what a difference a year makes.

The onset of my birthday week has brought on an onslaught of memories from this week last year, my last in Bangalore before heading back to the States. At this time last year, I had wrapped up all of my Peace Child duties and was trying my best to pack four years of my life into two bags to carry back with me. In between there were lunches and dinners with various people, errands to run, and quality time to be spent with the Peanut.

It's crazy to think about how much has changed in the time between then and now. I moved back to the States, completed a year of grad school, had some ups and downs in between, and now I find myself back in Bangalore, ready to ring in another year of Veena with my favourite Devaraj family. So much has changed, but so much is also the same. I have changed, without even realizing it. My city has changed, and we are slowly figuring out how our changes can complement each other. My friends have changed, but the beauty of friendships is that you can each change and still be exactly the same when you are together.

Last year my birthday also brought a lot of uncertainty about what the future would hold for me, and this year, the uncertainties are even more. I am slowly figuring out what I need to do for myself before doing for others, but it's going to take some time yet before progress is made. The next two weeks are going to bring some potentially big changes, both personally and professionally, and are going to test my strength, but I'm ready for whatever comes my way.

So here we go, 29, let's see where this next year takes us.
xx

radio silence.

It's been a whirlwind since returning to India, and I've had so many things to write about that I've just not known where to begin, so I've not written anything. Good logic, don't you think?

We began with 6 crazy days in Bangalore, filled with lots of laughter, quite a bit of rum, and a few tears thrown in for good measure. My brother had a blast meeting my Bangalore peeps, and he and the Peanut quickly became best friends. It's so crazy how much she's changed in the last 11 months; she's now walking and talking and forming sentences, and she's somehow morphed into such a little person. I could gush for days about how she's the smartest child to ever happen to the world, but I shall spare you. For now.

From here we went to Coimbatore to say hi to the family. I stuck around for 6 days and hung out with my cousins before abandoning my brother there and running back to Bangalore. Then I spent the weekend in Coorg with Shonali and Sanjeev doing nothing but reading on our porch and playing in the rain. It was exactly what I needed to re-settle my system.

And this week I have been shacking with Amai and Nilah while Kishore has been out of town. It's been nice to slum around Chamarajpet again, even if for just a few days.

So that is pretty much the last 3 weeks in a nutshell. In between I have been working on IRB approval, contacting potential Capstone organizations, and a few things for Room to Read. I won't lie, it's been difficult to motivate myself to do work when there are children to play with and restaurants and pubs to visit and naps to tak and other general distractions. But I'm slowly getting it done.

Next on the horizon: Amai's birthday pub crawl; Amai's and my birthday party; a few days in Surat to visit Masi; a few days in Goa with my favourites Maggie and Mitchell; possibly joining the Fettes group to Mahaballipuram.

I really just need to figure out how to get paid to be on holiday for the rest of my life. Suggestions?
xx

my classmates are taking over the world.

My classmates are currently spread all over the world, working on awesome projects with some great organizations. There are links on the sidebar for those who are blogging about their adventures, if you are interested in reading about their capers. As my project does not begin until the end of July, you have some time yet to wait before being able to read about mine.

My dear sweet Maggie is working with Heifer International's India office in Delhi and has just had an entry published on their blog about her arrival in India. She will be posting entries each week [I think] about her time with their office, so be sure to check back to read more of her insights.

What can I say, my classmates are rockstars.
xx