Surrealism

So, I feel like my last post was all over the place and not terribly contained or focused, but maybe that's not true.

In any case, I guess I really just want to convey how surreal this is. Arriving yesterday and meeting people who have a genuine common interest in India, in Pakistan, and in related things--it was incredibly surreal. With the application process and the other pre-departure business, we've had a common experience and can relate to each other's visa applications, telephone interviews, etc. It's really neat that way, and this whole thing--waking up in DC this morning in a luxurious hotel room with a view of a fabulous (not exaggerating) apartment building across the way and a Starbucks across the street (read: dangerous) and knowing that today is the day when hopefully a lot of questions about this summer will be answered as I sit in sessions with students headed to India to learn Urdu, Bangla, Punjabi, and Hindi--it's surreal. Wandering around downtown DC before finding the Washington Monument and then hailing a taxi before the steady rain turned into a full-out downpour--surreal.

And I think as a general rule, we feel lucky. We've gotten a super cool opportunity to travel across the world to learn a language that's in relatively high demand, and the State Department and CAORC are picking up the tab.

It's pretty cool, and I feel like I lucked out, and this all feels super surreal.

Love you all.