the amazing race

lately, trips to delhi have been frought with adventure. not the kind you ask for, but the kind that appears like flaming shit on your doorstep. not that i've ever had that experience. but you could imagine...

the first incident was brian's song of a lost passport 2 days prior to indian departure. i played the role of an agent well, i believe. the most recent incident, operation GRE, occurred just yesterday. why i believed that simply hiring a AC car for the day and having my travel agent give my driver directions would be sufficient is beyond me. i planned 3 hours for navigation. how right i was. after calling the testing center 5 times from the roads of gurgaon (a suburb of delhi) i pleaded with a man on the street, only 15 minutes before my GRE was to begin, to get in the car with me and the driver who couldn't find his way out of an open door. after running around an unmarked strip mall i found the testing center with 10 minutes to spare. drenched in delhi sweat, i was floored by the heat in the room in which i was to sit for the exam. i would rather be stuck in a polar icecap taking a test than in a room with no AC.

but, it's all over now, friends. i write from leh, whose beauty nearly brought me to tears this morning. maybe it was my 1 hour of sleep last night. but i think it's something more... of course i do. i am that GRE word that i once learned that means "overly sentimental..." i think it starts with an m...

i'm out.

well, that is, as soon as i pack up my house full of shit, mail my grad school applications and take the gre. just minor logistics to spice it up.

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chaltehe

it all started over a week ago. the string of days that were set aside for transition and closure. these words are silly. but that's what last classes with oh the places you'll go!, and final assemblies, graduation, parent's dinner, baccalaureate, staff banquet and airport goodbyes are. don't fight it. it's the truth. i have nothing to really say about the last week. it is sad to greet change in things that you love. but it's life. when you love things, it's sad to see them move away and change. there is mourning to be done for the beauty in the everyday. but not too much. i am still trying to embrace that part.

driving to the airport with brian encapsulated the way i've felt driving ever person i've ever loved to the airport (not that this has happened that much as i am usually the one leaving)- i've wanted time to stop. i told him this and he thought for a moment. finally, he said, "i've thought about a saying that captures this place. and it's chaltehe. it goes." and so it goes. despite emotionality or fighting against it. it goes and i hope that the most important things stay. that's it. chaltehe.

galavanting garwalis: the ultimate edition

three (?) weeks ago, brian, ethan, jamie and i set out on a safari. goal: wild elephants, tigers, adventure. and was that goal accomplished? you bet your pretty britches.corbett national park is about 7 hours away from mussoorie. 7 of the hottest, dustiest hours you can imagine in a car. when we arrived in ramnagar, the town outside of corbett, we were greeted with a post-apocalypticesque dust storm sans electricity. the next two days were spent atop elephant, cruising in a 4 wheel drive jeep all in search of a tiger. it's humorous how exciting it is to see any wildlife. combined, ethan and i took approximately 20 pictures of various species of deer. let's call it what it is. tiger desperation. after an elephant ride at dawn, with no tiger siting, we drove out of the park quite sure that no tiger would be sited and we would be delegated to the masses of tourists who see no tiger. after calculating a 2% chance of seeing a tiger, we approached a small traffic jam on the road. of course, we freaked out. and, that, my friends, is what the galavanting garwalis are all about. getting it done with style. what can i say. that's just how we roll. so, here's to you, ethan, jamie and brian. missing you from this teacher's lounge and hill city that just isn't right without the likes of you.

sunset tree (subtitled: that which will be missed & all things go)

i have a final stack of papers. one. 17 papers until i am done teaching at woodstock. i love these dramatic moments. and i consistently manufacture them to remind myself what things mean to me. it hasn't always been perfect. but there is much that will be missed. poker nights. walks to school when the green of the trees and vines seems like it can be tasted. driving a motorcycle, near-life experiences around each curve, all the babies in this world with whom i am madly in love, kids in uniform running down the road on their way to school, holy cows, unpredictability, samosas, dosas and all things delicious... the high or accomplishing anything while running errands because certain elements decrease expectations... man. there's a lot to miss...

and i am crying. big surprise that is. well. only 1 more week of thinking about goodbyes. not that this will be emotional.

"some moments last forever, but some flare up with love love love." ~ THE MOUNTAIN GOATS "love love love"