Rich woman

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Trip Start Jun 28, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Aug 07, 2009 Next
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  Delhi, India
Thursday, August 6, 2009

I figured out how to extend my life- go abroad regularly in six-week increments. June 28th seems like a year ago! My bags are all packed- my colleagues tell me my underweight duffle bag is an embarrassment to the United States. I guess I've been on one too many backpacking trips- I like to keep things light. I've got some free time, some extra rupees for the internet fee, and this computer is downloading pictures so quickly my eyes are tearing up- so you're getting a bit of a photo gallery here from my last few days in Delhi and Jaipur.

I had to run out and get my henna hand done before leaving- just like a real tattoo except no needles and it'll be gone in a week! I had a great last day on the town- finally saw the museum of modern art (extraordinary). Also in the pics- we visited Gandhi Smriti yesterday, the site of Gandhi's assassination. The museum's displays there send a powerful message- I left feeling inspired and excited to share his message with my students (some of the displays spoke directly to Gandhi's influence on Martin Luther King Jr.).

Last is a video of traffic from the passenger's vantage point from a beloved autorickshaw directed by yours truly. Unfortunately I had to be fairly conservative on this trip as far as photo memory until recently when I was gifted a 2GB memory card. Long story short- here's a view of traffic, but Delhi traffic is incredibly tame compared to other places we visited- namely Kolkata and Varanasi (still trying to dislodge my heart from my throat).

It turns out that writing a good-bye blog is just as hard as saying good-bye to someone in person. I'll just say I'm thrilled to be headed home, but I also feel like the luckiest girl I know to have enjoyed such an exciting tour. Today at a jewelry store after buying myself a little souvenir, the salesman kept telling me, "you are rich. Buy more, buy more!" I'm sure my husband will appreciate my restraint in politely refusing, but I got to thinking- why does that pinch my heart a bit to hear this man tell me how rich I am? In the States I would laugh- rich?! I'm a teacher, for crying out loud! I shop at thrift stores, I live in a modest townhouse, and my closet is full of Payless shoes. But, for real, I am rich.  And then it totally sunk in, and I realized I wasn't just thinking "ok, perhaps I am rich" for the sake of being agreeable or keeping things in persepctive. I replied to the salesman- "yes, I'm a rich woman".

I jump on a plane tonight headed straight for all my blessings- people who love me, my very, very, very comfortable life, and opportunities galore. I am so fortunate. Good night, God bless, and I'll be talking to you or seeing you in person very soon!

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Post your own travel photos for friends and family More Pictures & Videos

on top of elephant	just pretend it's me	Rajasthani palace	gorgeous!
another palace view	all business	friends waiting outside upscale jewelry store	Jantar Mantar
Gandhi's room	depiction of Kasturba's death	Gandhi's footprints	site of Gandhi's assassination
fancy dinner night	good bye, Taj Hotel (sniffle!)	henna time	you'll shoot your eye out
good times at the henna shop	tattoo artist	cool and the gang	Delhi traffic from autorickshaw

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