All Aboard

I think I'll start an India Blog or maybe I'll just let this Blog do the job. Is this the Blog for the Job? We'll find out in our next episode!
The "Grand Adventure" is coming right up - Eli and I leave for India in 4 weeks from today. (Yes, I am anxious. No, I am not anxious because of the recent events in Mumbai. Here's the thing - things are never really what the media portrays them to be. In my 20's, I was working on a farm under the Golan Heights in Israel during the 6 day war. My mother sent me clippings about how dangerous it was to live where I was living - they were very convincing! Meanwhile, the days rolled peacefully along. That and so many other experiences over time have made me realize that the media presentation always makes one feel that they personally are going to be targeted if they go anywhere within 500 mile of a troubled area. I know bad stuff happens - but I don't plan to rely much on the media to tell me how bad it is. I do have a travel agent who is from Mumbai and with whom I'm working - I'll take his advice, no problem. And I will not lightly encourage my son to come with me to a dangerous place. He does enough dangerous things without me. He rides his fixed gear bike home from friends' houses at 3 am when it's icy outside. Sheesh - India will be a veritable safety pen!
We are leaving Seattle at noon on Sunday Dec. 28, arriving Amsterdam at 8 am Monday, departing Amsterdam at 10 am Monday and arriving Mumbai at 1 am Tuesday. At this point I hope I have a watch with me to see what day and time it is where Chris and Leo are. I also hope I have a good plan for getting to a bed for what's left of the night.
Things are coming together is an amazing fashion - I'll save the details for later - writing from India - as right now it would just be a lot of very long words - like Tiruvanamalai - without much relevance. (Tiruvanamalai is our most important destination). I'll be writing up a storm in India so the long words will at least have a good story to accompany.

It's a little uncanny how everything is fitting together. I really didn't plan this year- it's wild! Who knows why this year lined up the way it did! I would never rationally plan it out this way. There are soooo many reasons it doesn't make sense. It's almost like the year "presented itself" to me in a rather demanding fashion - like Grace dressed up as a bossy train conductor. I had to get on board or get left behind. So I'm on board.