mcleod to texas via zen route

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mumbai to mcleod via scenic route photos

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my family in dahod photos

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wow. this photo archival project takes up a lot of time. but seeing all the faces & landscapes again makes me glow inside. hope y'all are enjoying them too.

fotos from my last days at manav sadhna

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photos from kutch

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new photos of old

now that i'm home & can sit in front of the computer waiting for images to download...you can see where i've been since april!

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the wobbly one has landed

home. & i'm a bit off balance due to the inevitable feeling of being half here & half there & with a sprained ankle ta boot. been back less than 24 hours & have already taken one bubble bath & two hot showers & reacquainted myself with the background noise of npr & cnn & eaten my parents' scrummy home cooking (indian, of course!) & hung out with my brother & his girlfriend alison & their adorable new welsh corgie named biscuit & talked incoherently to my sister & her man ben (whom i forgot to congratulate on their engagement! congratulations sistah & new brother-in-law-to-be!) & slept in my own room again & done laundry & almost unpacked & well...i still have much to do.
but i wanted y'all to know that i am beyond excited to catch up with all of you again.
there is soo much to hear about - soo much to say.
my last couple of weeks in india were magical. it was my good fortune to witness the dalai lama's 70th birthday celebrations, to be able to say a proper goodbye to my students, to wander the streets of mcleod in a familiar fashion & yet never with boredom, to visit robin (& his bunnies, dog, & ducks) in tranquil dharamkot, to see chic flicks & have chic talks with kate & maura, to witness the ordered chaos of the dharamsala hospital with the boys http://himherandhimalaya.blogspot.com/2005/07/sport-weekend-brendon-breaks-ankle.html
, to do my own ritual walk/kora through the gorgeous misted forest, to eat chocolate covered rumballs, to celebrate pierre's birthday & say goodbye to friend's corner with a bevy of thunderbolt beers, to witness the real monsoon, to marvel at the glow of sunset upon the golden temple at amritsar, to stand agape at the patriotic flagwaving during the indo-pak border closing ceremony, to see a bollywood movie at an old rundown theater, to get driven about in a bicycle rickshaw, to share the goodness of ras malai with ben & ewan, to take my last overnight sleeper train ride (non-AC!) for some time, to fly through delhi, to spend time with all the branches of my family in mumbai- mostly involving eating (pani puri to dahi wada to custard apples & mangoes to indo-mexican to channa bataka to k rustom's ice cream), to see our tax dollars at work with melanie & anthony at the us consulate, to my last bit of bargaining streetside for a wee bit, to sapphire & tonic at the airport bar... a perfect way to say goodbye to india. i will certainly miss it. & miss all the ones i've met who kept me smiling along the way. til we meet again. of course.
now i'll be at my parents' house until i've sufficiently decompressed & then i'll make my way back to austin. i'm starting from scratch again...need a place to live, a way to get around town, a job, etc. so if any of you have any suggestions/leads/hints please send them my way. i'm taking everything into consideration because if i've learned anything from my time in india it is that you should take everything with consideration. sometimes things just seem to fall in your lap or come your way & it's often just as it should. the power of good intentions of word of mouth of heart has never failed me yet. so i'm not that worried. but if i seem a bit disoriented & clueless...well, it is probably because i am. but that's nothing new to those of you who know me well. it's just a matter of time...
talk to you soon.
love
ish