my affairs in as neat an order as possible (this mostly inolves a lot of running around, slaving away at papers, packing up my room at school, unpacking my stuff at home, and repacking my things for India...). As of yet I still have no contact information, but feel free to email me with advice on: what to pack, where to go, what not to eat, what sort of gifts to buy for my stateside friends...

Here is a vague itinerary of sorts:
The first three weeks of the new year will be spent acclimating to India by travelling around New Delhi (including visits to Agra and the Taj Mahal!) with my professor and 8 other classmates. These weeks will also be packed with 6 credits of study regarding Indian culture, heritage, religion, art and cinema from ancient times through the present, as well as an intense amount (supposedly 40 hours/week) of service.
After the orientation period I will spend 10 weeks living with a "middle class" Calcutta family (hopefully I will get a sybling!), going to school, and performing a more relaxed 20 hours/week of service.
The program is over at the beginning of April, but Esty and I plan to stick around until the 3rd week of May to get in lots of travelling (we have our visas ready for Nepal, and can't wait to trek our way into Tibet! I would also like to visit the magnificent beaches of Goa where my grandparents spent their honeymoon, and Pune- the city where my father grew up).


...but keep in mind that as we all know, things do not always go according to plan- especially in the Third World

which makes me think of some Paul Simon lyrics, upon which note I will leave you with love

A man walks down the street
It’s a street in a strange world
Maybe it’s the third world
Maybe it’s his first time around
He doesn’t speak the language
He holds no currency
He is a foreign man
He is surrounded by the sound
The sound
Cattle in the marketplace
Scatterlings and orphanages
He looks around, around
He sees angels in the architecture
Spinning in infinity
He says amen! and hallelujah!