Chai for Christmas

Namaste! I have to be at the airport in less than twelve hours. I’m packed, my clothes for tomorrow are laid out, I’ve paid rent and other bills, I’ve hugged and kissed family members and left the puppy in the care of my parents (she’ll be fine…I hope THEY survive). Now all I have to do is get a decent night’s rest…yeah…we’ll get to that in a minute. Blogging sounds like more fun.

How ‘bout I tell you what I packed for this grand adventure? Good plan? Thought so. I’m a seasoned traveler, so I’ve become fairly methodical in my packing - I’m only taking a medium checked bag and my small backpack (I wouldn’t advise a less seasoned packer to attempt such a feat).

In these bags I have:
Clothes (for two different climates)
A jacket
An extra pair of shoes (and flip flops for the shower)
A towel
A sleep sheet
Toiletries
A curling iron & straightener (though I’ve been told I’m not allowed to wear curls while I’m there…crazy things happen when I let my hair stay curly…crazy things)
A first aid kit
Like a thousand batteries (my camera eats them)
My Mountainsmith bag
An umbrella
A small sewing kit (I’ve needed it on every trip I’ve gone on, believe it or not)
Gifts for our hosts
My netbook & charger
My cameras (video & still) and chargers
A teensy tripod
Accompanying cords
My iPod & headphones & charger
A plug adapter (for all those chargers)
My journal
A book for the plane
My passport, ID, credit card, and cash
A folder with all of the information I could ever need

I’m sure there are other things, but that’s all I could remember off the top of my head. I also have a small bag full of all the gifts we’re taking to the orphanage (board games, candy, bracelets, stickers, pencils, toothbrushes, etc).

I can’t wait to get there. I know it’s going to be like nothing I’m imagining - we’ve been warned of that several times. I should arrive in Delhi about 9:30pm on Monday. I’ll update as soon as I can. ‘til then!