Background: the slog to the sojourn

March 12, 2016

Over a year ago Ron was asked about his interest in a job in India. In March of 2015 we were traveling in Costa Rica and were asked if we would house sit a BandB in September/October for three weeks in Escazu outside of San Jose, the capital. Since we were foot loose and fancy free we said yes AFTER Ron contacted the person who had asked Ron about his interest. Ron was told that the India gig did not look promising as the two entities were very far apart on the terms. He was advised to ‘go on with your life.’ We assumed the India deal was dead.

In October while Ron was in Costa Rica doing the BandB gig, he got an email saying the deal was on, that the terms has been agreed upon. I was out walking in Portland that dy. It was fall and the leaves were spectacular colors. I often would pick some up from the sidewalk and bring them back to the condo. I was looking at one in particular while coming up the elevator and said to myself ‘this one is Rajasthan Red. Rajasthan is a state in North Central India and they have a red there that is indicative of the region, a beautiful dark, rich red. I lamented to myself ‘I guess I will never see that again’. I came into the condo and checked my email and lo and behold there was Ron’s email telling me that India was back on! It was synchronicity at its best.

Here’s what we know so far. CEPT will find an apartment for us. We have asked for an apartment with two-three bedrooms so we can have guests stay with us and have room for a home office. It will be fully furnished as there is no provision in the contract for us to ship anything other than ourselves and our luggage. Hopefully we will find something close to the university as we will not have our own transportation.

Ron will create an advisory committee to help him determine the needs for the program. His job will be to develop curriculum and recruit instructors. Modi, the current prime minister, is friend of the president of the university and said if the program is successful he would like to see it nationalized. However, this is much further down the road.

We know that Ahmedabad has bad air pollution. New Delhi is the worst in the world, surpassing Beijing.  We have bought face masks that will screen out 95% of the particulate matter. Since buying these paper masks, I discovered some cloth masks that are as effective so will add those to our stash since they can be rinsed and reused.

We hope to leave around March 21^st - 23^rd. We will fly to Thailand and spend about a week in Phetchaburi on the family compound of our Thai family where we stay when in Thailand. Pa Cha An, the 92 year old matriarch is not in the best of health after a fall in the autumn of 2014 when she broke her leg so we want to see her now. She continues to surprise us with her tenacity.

After months of negotiating Ron’s contract and navigating the arcane processes for Indian visas, we have now received Ron’s visa and Trica’s is in process with the expectation it will be finalized early next week.  Then we’ll purchase our tickets and be off on our adventure.

Stay tuned!!