A Breathtaking Day in India

The sun is beginning to set - and Christen is the small figure modeling next to the tree.

Breath-taking sunset.

So, in case you were wondering, it is actually just a little bit gorgeous here.

This is where I work - my brand, spanking new office space. (Well, I am pretty moved in by now!)

Helping Claire carry bags out - such a sad event!

Yes, Claire, we will miss you! (Already do!)

Sol took the picture of us, the decorations, and Claire-bear!!!

And on to today. . .

It was simply one of a kind. The sun, the air, the weather, the trees, the flowers. Oh my. I cannot explain how the warm wind carried the aroma of the freshly blooming white, purple, and pink flowers to my nostrils and filled my whole body with the calming and fulfilling scent. It was priceless.

I woke up early this morn., went through my oral presentation before breakfast, then after b-fast went on a great walk after getting my things set up in the office before office hours began b/c it was just soooooo beautiful from the get-go, I couldn't stay inside. I went on 3 more walks then before the end of the work day and then went on another tonight with my friend Christen. We went to one of the lakes on campus before supper to watch the sunset. It was so so so beautiful. Christen also came with me on one of my walks today during morning tea break and that was so nice. We even spotted a crab - just on the street!! No camera for a picture of that, but I have some real beauts from this evening you saw :)

There is so much going on right now at ICRISAT - I feel like my head is just spinning in circles. They have all the flags up on the way in to campus - and having the flags up is a really big deal! So there is this international nutrition conference. We met a man from CT actually who is here for a few days presenting at it and made friends with him at lunch yesterday. Then today at lunch some (we think European, maybe Australian) people were questioning us about getting out to see Hyderabad since we are such experts! Ha! Apparently they were cautioned against going out for some reason - but they are bound and determined to make their own way! (I wonder who told them not to b/c it was all I could do to keep everyone who I met from sending me on a plane to Delhi to see a few more sights!)

I am so appreciative of every moment here - I cannot even begin to describe the beauty. Every day I just breathe so deeply and imagine capturing it all to send home - or to bring back with me. However, a picture, a video, or any other virtual tour just cannot capture the full experience, but they do help. So I have been trying to snap like it is going out of style!

Then tonight at supper - which was so delicious - I need to take some more pictures of the food as well b/c I am really appreciating that lately also! . . . Anyway, we met another man who is here originally from Australia - but lives in Taiwan with his family at the World Vegetable Center Headquarters. That was neat b/c he heard about Claire b/c she interned there and they have been getting WFP interns for 4 yrs. now. He also knows Tamara - the WFP intern in Taiwan at his center right now! He was really nice.

However, the amount of white people on campus right now is getting a little too much for me. We are feeling bombarded by the western world right now - I guess people are flocking to ICRISAT for these big conferences going on! I talked to an Indian friend tonight from work. He is so nice and wonderful to me. He always asks about my work, my health, my happiness here in India, how my experience has been, what I have learned, and if I would like to come back when I am Dr. Leah to do some research here again. I try to shake off the "Dr." part, but say of course I would love to come back here! He is just thrilled - I guess he has met Westerners who don't want to come back, but all the Westerners I am w/ here all either plan to come back or have been here before or both! The only problem is that I always get chatting with Indians at night - outside - and of course I am the one squirming with the bites! But a few bites are worth a wonderful chat - so it is a payoff :)

Alright - I need to go to bed now now now - gonna wake up early and hope to do a run-through of slides and maybe a call home to B-town, IA.

So Long!