Wrapping up our experience in India

Well, the India chapter was such an important chapter in 2007-08 for us all, I just couldn't close it without a few more images of ways we spent much of our time. Birding. The birds, no surprise, one of the biggest gifts of our life in South India. they acted not only as sirens for Karen, but as liasons introducing all of us in the end to some of the coolest and best humans on the planet!! Incredible naturalists too! Yes that is a big ol' granite dome just a handful of kilometers from Bangalore...they are everywhere! In fact, the city is built on top of several. Talk about connection to Yosemite! It really IS the same planet! Many weekends (often just one day as Paul and the school girls were in school 6 days a week! Not so sustainable for us weekend warriors) found us in new places near Bangalore looking for new bird species. They were all new to us. What pure joy to watch our kids learning to get excited about their favorites and try to get closer and see better.
There are always cups of hot chai and great snacks at the end of the morning too!

One one of these outings I found myself in a car getting a ride home with a guy who overheard that I live in Yosemite. He said that he had just been there this past summer. He explained that he was in a remote part of the park...that of course turned out to be - Tuolumne Meadows! Only there for one noght, but he just happened to attend MY campfire there!! Ravens...Everything is so connected. Especially with migratory birds! Small world!


Some of the folks we were so honored to hang out with are pictured here with us at our kitchen table celebrating Sylvie's 7th birthday! Hansa and Miko are friends of a Tuolumne friend that were teaching in Bangalore too! We of course hit it off with them and spent as much time together as we could... Also at the table is Marya Carr!! She is our friend & neighbor here in El Portal and was our housemate for 2 months in Bangalore!! What fun!

These beautiful folks are some of our neighbors in Bangalore. Vishu spent most days after school at our house hanging out and playing with the girls. Her Mom owns the beauty salon next door! My hair never looked so good!! We all miss them a lot!

These are our most vital neighbors Col. Murthy and Satya who helped us with just about everything! They took care of us so well and taught us so much about how to deal with important things like getting water delivered to the house and how to complain like a true Indian when
things fail to be delivered properly and how to cook amazing food. I wish I could imitate the recipes that we were treated to at Satya's table. Yum!! It seems second nature for women to cook food that is so perfect every time. We felt so lucky to feast often...

Then there was school... Kendriya Vidyalaya MEG and Center Bangalore, where Paul taught Maths and zaniness to students in middle and high school. Eliza and Sylvie also went here! See our India blog for some pretty cute photos. What an EDUCATION for all involved!



Then there were the school goodbyes. What a send off those students gave their beloved Mister Paul Sir! Gifts and dancing and so many flowers! Tears and hugs and heartfelt smiles and sentiment were all such lasting treasures from the time at Kendriya Vidyalaya School. We would go back in a second!




Well...look what Santa brought to Kerala for us all!! More time together with Marya, AND all the way from Dresden, Germany...Mr. and Mrs. Chris and Joanna!!! What more could we want! The nearly 24 hour drive to Kerala with Chris and Joanna was so much more an adventure to enjoy than a carsick challenge because of their presence. Our kids will laugh and smile through anything as long as they have their beloveds along. Which is one of the many reasons we LOVE to travel with friends! So here we are on Christmas morn. in Varkala, shocked and in awe at the sacred gifts that found us there in that remote corner of the globe.
New Year's Day...spent shopping for and scoring pressure cookers!This beautiful lady is Deepti Diwakar - former Miss India and award winning dance teacher...and dear friend. Many walks and teas were spent together with Deepti. Eliza took home some great dance steps too. Just ask her to perform them next time you see her.

We are enhanced and changed for life. The people and wildlife and landscape and culture to bind everything together are now embedded in our rich tapestry of life experiences. Our kids are part of something even greater than we could have imagined after the time spent in school, travelling, eating, loving and living in this beautiful country. We are forever grateful to all who made it possible.

To see more, go to our amstutzindia blog! This is just a tiny photo summary.