Long Time Overdue

SO I don't know where to begin so I will write about what is currently happening over here in India.

I am currently sitting in the "Transit Center"at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.  We were supposed to fly out to Bagdogra to make our way to Darjeeling today..buuut since there is a "change in the seasons"today, our airplane was first downsized to hold only 135 passengers instead of 150, and when they tried to accommodate us on another flight, we learned that ONLY 2 flights go to Bagdogra airport a day, SO lucky us, we are staying overnight at the airport.  Mike (our volunteer coordinator) is on his way to Kolkata then on to Bagdogra - he is unaware that we are still in Hyderabad...
Well, at least the internet is complimentary here!! That is a plus!

Hannah and I went to Kerala last week as there was a nun convention at the convent - so we had to be out of there.  So, we went to visit Mary Beth in Trivandrum.  Kerala was beautiful.  Coconut trees are everywhere.  We stayed in a house there, and I literally felt like I was in the Jungle Book when I stepped outside.  We went to Kovalam Beach where we got burnt to crisps, but swimming in the Arabian Sea was awesome!!  We also went to a place to ride elephants.  We were driven to the location (not quite sure where it was....) and we were told to put our stuff in our little house that we would be staying in and to then meet the people at the entrance to go on a "trek".  Well, what we thought was going to be a nice little nature walk, turned out to be a nice little 10k.  Then it started to rain, so we had to wait another hour and a half to ride the elephants.  BUT once we finally did - it was pretty sweet.  Hannah and I rode together on Jaysree. She is a 36 year old elephant, the oldest elephant there is 89.  I guess they live to around 100 years...crazy.  We got to feed her afterwards and then go and see the 2 younger elephants, who are 8 and 9.  The 9 year old put his trunk on my head for a "blessing."

So, this week we will be hiking the Himalayas in Nepal and then Hannah and I head off to Goa for some beach time.  I return home on November 18th, juuust in time for the ND vs Army game.

I know that so much more has happened since I last wrote in here, buuuut this is what is going on at the moment sooo, here ya go!