first week

We're in the middle of our first week here. We've just been getting adjusted to living here and are figuring out lots of little logistical things like washing our own clothes, finding the nearest grocery stores, etc. John and I have been working a lot in the office these past few days. John is working on a power point presentation about the Institute. I'm editing the director's (Janak didi's) first draft of a book she's writing about research she's done on the Institute's programs. I've already learned a ton about their model of socio-economic development. Whenever I get a chance, I spend some time with the girls and practice my Hindi. They have assured me that by the time I leave, I will have learned to speak Hindi quite well. They ask me a lot of questions about my life and what things are like in America. The girls are in class a good part of the day, and what's amazing is that even in their free time they are practicing their Hindi or something else. They seem to savor the learning that they are getting here. After reading the director's thesis on the Institute's programs, I have a deeper appreciation for where these girls have come from and the amazing changes that are being made in their communities through their training. They are basically trained in many different areas (Hindi, cutting and tailoring, health and hygeine, batik, and other skills) with the goal being that they will pass these skills on to others and use them to uplift themselves along with their families and communities. And they have been very successful in doing so. Their hearts are so pure, and they are a true joy to be around. They call me "didi" (big sister), and they call John "jijaji" (brother-in-law). The other night John was playing his guitar on the steps outside our room, and a bunch of girls gathered around to listen. They had never seen a guitar before. Here's a pic:

We're here!

So, we landed in Mumbai laaate last night, and my parents’ lovely friend Niyati auntie came to pick us up at the airport. Note to self – don’t stay in your seat the whole time next time you are on a 9 hour plane ride. My legs were cramping when we got off. Anyways, the flight was pretty good. The 5 hour layover in Frankfurt that fell at like 1-6 am Houston time was not so fun, but other than that, we got through the journey ok…I did lots of reading and sleeping, some knitting, and beat John at Scrabble. John read, studied Hindi, and took pictures of things. They even gave us vegan meals on our flights which was nice, and we didn’t lose any of our luggage which was very very nice and possibly a first.

Today we did touristy stuff in Mumbai. Niyati auntie took us to Mani Bhavan which is where Gandhi lived when he was in Mumbai, from 1917 to 1934. It’s a great place to visit if you’re a Gandhi buff like me, or even if you’re not. They had his old bedroom preserved, lots of pictures and old letters, a library, and a whole room with little displays depicting important scenes from his life.

Next we visited the Gateway of India which looked like it was being renovated or something. Across from that was the Taj Hotel which was built by the British like a hundred years ago. It’s really pretty and faaaaancyyyy. Niyati auntie, John, and I had lunch at the restaurant there which was yummy! John said it was the best Indian food he’s had (except for my mom's cooking).



The traffic here is worth a little mention. The driving here is a little crazy. In fact, I’m pretty terrified of it! The usual distance that exists between cars in the US just does not exist here. We would be right, I mean right next to cars while driving on the freeway, and what would be a big close call in Houston happens like every few minutes here. There are people everywhere, and the lane divisions seem to be purely for decorative purposes. But it works!



Now we are back home. John is taking a nap, and I’m fighting sleep. It’s 4:00 pm here, but 5:30 am in Houston so we’re not completely over the jet lag yet. Tonight we are having dinner with Ghanshyam mama and family which we are looking forward to!

That’s all for now. We don’t have a phone number yet. We’ll get that once we get to Indore on Friday. Please email and leave comments!

Love, sapana

goodbyes for now

We've had a busy last couple of weeks. We had our last days of work, packed everything up, and stored it away. There are a lot of little things that you have to think about when you go away so far for so long so we've just been taking care of it all and at the same time trying to see everyone before we go since it will be a while before we see them again. Here are some highlights:

Evening with Erin, Marcus, and super cute Morgan at their peaceful home in the country...

The Baha'is of Fort Bend got together and had a little going away thing for us. We were blown away by the outpouring of good wishes and also by the great food! The kids from our children's class sang some songs and made us an awesome book to remember them by. We were super touched.

My parents also had their friends over so we could hang out with the "Super Seven" one last time and say goodbye to them all.

Finally, the Sampson family got together to wish us goodbye and good luck which was very very sweet! Sadly I forgot my camera so the few pictures I took were on someone else's camera. :( It was nice that almost all our nieces were in town, and John got to go spend a night with them just hanging out with Tom, Teresa, Mazy, Alexa, Kevin, Christina, and Becky.

And last but not least, Jamey and Auggie!

Everyone spoiled us with really great vegan food. It made us feel really good that no animals were harmed in order for us all to get together and have a good time. They showed that eating in a way that promotes compassion and nonviolence towards animals can also be really yummy!

But mostly, we were happy that we got a chance to see everyone and we left the country feeling really really lucky and really really blessed to have such great family and friends behind us.