committed

i bought a ticket back to america! unlike last year this was no last minute operation. no panic. i will be arriving in cincinnati on 19 august 2006 from....new delhi. yes, i am going back to india. i am committed. my great friend sean owens is going to meet me there at the end of july. i have known sean since high school and i am looking forward to traveling with him. the last time we traveled he drove with me from seattle to cincinnati, delivering all my stuff to my parent's house before i came to china a year and a half ago.

i have an ambitious summer trip planned. duff and i are going to start out in far western china. we want to see parts of the old silk road and the uigur people (china's muslims). then tibet. duff is heading back to america at that point. his cousin ben is getting married in san diego and he is a groomsman. then, the real adventure starts. we are coordinating with other teachers from wuhan for the trip (lindsey jackson, jennifer paradise, and jessica lester) but i don't yet know their plans or route. i may well be crossing the himalayas solo (although i don't think that will end up being the case). it is an 8 day overland trip from lhasa to kathmandu. i hear it is amazing. then, i'd like to fly from nepal to delhi, i'm told the bus ride between the two capitol cities is more stressful that it is worth.

sean and i have a month in india. i will use some of that time to learn more about my opa's sister, lilly swords. she lived most of her life in india and ran a school in the punjab for the methodist church. i have written to the school, and a woman in germany who knew aunt lilly, but i haven't heard anything back yet. katie and lindsay report the indian mail system to be wildly unreliable, so even if i don't hear back, sean and i will go to batala and see what we can find.

it is a beautiful day and duff and i are done with class. as soon as i am done with a load of laundry (there are no dryers in china and washing must be done on nice days to hang in the sun) we'll go fly kites in the park near my apartmnet. happy friday.