About 2 hours and 13 minutes

    This morning I was thinking about all kind of eloquent things to say in my last posting before I left but frankly those things are escaping me now.  In true Amanda fashion, I just finished my packing and cleaning with a few hours to spare before I need to be at the airport.

I was reflecting about the beauty in simplicity and the magic of mundane activities.  As I stand at the threshold of what will likely be a life changing experience I really enjoyed little things today like reading the news online, drinking my coffee, taking a shower….on the other hand(foot?) I do think that traveling is great because it gets me out of my comfort zone and realize that my at times, rigid patterns and habits are not all that important.  I can survive without them   But comfort is nice too…

My blessings have been punctuated for me in the last few months as I have been able to spend time with all of you.  I am truly lucky, more than I can articulate!   Thank you for all of your support and I am so delighted I get to share my journey with you.  For those of you worried about my safety, please try not to.  I am an acutely aware person and understand that my primary responsibility is to get myself back in one piece so not to cause you all any further grief…than I already do.

Ok, I am tired and probably should get a few minutes of shut eye.  I will be arriving in Kolkata(India changed many of their cities’ names to take the power back from the era of British rule) just before midnight on the 31st for you…when your toasting the new year, send some cheer my way!  More then.

picture

Am still trying to get a hang of this blog thing, here’s the picture I was talking about.

5 days and counting…

Ok, now I’ve realized that there are about a dozen little things that need to get done before I leave. Breathe in and out, I can get it all done. The big stuff is done, got the airplane ticket…got my passport with my new India visa on it (funny and ironic, the Indian consulate outsources their visa processing to a US company).

Today I am going to get all of the technological accessories I need so I can save pictures and not fry my laptop during one of the apparently common rolling blackouts that happen in India. I am really very excited while trying to stay grounded and not get my expectations up to unrealistic cloud levels. A lot of different emotions come surging through and I try to put them away for now, it will be interesting to find out what emotion is most prevalent when I arrive in India. I’m going to pack rather lightly as I don’t want to lug my weight worth of stuff around everywhere but am taking a few token things from home, my pillowcase being one. Nothing is worse than sleeping on weird smelling, scratchy sheets.

The picture I selected for my blog is of me as a wee babe while still at the orphanage in Calcutta, fitting I thought.

Hello world!

So, as promised here is my brand new blog so that all can read about my adventures in India and Thailand. It just dawned on me that I’m leaving in less than two weeks!! I feel like I should be busy with a million things to do but I have pretty much everything taken care of. I am really happy that I’m going to be able to keep you up to date on my happenings…the internet is the best thing ever invented! Thats it for now, more later.