Two Weeks Without...

• email
• phone
• TV
• newspaper
• english as a means of communication
• cheese
• chicken and/or eggs (thank you, avian flu)
• toilet paper
• running water
• electricity
• clothes that are actually clean (as opposed to "relatively" clean)
• coffee
• privacy
• steady sleep
• stress
• traffic laws
• fixed prices
• veggies other than carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, cabbage, eggplant, potatoes
• peanut butter
• personal space
• more than one bucket of water for bathing
• health insurance woes
• responsibility
• worry about public policy ethics, trade law, performance measures, or the Tamil Tigers
• exercise
• cooking and cleaning (besides handwashing the clothes, of course)
• shoes
• pants
• job search obsession

Guddu and I had a crazy busy time in India. I will provide anecdotes as they pop into my head over the coming days. Some pictures are uploaded-- see the photo link. Guddu was delighted to see that India had in fact NOT changed despite media reports-- it is still stuck in the 3rd world, especially the sad state of Bihar.

we are now back in richmond, feeling like life has no purpose and we make ourselves busy and stressed with pointless tasks. when you take away all of the technology and work responsibilities and ease of modern life, you are forced to concentrate on living. we feel very priviliged that we can hop between the two worlds-- comfort in the US, relaxing in the village.