Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah!! (In no particular ranked order)

It's Christmas Eve, and I thankfully find myself with my wife and kids at Christmas. We'll celebrate Christmas in Texas, where, unfortunately, the weather is purposefully un-Christmasy, and then we'll travel to D.C. for New Year's. We'll fly to India on New Year's Day.

We know and regret that we'll be unable to see everyone prior to our departure for India. Please know that we would have preferred it otherwise, but time/money have been limited.

We hope each and every one of you have a very, very merry Christmas, the happiest of Hannukahs, and the safest, most splendid of New Year's. It goes without saying, but never should - we love you all.

To rob Dickens blind -- God Bless us all, every one.

Buzz Kill...

What kind of man would I be if I used this absolutely free forum to blog about nothing except monkeys on motorbikes and the pretty new raw silk table clothe I practically stole from some poor vendor? I can answer that honestly...not much of one.

Do you know what I learned? Approximately 50,000 children in India die every year from dysentery...an entirely treatable waterborne bug. I know, "Awwwwww, poor kids," right? In D.C. this was just another "fact" you could read on some NGO's pamphlet or hippie's shirt in Georgetown or hear Sally Struther's whine about on an early-Sunday morning "Save the Children" program. Maybe we heard it from some celebrity, fresh out of rehab and searching for a comeback via promotional empathy. For me it used to be a fact that affected me for a moment or two, until I felt I'd given it its due, and then I went on with my day. 50,000 to dysentery, and that's probably underrepresented. That's likely a drop in the bucket compared to the other completely preventable diseases that take these children young, not to mention the more immediate health risks...like taxis and buses and "tuck-tucks" running over them, which in New Delhi is simply the reason for yet another traffic jam...they'll be scraped up soon, and I can be home in time for dinner. In D.C. these were facts, nothing more. Statistics. Lies, lies, and damn lies, rights?

Everyday I get to ignore these "lies." While sitting in my car or walking to a market, I get to ignore the "walking dead." These children who are born to die. Conceived by parents who've forgotten them to a society that treats them as ghosts who dwell in a world that uses their deaths as fodder for fundraisers or political maneuvering or career ressurrection. The facts were easy to ignore in D.C. As I understand it, with practice these children will become easy to ignore here also.

In the end maybe I'm just a bleeding-heart liberal or a naive Westerner who sees meaning where none exists or maybe I'm just tired right now and overly sensitive. Whatever the case, tomorrow I'll count the number of children who, statistically, will be dead by next year. What makes them different from my own children but chance? Poor, poor me...all that sadness that I must witness and bear and choke on when I complain about being sooooo full or soooo tired or soooo hot or cold.

Ehh. Oh well. Bedtime.

UPDATE!!

You're going to be disappointed, and it's my fault. I purposefully titled this entry "UPDATE" in all caps with two, yes two, exclamation points to get all of you geared up for an exciting entry, tales from an adventurous life in exotic India. I had Dominos Pizza tonight after working thirteen-hours. BUT, it WAS delivered to the house in under 30 minutes. In India, that IS a promise Dominos intends to keep! I did receive my Christmas tree and some groceries in the mail today...so that was exciting!

The air in New Delhi is still heavy with fear and anticipation...and cow dung, but mostly fear and anticipation following the Mumbai attacks. The city remains on "high alert," and so has begun the "knee-jerk" reactionary measures. I'm not saying these measures are bad, but they're reactionary. Life, which is comprised of nothing but work, has become very hectic and taxing, and I've only been on the job for one month. It's great work, and I think I'll enjoy it immensely, once I figure out what the hell I'm supposed to be doing. I'm told this phase is normal, so I'll ride it out.

I don't have many wondrous tales to tell...not yet. I've visited many local markets, haggled with shopkeepers, braved the by-ways in a "tuck-tuck" and I've seen monkeys riding motorcycles (with their owners), but I'm not doing anything terribly exciting in what little free time I have. I'm waiting to share the many adventures with my family.

I recently returned from a work-related trip to Bhutan. The Kingdom of Bhutan is...Shangri-La of Legend. It is clean and beautiful, and the people are soft-spoken and kind. It's no wonder people clamor to visit the Kingdom... only to have their plans dashed against the rocks of futility (the Bhutanese government limits the number of tourists into the country). I consider myself incredibly fortunate to have visited, and the objective of the trip was achieved, or so I understood.

I'll soon travel home to collect Julie and the kids. I can't wait! We'll celebrate Christmas in Texas, New Years in D.C., and then return to New Delhi. Once my family joins me here at post, then you can expect the entries to increase exponentially...elephant rides, the Taj Mahal, and other stereotypically touristy pursuits.

Well, for those who had asked "Where are the blogs? When is the next post?" Here it is...I'm sorry I don't have anything more scintillating to share. It's funny maybe how we humans struggle to find our routines when in a new place...I wake up, I go to work, I work, I eat, I pick up some groceries perhaps, I work some more, I leave work, I go home, I eat, I workout, and I go to sleep. Then, God willing, I wake the next morning to do it all over again. Maybe it's not funny, maybe it's sad or maybe it's both. Or maybe it's neither funny or sad...maybe it just is. Deep. Look at it this way...nothing much to report here, but I did use the word "scintillating" and you don't see that every day. Unless you write and/or edit romance novels...then you might see that word plenty. Goodnight.