Happy Diwali!!

Today is the first day of the new year, and Indians all over the capital are completely losing it!!! It's the biggest holiday all year, a remarkable thing considering that every day is a holiday in India...

The last week has seen non-stop firecrackers (which I'm finally getting used to) and traffic like I've never seen in my life. The newspaper is filled with pictures of gridlock all over the city and stories of people sleeping in their cars for hours on end. And of course we are all eating sweets like there's no tomorrow. I think I've put on a good five kilos since I came to Delhi, consoling myself with Indian sweets and lots of Punjabi food (butter daal, butter rice, butter naan...you get the picture?). And at the moment I'm battling some serious PMS, so today is the perfect day to forget everything and Indulge with a capital "I."

A few days ago I received a note from a German friend I last saw back in April. He is one of the few people I've met in my travels who inspired my spirit simply by his example, and his arrival couldn't have been better timed. For me it's a small sign from God that, even though I am engaged in a deep internal struggle, my soul will ultimately prevail.

Tomorrow we will head East to a small dusty village near Mathura (Lord Krishna's birthplace) to meet Maria and her adopted village family. It's the kind of village that hasn't seen white people before, but now that they are used to Maria, my arrival will be much less awkward. When I spoke to her yesterday she assured me that I was already "famous" in the village and that everyone is excited to meet me. It should be quite a change from my current incarnation...

May God bless you all on this auspicious day,

with much love and affection,
LMA