We are safe

Just a quick blog to let everyone know that we are safe. The destruction and murders happened south of us in the more tourist-oriented areas of town. We live in Bandra which has, so far, remained free from strife.

I won't comment on all that has happened ... it's hard to say anything remotely interesting about something so devastating. Especially when I have a 6-yr old and a 1-yr old who have not been allowed outside for 2 days. Especially considering the 6-yr old was supposed to be in a beach resort right now, playing with one of her best friends. You can imagine the chaos of these little creatures trapped in a 1200 square foot apartment as their parents receive countless phonecalls about the situation and try to email family to let everyone know all are safe.

By canceling our flight and hiding inside, we let those bastards win.

Revitalisation

When you start to tire of the place you live, when you feel as though the blandness of identical days, seeing the same sights has left you blind to interesting observations, then invite someone to come and visit you. Like a jolt of electricity, the urge for visitors to have a fun time stimulates you to investigate all the exciting things to be done in your own locale. An excellent elixir to monotony.

My Dad and a close friend of the family (really, she's almost a sister) are coming to visit us in a few weeks. I've been plotting and planning and strategising and discovering. They will be here for almost three weeks, but it doesn't seem long enough to do everything I'd like to do. I'll have to cull the list, leave the merely "exciting" things in favor of the "once in a lifetime" things.

On the list ...
- visit to Elephanta island, carried on a palanquin up to the Buddhist caves while troupes of monkeys follow you
- Long weekend to Jaipur and Agra - Taj Mahal, Palace of the Winds, elephant ride up to the fort, and shopping for fabulous textiles, carvings, and furniture
- Long weekend to Goa - gorgeous beaches, tours to the old plantations where the Portuguese originally settled, dining on prawns the size of chihuahuas
- Visits to the art shops around town
- Museums filled with relics from a culture we know very little about
- Investigations at Chor Bazaar where you can find anything from a Victorian sextant to Buddhist carvings to brass sculptures of Vishnu
- Champagne brunches at the posh hotel
- Crawford market, a haggler's paradise
- Trip to the national park for tiger-spotting, 2 tiger cubs were born last month
- Ajanta caves - stunning paintings adorn the caves
...

The list goes on and on, and between all that I've got to let them recover from jet lag.

My goal: They leave India exhausted and ready for a vacation.

The one negative ... I have to work while they have all the fun.