Where in the world?

It's wonderful to walk out of the airport in a different country and see someone you know! Annie and Sankar! And a few minutes later we were in our cars on our way to the hotel.

We had driven down to DC a week earlier to help Joe out while Leonor had gone to Portugal with John and Luisa for her mother's big birthday/retirement party. So we were in school pick-up/drop-off duty for a few days. We took advantage of school time for Thomas to catch up with friends in the area.

And then, inevitably, the final trip to the airport. Margaret, Andrew and Simon joined us for the looooong flight. We crashed in Dubai for an extended layover and then off on our second leg. We survived and not even barely. Simon set a record for number of movies watched, broken a few days later by Thomas who may have watched all 17 Star Wars movies, or at least that many, judging by his excitement in retelling the plots.

A few days in Chennai to recover, add another beach to our book, and do some shopping. Gradually our internal clock started to adjust.

Then off to a nice hotel on the beach south of Chennai, in Kovalam. When we woke up the next day Daniel was there and later that afternoon, Johanna came!

We tempted the fates by trying out a water protector for Thomas' cast so he could go swimming. It failed utterly and resulted in a trip to the urgent care, a long wait, and a new cast.

And the skies opened up and we lived through our first monsoon. 36 hours or more of rain meant most of all scrambling to try to keep little boys occupied. They did well. So did their parents.

And then we squeezed in a little sightseeing and somehow it stopped raining for both our excursions. First a trip to a bird sanctuary where the drive there may have been more interesting than the birds. Two hours through South India rush hour.

Later, a few of us went to see the shore temples at Mahabalipuram, a UNESCO world heritage site reminiscent of Macchu Pichu.

And there's a wedding! The first ceremony took place yesterday, called the Puja for Sankar who had returned to his home for this groom preparation. Today, our US group heads to Sankar's home town of Thanjavur and Annie will have her own ceremony of Pen Azhaippu, placing sandalwood paste on Annie.

And there Melodie and Jeff will join us. More events over the following days with actual wedding on Sunday, and the reception the day before.

What's clear in all this activity is how much preparation and problem-solving Annie and Sankar have done to help us in this far-away place. As if they didn't have enough to handle! Thanks to both of you!!

I should add one quick other family news as we see on FB Tina's in Egypt. Looks exciting.

Off to pack for our trip to Thanjavur.

Love from over here.