Namaste from India

As the plane made it’s final approach in to Delhi, we were able to catch our first glimpse of India. It didn’t look like much… just a sporadic patchwork of orange lights twinkling through the haze interrupting the otherwise dark of night. There were none of the familiar lights of highways or buildings visible. The air quality in the plane suddenly became very poor, the smell of India reaching us before we even touched the ground. I was suddenly overcome with fear. Instead of butterflies I felt as though I had a swarm of hungry locusts with hard edges writhing in my stomach. Tears filled my eyes. What on earth are we doing? Why am I bringing all that I hold dear to such a foreign and exotic place? Will we get sick? What will I do when the children get sick? It’s too late to turn back, and quite honestly even if I could I would not.

Happily, as soon as we were on the ground my fears of this unknown place seemed to melt away. Despite the dreariness of the airport and the filth of the bathrooms, I was suddenly excited to be in India. India! …At last.

Once we left the airport and were on the road the sounds and activity of Delhi began to take shape around us. Despite the late hour the streets were teeming with activity - cars, trucks, buses, rickshaws, mopeds, cows, everyone was out. It was then that I realized that this is a journey of a lifetime, one that will change my life in ways that I cannot yet imagine. While Eli will never know where he has been I hope that Evan will take a few fuzzy memories home with him. I am already grateful that I did not let my fear of the unknown diminish this opportunity.