Hey Guys-

It’s midnight, and we are about 7 hours away from arriving in India! I can’t believe I’m going back-this is so crazy. Catherine, Gavin, Joellen and I have a flight to Delhi in the morning that we are praying we’ll make. Rajan and Namrata, the couple that my mom and I stayed with when we volunteered last year, will be picking us up at the airport and bringing us to their apartment. Rajan has been amazing and planned almost all of our trip in India. We’ll leave on Monday morning to go to Jaipur, where we’ll see forts and ride an elephant (Gavin’s one request), and get our traditional Indian outfits. We’ll go on to Agra on Tuesday and spend the day at the Taj Mahal, which I am so excited to see again. I have a feeling it’s going to be even more amazing the second time, when I can see the reactions on my friends’ faces as they make their way out of the tunnel and see the Taj in front of them.

 We’re all super excited and we have a really fun group going. We bought gifts from the campus store today to give to Namrata and Rajan. They’re each getting a semester at sea shirt, and Joellen also has some maple syrup from New York, which I know they’ll love. I’m also bringing them a couple of small things I picked up along the way from Brazil and Africa.

It just doesn’t seem real that we’ll be in India tomorrow. I’m printing out a couple of photos to bring with me. When my mom and I were in Agra last year, the hotel manager brought us to his “house” so his little sister could do henna on us. We were brought on a rickshaw to these shack like houses, where his excited sisters waited for us. They couldn’t afford to send both to school, so the youngest daughter, who they thought was prettier and smarter,  got to go while the older girl stayed at home. The younger girl did the henna on the arms, and the older sister literally stared at me the whole time. She told her brother she thought I was a movie star, and she just sat and smiled at me the whole time. Right before we left, she took a ring off her finger, pointed to herself and said “friend," then put the ring on my finger, and said “friend” again. It was so adorable, and something I’ll never forget. We took a picture together, showing the ring on my wedding finger. We’re staying at the same hotel, and I’m hoping that Salim is still there so I will be able to bring the picture of me with his sister back to her. She probably has never seen a photo of herself, and I want to bring it to her with a piece of my own jewelry to give her. I never thought I would be going back there, so I’m really excited and hoping everything works out. Alright-I’m going to get going. We’re waking up at six to watch the sunrise and our ship get into port. Hope everyone is doing well at home-

Wish me luck in India and think good thoughts so I don’t get sick like last time!