omg...internet, for the first time in days!!

We got these net-card-modem things when we were in Hyderabad, thinking that we would be able to use them while traveling...but they only worked in Hyderabad (and, now it seems, Delhi). whoops. HOWEVER, we were in such a rural area for so many days, that we probably wouldn't have been able to get much service anyway.

So, now we're in Delhi! We have been to Hyderabad (where I posted last), Dumka for a couple of days, then in "interior villages" throughout Jharkhand and Bihar, Bhagalpur, Allahabad, and now Delhi. The time has passed surprisingly quickly...we have been very busy. Now, we have the rest of today and tomorrow in Delhi, then I fly home tomorrow night! yay!

I got a bit of sickness yesterday, but have been attacking it with antibiotics and electrolyte fluid and as much rest as I can get, so I'm feeling better today. yay! I can make it through these last couple of days!

Overall, it's been a really good trip. In terms of work, it's been really productive, but it's been a really good trip for me personally, too. I had a rough first few days (I usually do), but then I settled into my groove. It was good that we didn't have internet or cell coverage...I think I needed a chance to be totally separated from my "connected" life, which allowed me to experience a sort of spiritual cleansing...a lenten fast, if you will. Plus, we were in the middle of Beautiful Nowhere...Bihar and Jharkhand...very rural villages, beautiful scenery...most of the places we stayed barely had electricity (for only a couple of hours a day, if at all). It was a good time to reflect.

Plus, being placed in a culture that is sooo different from your own allows you to examine your own culture, and habits, and lifestyle, and thought patterns. (You would think that I would be used to this by now, since it's my fifth trip to India!) This process can sometimes be unsettling, but when combined with the rural exile, it allowed me to have a particularly reflective time. ahhhh.

So anyway. Really only a day and a half left...and I'm ready to come home. I miss my little home in Kansas City. :)