Time Pass

Thank you all for the Birthday wishes!!!
And thank you Joey for your beautiful song!
It amazes me that we can send musical creations from the other side of the world!

I had a wonderful birthday in the city of Jaipur.
Well, the first part of the day was spent at a conference on the issue of Ageing in Developing Countries, which at first i didn't think applied to me at all. but then i thought, what better time to think about age and the passage of time than on your birthday? Don't worry I'm not feeling close to decrepit!
The end of the day ended with a lovely dinner with some new friends, just met that day, at their apartment. Two girls: Elleke from the Netherlands, Jana from Slovakia, two guys: Illke from the Netherlands and a local from Jaipur, plus of course my lovely friend Ruchi.

Ruchi is invaluable as a translator as she speaks both Hindi and English fluently. But more than that she's a wonderful coworker and travel companion!

Taking the train from Jaipur back to Jodhpur last night, we met two men, Shivdatt and Nepal who were from different desert villages. Shivdatt is working in Jodhpur and studying for an MBA, he would like to come study in the US. Nepal is trained as a teacher, but with the limited amount of work here, has found a stable position with the Indian Army instead. We talked about water, agriculture, arranged and child marriages, militant activity at the pakistan border, comparisons between rural India and rural America, our families and funny stories that we shared.
The long train ride went much faster with our pleasant "Time Pass" and new friends.

Thinking of all of you with affection!