Where everyone knows your name...

My fiancé, Josh, is here visiting for a week! This was The Big Christmas Surprise and he and my parents had apparently started plotting the second I said I was coming to India. Somehow they managed to keep it a secret until Christmas, despite the fact that everyone and their brother knew about it. I kept trying to tell people and they’d all smile and say “I know!”

In any case, he arrived yesterday after eons of travel. It really is rough getting here. He flew to Chicago from Pittsburgh and stayed with my parents for a day, then took a direct flight from Chicago to Delhi (14 + hours). From there, it’s a 7 hour cab ride up to Mussoorie. He got in at about 7am, unsure of what day it was, but he seems to be recovering nicely.

But the poor boy—he’s been meeting all the inhabitants of Woodstock and that can be quite an overwhelming experience. It’s not a big school and given the remoteness, it is BIG NEWS whenever someone comes to visit, especially someone of fiancé-level importance. My friends and co-workers have been looking forward to meeting him for weeks (if not months) and he tends to get pounced upon wherever he goes, with shrieks of “oh you must be the fiancé!!” He’s trying valiantly to learn names, and I love him for the effort. It took me about 3 months to get them all.

My boss has sweetly allowed me to take several days off while he’s here so we’re planning a hike/picnic tomorrow and then we’re heading down the mountain to Rishikesh—a Ganges pilgrimage site and general hippie center—for the weekend with a number of my housemates and friends. It should be fun! The big question is: will I brave the Indian bus system and possible disgraceful vomiting out the window as we careen down the mountain? Or will I weenie out and pay for a cab? Stay tuned.