Happy 2011 everyone!
What a wonderful end to 2010 and a beautiful beginning to 2011. I made it back to Kolkata early in the morning on New Year's eve and got to enjoy a misty/foggy/smoggy sunrise on my bicycle-rickshaw ride back to the apartment. A two-bucket hot bucket shower felt fantastic and I donned the last of my clean clothes (the ones I had tailored here) and headed to the market with Andrew for some errands. I love the market! We got into the inner "bowels" of Gariahat: spices, fish, flowers, puja stands, tea vendors, kitchen goods, veggies. I exclaimed to Andrew as he was buying fruit, that there was something about being close to a big stand of fresh veggies that brought me great joy...I actually just wanted to sit among the vegetables for a while and just feel the veggie love.
We went for lunch at this litte Bengali restaurant and impressed the locals by eating with our hands. I've decided I also love eating with my hands...something so satisfying about the direct hand-to-mouth action. We wandered through stalls of fabrics, shawls, bed-sheets, pirated DVD's and CD's, winter-wear, tobacco and pretty much anything you can imagine. Andrew took me to this "most famous" sweet shop and we got our sugar fix for the year with all these different sweets. Kind of like an indian version of fudge I suppose with some of them...delicious! We also got some to take and away and began the journey home to the apartment for supper.
We turned on the Diwali lights in the apartment, had a wonderful supper of mixed veg curry, chapati and dal and sat down to a rousing (ok...maybe more intense) game of Scrabble. Well, the neighbours downstairs began pumping their music so loud the floor was shaking (and this is a concrete building remember) and then the neighbours next door were making some noise so we went over to check it out. They had lit a fire on their roof (!) and had the music going and even Mattar-ji was dancing (the mom)! So we counted down to 2011, fireworks were lit (and flew dangerously close to all the nearby houses) and learned all sorts of Indian dance moves as we brought in the new year.
I made us a proper Canadian breakfast for New Years day of French Toast, coffee (no chai, if you can imagine that), and a lovely fruit salad. I am so thankful to these guys and for having a place to stay, a home-base to travel from, and a pair of brothers in this foreign place to bring some familiarity to my stay here.
I am looking back on 2010 as an amazing year, with lots of growth - both personally and in my community. I am thankful for all of the connections I have made this past year and I look forward to the year ahead as one full of family, friends and community.
I am thankful for my connections with my family; they are so supportive and encouraging of me and I am grateful for the relationship we have.
I am so thankful for my relationship with Al -- I feel connected and seen for who I am and that is a beautiful thing. We are continually learning from one another and I am inspired by him daily.
I am thankful for my friends and my community as I see those relationships growing, evolving, changing shape, renewing and building upon each other.
I am thankful for my connection to life...to breathe in, to soak up joy wherever I am, to live in the present and wonder at the world. I look forward to being back in my mountains and breathing deeply that which life will offer in 2011.
I have one and half days left here in India as I fly out in the wee hours of the morning on the 4th. Hard to believe my time here is drawing to a close...it has flown by. This will be my last post from here as I plan on enjoying the next days exploring some more, getting a duffel bag to bring back all the stuff I've found here, and enjoying the company of new-found family. Much love to all of you, wherever you are. I hope you have enjoyed following me along...I have enjoyed connecting with you all in this way.
Bless you and enjoy the start of 2011!
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