Experience Keeps a Dear School...

I have co-workers, brothers and sisters, serving in locales where life is in lockdown, and where a car backfire probably isn't a car backfire, where they have to follow the sound with a self-check for injuries. I don't envy their position, and consider them the braver for it. While India has witnessed its fair share of terror, the events in Mumbai are the first acts I've witnessed from India. I prefer to avoid drama and theatrics, but I will say the events have been sobering and have encouraged quiet reflection.

We're presently safe in Delhi, assisting Mumbai from a distance, and waiting with "baited breath." It's the "what ifs," the "what's to come" that has me thinking "maybe I should have bid on Reykjavik."

This post isn't meant to spawn a wave of concern, not at all. I am safe, and hopeful I'll remain that way. To my brothers and sisters that live with this uncertainty daily, the dangerous potentialities daily...I can only say thank you and be safe. To those at home I can say, without any care for how dramatic it may sound...savor Thanksgiving Day, be truly thankful for the time you have with your loved ones, your parents, your brothers and sisters, your children. Bask in that time, enjoy it, and don't take a second of it for granted. Today, too many people in India and throughout the world have been denied a future with a loved one. We never really know what the next moment will usher in.

To my beautiful wife and children, I love you dearly. Family and friends, ditto. I'll keep everyone posted.

Peace.

Thanksgiving Eve

I'm sure many of you've heard about the terrible attacks which occurred in Mumbai on Thanksgiving Eve. I'm in Delhi, and I'm safe. Love to you all, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Late Call: Touchdown!

So I arrived safely to Delhi...not comfortably, but safely. I was packed tightly into a KLM operated 747...I think. I know it was a big plane, and it was full. I slept for most of the flight, and when I wasn't, I was conversing with an elderly woman from Sweden. I told her how much we appreciated IKEA.

I'm now trying to settle into a routine, settle into a new job, and into a new house. Until Julie and the kids join me, I'm not sure any of it can really feel like home or even an approximation. This isn't an epiphany, but an understanding.

I think we'll enjoy our time here as long as we continually remind ourselves that we're living in Delhi. No Target. No Whole Foods. Not to mention the complete absence of traffic laws and environmental protections. I ate Dominos pizza last night though, and I'm not dead yet or feeling near it. Delhi is beautiful in many ways. Roaming packs of monkeys, parrots flying free, fragrant flowers, and a city teeming with potential. It can also be very depressing. Ultimately, I really hope family and friends will consider our assignment here as an opportunity to visit, and see a part of the world, a kind of life that one usually wouldn't see. Consider that an invitation.

As soon as Julie and the kids arrive, and I reclaim our digital camera, then we will post plenty of pictures...of the kids riding elephants, playing with monkeys, standing in front of India Gate, the Taj Mahal, the Himalayas. All that and more. I will attempt to post regularly with observations, stories, and what could only be brilliant insights. Love to you all.

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

I'm off...to the land of elephants and tigers, of Verizon Customer Service and HMO calltakers, of curry and spices, of 120-degree heat in the shade and Amoeba swimming pools (AKA drinking water). It's been quite the delay, quite the headache, and remains a heartache, leaving Julie, Olivia, Eli, and little Alise. We'll only be separated for another six weeks or so, and for that we're grateful. Olivia was admitted into the American Embassy School, which is awesome. Eli just had a fine lookin' haircut, and is extremely proud. Julie has confirmed that Alise has at least one dimple. There may be a second...Olivia isn't happy about that as she's wondered why then Eli and Alise would get two dimples, and she only gets one.

Anywho. I'll provide further updates once I'm settled. I hope this blog finds all of our friends and family happy and healthy.

A Blessed Retraction...

Well, I suppose timing really is everything. Shortly after "publishing" the last post, I received news from my employer. No, not that the situation has been resolved, but the next best thing. My family and I will be taken care of in the interim, which is great news. One thing I should have pointed out previously, and now I feel guilty for not pointing out previously, is that my employer, or should I say certain of its representatives, were lending a very sympathetic ear, were equally as frustrated by the system, and were working to achieve a positive end within that system. Perhaps I should have had more faith, but my cynicism has been honed to a fine edge...and again has been proven incorrect.

So, while the situation has not been fixed, it has at least been blessed with duct tape, and that should carry us through resolution...hopefully.

The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful...

The Good: The Turners remain happy and healthy, albeit occasionally stressed, largely because of what you'll read in the "The Bad" portion below. Olivia is going to school, learning her letters, sight-words, and all the appropriate cheers for the school's pep rallies. Go Panthers! She's also found her "fast feet," on which she wears her "fast shoes," for which she'll insist we engage in a race, and during which she always wins. Eli is chock full of energy, and, though Halloween is over, insists he is still Iron Man...which he is, but we don't want it going to his head. He's also a frighteningly good dancer...I say it's frightening because I have no idea where he acquired his rhythm. Alise is a beautiful little girl, and so small. She really is the smallest of the Turner babies. Julie swears that Alise has two dimples when she smiles big and wide, but Alise hasn't shown me those dimples yet. I think perhaps if I were her food supply, I would get more smiles. Julie remains an amazing mother...I'm astounded by her abilities, Ney! her capabilities...she is wonderfully capable. Once Julie mends entirely, and is able to pick the kids up for such games as "Airplane," "Iron Man," "Spider Pig," and "Mountain Climbing," then I will almost certainly become obsolete, which is why I'm desperately trying to clean up my act and corner something in the child-rearing market.

The Bad: My Employer. Let me be vague, but to the point. I'm not yet 40, the age at which men are advised to see a doctor only so that doctor can don a latex glove and suggest that "you'll feel a slight pressure" just before checking for an enlarged prostate. Well, recently, I'm almost positive I heard my employer suggest "you'll only feel a slight pressure," but it wasn't checking for an enlarged prostate. I was assigned to a position that really wasn't available yet, but wasn't told that. I was told to pack up our life and ship it to India. We rented our home. Two days prior to my departure, I was told the truth of the situation, a situation that hasn't resolved. While we wait for resolution, I've been told that while I did everything correctly, and while someone dropped a serious ball, the problems associated with the situation, the real problems (i.e., financial, logistical, etc.), are my own, and my employer seems to be backing away from the problems, like an arsonist slowly backs away from the fire they just set, as the crowd gathers to watch.

The Beautiful: While we wait for this situation to resolve, I remain in the D.C. area, between trips to Abilene. Today, after voting, I drove past my house, through my neighborhood, had breakfast at Bagel City, and shopped at Target. Julie and I have talked about how much we already miss our "old life," the routine, the habit, the usual beauty of it all. For those curious, now as one looking back, there is something amazing about that routine and daily life, the routine and daily life that Julie and I often took for granted, that we probably all take for granted. It's only been two months really, but that's been long enough. This delay, this situation, this problem we've encountered with my assignment has caused me some pause, made me reflect on my choices, our choices for the family. We want to travel to India, still want to travel to India for the adventure, for the experiences, for the beauty and ugliness that our children should see, must see. Maybe, perhaps, the adventure and experiences we're looking for don't depend on where we live, but how we live.