India is in my heart.

I want to let you know that I am NOT on my way home. I’m writing from the balcony of my $16/night room in Negombo, Sri Lanka. The waves are crashing into the devoted shore that is always there for them as the breeze combs my hair here in paradise but I am still excited to be returning to India tomorrow! A country where even in the poorest places you can smell hope in the air and I love India for that.

India is sometimes difficult to navigate by train and bus and the constant waitlists for tickets, expensive plane fares, and a strange bus system that I do not understand have slowed me down and kept me from places I need to go while here. It occurred to me that I should stay and finish what I came to do. It just didn’t make sense to fly all the way home and hope I get to come back to see Tiruppur where the textile industries have polluted the waterways and Indians are farming water, or the slums in Mumbai where people wake up and walk to the lake to go to the bathroom. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to talk with more people from NGO’s here about what kind of organization I can start to best work with other NGO’s to help secure freshwater for more families here. I didn’t want to leave here without a clear understanding about what my role is in this country and how I can most completely contribute.

I love India and the many dualisms in her personality that have at times made me think of my own spirit and how aligned these moments have been with my heart- including the crushing sadness I experienced when first seeing the poverty. I’m being led by my heart the same way children here have led me by holding my hand.

It cost me $770 US to change my airline ticket. (Dad don’t freak out, please) My trip budget is stretched. My clothes have only been washed once this month. I have at least 40 mosquito bites healing on my body and I get new ones every night. I miss Kelsey and Tyler so much that my eyes are watering just writing it. I miss my dogs. And I miss hearing your voices. But for another few weeks, I am here because I think it is important for you know what is going on 8,000 miles from home and I hope that what I am telling you spreads to your friends during your conversations and their friends because that is how things change.

I am trying to figure out how to get to Tiruppur (because trains don’t go there) to spend time with an American graduate student I met in Bangalore who is doing her field work there studying gender equality and it’s connections to the water crisis. And then I will travel across most of the length of India (that is about 1800 miles!) to get back to the top of this country.

I really appreciate the donations you guys have made. There have been times when I signed on my email to see notifications about donations and said Wow out loud in disbelief at some totally unexpected donation from someone that really shocked me. Thank-you guys that have done that soooooo much. You have made so many more things on this trip possible already. I am hoping those of you that haven’t will do so now.

Thank-you for reading my blog, and I hope you stay tuned.
Kels and Ty I love you so much man. You guys are my heart. See you in a few weeks.