Well, just when I thought I could throw together a last minute trip to India- which, I can, it turns out- but feeling comfortable about it at the same time? No, no, nononono. Yeah- I knew I was pushing it, and it's true, I leave in two-three hours and I JUST finished packing.. But I was fairly calm, confident, even with less of an itinerary than I thought I'd pull together and little or no time to catch up on the latest with folks I'd met or places I might go. I was rushed this morning, sure, leaving the kitties with Grandma in Veneta, busting to Eugene, saying hi and bye to Bro and Steph and trying to trade in my broken Chacos for a new pair.. (Don't try to find them in late November, everyone, unless you have time to order online. Word from the unwise.) But I finally found the shoes (JACKPOT!), hit the highway to Portland, turned on some tunes, and got in the zone.
About half an hour in to my drive, my phone started going berserk.. And, of course:  Something's gone crazy in India. It's terrible. I can't begin to put myself in the shoes of the people that are still in the middle of whatever the hell is going on in Mumbai right now. And, then, the sickening fear that I thought I'd left behind in '07 came sneaking up on me and took my mind like a bulldozer with the weight of a full year behind it. Oh, No! Should I stay or should I go? After some- too many- frustrated conversations and finally finding some phone-call-free time to think: I should go. So, I'm going. I'm not going to be staying in those five-star hotels; I'm not eating at western restaurants or staying in western hotels. (Thanks, Fox News, for the little scare-tactic tidbit while I'm packing, by the way. Appreciated.) I'm looking forward to meeting other Americans or westerners in general that are headed that way, to find out what their today was like. "Did your mom call you up and tell you that you were stabbing her in the heart with a knife, too?"  "Did your brother call to tell you that you couln't die and leave him to deal with the knife that you stuck in your mom's heart, too?"  (Just kidding, guys. Right? ..Right? Ha, ha, ..ha?) "Did like, fifty of your friends call and leave messages while you were on other calls with friends telling you to check the news and where are you going and... 'be careful'? ..Yeah?"  "Did your phone start quivering and bouncing and burning up from text messages and try to throw itself out your car window to save itself, too?" 

I really do love you guys too, thank you for your concern, I know, it's crazy, and it's weird, and wow, what the hell, we have all been to India and it's always been the epitome of inner beauty, not outer terror.

I'll tell you ALL about it when I get to the Taj hotel in Mumbai day after tomorrow.

JOKE.

Anyway, unfortunately, I guess, my first leg is to Paris (I think. ..Maybe I should check. Shit! SHIT! No, Atlanta. Oh, that's gonna be heaven.) So anyway, there won't be anyone going to Delhi on my first flight, I don't think. Oh my God! (Say it with an Indian accent as I just did.) I just now really paid attention to what I've done to myself with this outbound flight. It was "cheap" and I was in a hurry, and I had catholic school on my mind (for those of you that don't know- don't worry).  Get this! PDX-ATL; ATL;CDG (Paris); CDG-DEL. OH! I'm in hell. Well, I will be, right about the time I land in Atlanta. I have three hours there. *suffer suffer suffer*. There, I've gotten it out of the way. All will be well for the rest of the trip, now.

So yeah- wow. I don't really believe I'm going yet. My bag is packed, I have the pile of clothes I'm going to change in to here for the flight sitting on the floor, I have my meds, bug repellent (got special emollient stuff from the travel clinic. I'm a sucker for a good salesperson, not to mention an avid repellent conoisseur), four T-shirts, three tank tops, one pair of jeans, one sweatshirt, one lightweight long sleeve shirt, one lightweight pair of sweatpants, one long skirt, one super light pair of gauze pants (I got them in Indonesia- perfect for the heat where you can't show your legs but really wish you weren't wearing clothes at all), two bikinis, one polypro long sleeve shirt, three pairs of runner socks, one wool pair of socks, two pashminas (from last year's trip, to keep me from buying MORE.. as if that'll work.. wore them almost every day there), those damn Chacos, the flip flops I got in Hermosa a few weeks ago with Angelique (sweet metallic neutral, thanks, girl), some glitter lotion from the Country Fair.... And I'll be sporting the same old gore tex Nikes (thanks, Marn! They're from your glorious Nike days!) on the plane that stepped in cowshit all over India last time around. And a bunch of stuff for Kunal that I intended to send when I got home last time (way too expensive from here to India- surprise!); Nike stuff, some UO stuff, some Levi's, some fun gadgets, some blank CDs which are weirdly hard to come across there for a decent price, and an iPod shuffle that he's going to lose his mind over (thanks for facilitating that, Deb. I'll let you know how that goes!). I get to drop that parcel off immediately, which lightens my load considerably. That's it. Not that y'all wanted to read my laundry list, but hey, nobody's holding a gun to your head.

Bad joke. Sorry. Bad timing.

Cheezus.

Soo.. Yep. Off to Atlanta. Booyah.  Had I noticed that I was flying in to Atlanta, I would have tried to hook up with Matt.. Matt, if you're reading this, I'll be there at 1:45 pm tomorrow. Not that it's Thanksgiving or anything and you have anything to do. I wonder who I'll spend Thanksgiving with this year- last year it was this cool Spanish girl- In New Jersey, we had dinner and beers together between flights.

I love this part, the wondering. I wonder what is in front of me, and I love it, love, love, love it. I can't wait to be coughing from pollution instead of this stupid cold I seem to have come across. I can't wait to see TATA written across everything and giggle a little bit about a stupid and fleeting pasties reference in my mind. ...Not to mention UTI and STD stations, those are a good giggle, too. Fart jokes never stop being funny, ya know? I explained a couple of oddities (to us) to Kunal last time, he thought it hilarious. Ah, cultural references are so ingrained, and it's so fun to unravel that rug and see what kind of dirt's been trapped in there. It's some crazy-ass dirt, to be sure, and stay tuned; I hope to find some soon.

With that, peeps, I am out. I'm gonna take my last hot shower and put my rent check in the mail.

Jacob, I love you, little brother, enjoy the place, and extra karma points if you keep the plants alive. Er- bring them back to life.

xo all,

TO INDIA!!!

Andrea