Journey to India

We've already been here a whole week and I haven't blogged because we've been in the country side of Switzerland.... namely in a Swiss chalet in the Alps.... hehe... it's absolutely idyllic... cows, meadows, snow covered peaks.. google Jungfrau and you will see the region we are in... Jungfrau is the top of Europe. And we are staying in a small town called Beatenberg. From there, our kids have gone paragliding with my good friend Tarcis, who I have known since 1982... met him in Iceland while I was hitchhiking around Europe. Everyone should have a friend like Tarcis. He's exuberant, generous, enthusiastic, and resourceful. And he has a wonderful family too... Jatta from Finland and babies Olivia and Janina. Today the boys rented a paddleboat on Lake Thunersee. Yesterday we saw a reconstructed Swiss village with houses from all the regions of CH (Switzerland).. and the day before we went to a humoungous AquaParc with Devil's chutes ... and skipped across the border to France to eat a few crepes in Bouverte on Lake Geneva, so we could say we had been to France. It was very pretty. We also went to a Mystery Park, which is based on the book Chariots of the Gods. ... the idea that aliens have come to visit us regularly and that all major world religions are based on visits by such 'Gods'. The guy who came up with this idea is Swiss... Erich von Doniken.. not sure about the spelling. But you can google it... it is much good food for thought.

Tomorrow, we are in Bern briefly and then onto Tarcis' city house, where we will spend one night before flying to Dubai on Friday....

We are swimming in good cheese, chocolate, Rivella, neat and tidy everything, kirsch, fresh bread baked daily in Beatenberg's wood fired bakery, and .... and.... flowers, cottages, good drivers, steep uphill turns and winding roads... cows, goats, everything that CH is famous for. And did I mention fondue?? Tarcis and Jatta made a very typical Swiss cheese fondue for us which was soooo filling. We are really fortunate. I feel blessed ... great friends, great kids, and the opportunity to travel and see the world. What fortune...!!

There has been sooooooooo much to do to prepare to leave. The actual journey itself is not a problem. It's preparing things at home so the house and business still functions that has been a challenge. There are so many details... but the great thing about traveling with teenagers is that they are easy going. Whatever we forget we will learn to live without or we will get when we are out there. I finalized so many things before leaving.... my will, locked in my mortgage, arranged money to be available through bank machines in the next few months, housesitters, took the car off insurance, disabled my cell phone... and on and on...

But this is it. It is happening in 24 hours.

So it's happening. I'm finally taking an extended journey with my kids to a far away place. A place that has meaning for me personally, but a place that will be an adventure for the kids. I don't know if my love affair with India is like a teenage crush, a deep unbearable love that suddently dissipates when you see the object of your love for what he/she is, just a regular joe or jill. It wasn't their fault that you had a crush, they were what they were. They didn't change, you did. You grew up. Perhaps all loves are just different types of crushes... all basically dissipate one day when we grow up in one way or the other... it happened for me with Denmark. For all my life, I bestowed upon that little green patch all kinds of virtues and magical qualities, and then one day ... poof! it was gone. For me. Denmark hadn't changed in a profound way. In some small ways, yes, but not in a profound way. It carried on as it always has, with all its charms and monstrosities.

Here's a picture of our family last week. A friend of mine is practicing to become a professional photographer... and this is who we are just then.